SEEK: BLOG

SPOTLIGHT: EMILY GROGAN

Q. Most Recent Big Win
I’ve been doing a number of hybrid projects recently where consumer research meets ideation. We've been talking with consumers who deal with physical conditions that have a huge impact on their lives. It’s an amazing feeling to talk to people and then immediately consider powerful and possible ways to actually make their lives better. This process is brilliant, people.  I can say it because I didn't develop it.  But, goodness - it's good.  I'm so happy to get to do what I do!

Q. All of us have areas we like to talk about most. What Are Your Favorite Topics of Conversation?
Aside from who will be the next American Idol? Oh you mean work? I get real fired up about talking to consumers about the stuff that matters. With my clients...I get real fired up when they listen to that stuff. 

Q. What Are You Most Passionate About?
In other words: What drives you?  What makes you tear up?  What inspires you?
Whew, well that could go a number of ways! I suppose at the core of me...I am truly passionate about the challenges in life that push us to work incredibly hard towards a goal that inspires us. Hard work with a true purpose and heart behind it is one of the most fascinating and compelling things I have experienced in life. Whether it be family, sports, or work, I try to take on the important things in my life with this passion.  Oh, and don't think you are off the hook.  I find the same thrill when I am able to assist, lead, encourage others in these same endeavors.  It can be a good or bad thing to be my friend - depends on how you look at it.

Q. What is on your playlist, reading list, or movie queue?
I just finished an amazing book that affirms my love for canines!  It’s called, “The art of racing in the rain”...nothing like a book that you can’t put down, even if it’s forcing you to cry on a plane! Oops.

Q. What are 3 of your favorite things on this planet?
College Basketball (this time of year especially!)
Acoustic guitar played by either my father or James Taylor. Either will do.
My husband had better get in here too, right? :)

Three Principles of Great Research Storytelling

A recent Fast Company article carried the headline “$100K of Free Branding Advice, in Just Three Words.” The message of the article is simple:  if you want to create an effective brand image you must Unify, Simplify, and Amplify.

Sound advice, we think. In fact, we think that these aren’t so much the principles of branding as they are the principles of storytelling in general. After all, what is branding, really, if not telling a story about your product?

Still, Fast Company’s message is clearly geared towards branding, and it’s not always easy to make the jump. So, we’ve expounded on the Unify, Simplify, Amplify message and adapted it to give you our three principles for great research storytelling.


1_Know the story. You can’t tell the story unless you know what the story is. And not just the general idea--the whole bit, down to the details. I know, it seems a bit obvious, but the number one mistake we see brands and organizations make is failing to align on the story they’re trying to tell.

Storytelling can be a powerful unifying force within an organization, but only if that story itself is unified. Trying to “amplify” before you “unify” could cripple the story, not to mention waste a lot of time and irritate a lot of people. Sometimes, “unifying” is as simple as being open-handed about it, letting the whole team be a part of the storytelling experience and take collective ownership of the narrative. After all, there’s nothing worse than trying to passionately tell a story that you don’t really believe.


2_Keep it Simple. After you know the story, the next step is figuring out which part of the story you want to tell. I know what you’re thinking, “but don’t I want to tell the whole story?” Well, yes, but not all at once. Trying to tell the whole story at once can be overwhelming at best. At worst, it can totally undermine the power of the story you’re trying to tell. 

Good films are like icebergs, you only see the top 10%. Most screenwriters conduct research for months or even years before sitting down to write a screenplay that will command, at most, two and a half hours of an audience’s attention. People can only absorb so much at once, so figure out what matters most before trying to cram it all into one deliverable.

You can always revisit the rest of the story later, following up with information in other storytelling or experiential formats. Overall, though, we’ve found that our clients are most successful in informing and inspiring their audience when they pick only the most actionable and relevant parts of the story to tell.

3_Give it a Chance. Our version of the “Amplify” step is simply to make sure that your story gets heard. It’s only a solution if it works, right? What good is the story if it can’t influence the way people think, act, and work?

