Aus Start-Up Automates Conjoint and Discrete Choice

In Australia, former Bain consultant Nik Samoylov and academic Prof. Ujwal Kayande have launched a technology company called Conjoint.ly, which automates conjoint analysis and discrete choice experiments to provide rapid concept testing, price optimisation and forecasting.

Kayande is Director of the Centre for Business Analytics at Melbourne Business School, and has over 25 years of experience in business schools around the world. Samoylov worked for Bain for three and a half years after three as a Tutor and Research Assistant at the Australian National University.

The founders say traditional conjoint makes use of 'Sawtooth Software which was developed in the eighties' and requires data scientists and market research analysts to interpret complex data sets - Conjoint.ly aims to massively reduce the effort and cost required. The firm promises marketing and product managers market research to help refine pricing or select product features to take to market.

The team plans to add features making use of artificial intelligence.

Samoylov says of the new firm's approach: 'Automation enables us to deliver results quickly, in a couple of days, not a couple of months that it typically takes traditional approaches - but with the same, and in some instances, even better statistical algorithms. More than anything else, we've made the tool easy to use, which means that managers can themselves start doing these studies without the need for expensive intermediaries'. Kayande adds, 'We know marketing science, having taught and practiced it at the highest levels for decades; the statistical techniques are robust, proven, and Conjoint.ly helps companies rapidly access valuable data'.

Web site: www.conjoint.ly .