Living with Consumers: Myths

and Realities

Siamack Salari EverydayLives

FDIN Launching Better Products for Tougher TimesOctober 2008

What we do

Our pitch

The difference between what is said and what is done

Unarticulated needs

What people don’t do or nearly do

How products, brands and services fit into people’s lives

Typical cross market explorations

Segment animation

Documentary

Innovations/NPD

Receptivity

Brand activation

Hopes, fears & dreams

Coffee

Beliefs

Process we have internationalised

Naturalistic filming - no interviews - no sensitisation

Question generation workshop

Co-discoveries (clients come too!)

Final workshop split between debrief & implication finding (examples)

How we use ethnography

Qualitatively

Over time/in context

Film to allow scrutiny and sharing

Adding meaning to films

Helping clients see every day events and realities in fresh new ways

Making the ordinary, extraordinary

How we don’t use ethnography

Quantitatively

Interviews with video cameras

Short in-home visits with discussion guide

Deep theoretics

In isolation

Co-discovery

Pundits

The not so good

Lessons...

Take ethnographic recruitment seriously

Many clients have never ‘seen’ their consumers in real life

Ensure they (the client) are reality checked and earthed

Get sign off for each respondent

Over recruit

And there is always one...

One client/market wanting to sabotage the entire project

Client on whom the study was imposed

Client who already knows...

Client who just doesn’t like ethnography (has had fingers burnt in the past)

Clients who just don’t get it

Keys to successful outcomes

Why involve clients?

“In-home visits aren’t a day at the zoo...”

Clients need to own some of the thinking/insights

Ownership means advocacy and adoption

More powerful than any report, clip or it’s contents

Process

Unwittingly we have created a challenge

The QGW leaves clients desperate to know what subjects were thinking

They can’t wait to join the co-discovery sessions

Each ‘adopts’ their favourite household

Each will also have their least favourite household

What are client’s expectations?

Unimportant - it’s our job to set expectations from the outset (most have never engaged in our kind of ethnography)

Must capture lists

Expect delays with recruitment and in-home

Our views and meanings over what they see and hear on films - i.e. interpretation

Interpretation based on many perspectives not least the subjects’

Icing on cake

Is video boring

If too long, yes

Limit to 90 seconds (ideally) per clip and 4 clips per insight or theme

Don’t just let your audience view the films in silence - add meaning, flag things they would never have seen

Pester

Frozen treat

Steak & sizzle

In-home experience - with real people, real grounding and reality checks

Powerful on-line (Web 2.0) film and insight resource

Real actions and next steps unravelled and agreed among clients (break out groups)

Content which is viral and easily shared e.g. online

Clients who can own insights