In the research industry, story sometimes seems like an afterthought, an “add-on” that doesn’t get much attention. In these cases, the result is typically a storytelling process that drags on, racking up time and costs for an ultimately mediocre result. We find much more success when the story crafting step is built into the timeline and into the budget so that the story of the research has the opportunity to effect change within the organization.


Well, there you have it. That’s our ‘secret sauce’ for research storytelling. We don’t mind sharing it, really, because we think it’s pretty basic. Know the story you’re trying to tell (by heart, if possible), keep it simple to avoid overwhelming your audience, and give it a chance to be truly impactful by making it part of your planning and process. It’s Unify, Simplify, and Amplify, only instead of a story about a brand, the story is about your consumer, your initiative, or your idea. These principles play out in our work everyday, and integrating them into your process will definitely make a difference.

 

Jonathan Smith, Specialist
jonathan@seekresearch.com

“Doing Good” Works Both Ways

We have a painting on our wall in the lobby at Seek that, I imagine, no artist would want to claim and no collector would want to hang; but it is one of my favorite paintings in the world.  It is a large canvas that each new Seek employee gets to add his or her “mark” to in their first days in the office, and it is absolutely splattered with thick brushstrokes, multi-colored handprints and bizarre abstract smears; all created by amateur hands.  In etched glass just in front of this painting hangs a statement our Purpose:  to inspire and cultivate big ideas, to release the full potential in people, and to do good in the world.

It’s that last one that gets me.  As a traveling QRC, I am afforded the unique and sacred opportunity to spend time with real people in their real lives…the homes, stores, and places that are most meaningful to them, and to experience the self-transformation that comes with “doing good” in small and very personal ways.

One such experience occurred during a round of in-home research in Mexico City. We were there to speak with women about toilet paper, of all things. Our objective was to hear about their current experience with the product and to learn how the product could be improved to better match their needs.  I know this may not sound like fertile ground for deep and meaningful connection but I’m discovering that most real opportunities to do good and to be changed in the process come when you least expect them.

Our team (consisting of clients, Seek members and interpreters) visited several homes during our trip to Mexico City. At each one, we were greeted by women who were excited to have guests in their home, and who proudly showered us with gifts of food and drink—until one of our last days of the trip. During this particular visit, we were greeted at the door by a woman who made no eye contact, who hardly spoke to us, and who made it quite clear that she wished we weren’t even there.  The first thing she said was, “Don’t ask me any personal questions today.” We were, of course, a bit uncomfortable and even debated scrapping the interview so as not to make her bad day even worse by potentially hitting on a sore spot. Luckily, we decided to stay.

The interpreter proceeded with the first prepared question, “Tell us a little about your family.” The woman responded, “I live here with my husband and my two…my son.” As she began to talk about her son, she broke down into tears and revealed, “I recently lost one of my sons. He was sick and it happened very quickly.” Instantly, it became clear, this woman was not rude or inconsiderate; she was devastated. We continued the interview with a whole new understanding.

At one point, we asked, “What things in your home are you most proud of?” After a pause, she begrudgingly pointed at a bookcase filled with leather bound medical journals, “I guess my books,” she shrugged. Above the bookcase was a shelf filled with trophies. I prompted the interpreter to ask who they belonged to. “They’re all my husbands,” she said, “He wins at everything he does.” “So, none are yours?” I asked. “Oh no, no one has ever given me an award,” she replied flatly. For some reason, I just couldn’t let this go. I pressed on, “If you were to be given an award, what would it be for?” The woman at first did not want to answer this question, but we waited. Finally, she leaned over, put her hand on mine and said, “I would get an award for being a damn good mom. Through my son’s death, I learned how to truly love and I learned about patience. I feel like I’m an even better mom now on this side of his death.”

It was such a moment of raw and honest emotion… I try to remain relatively objective in interviews, but I could not (and would not) stop the tears from coming.   I told her that if I could, I would go out to the car right now and bring in a trophy that said ‘World’s Greatest Mom’ and give it to her because she deserved it. She cried even harder, but it was a different cry. Her face changed, she sat up tall and right before our eyes she morphed into an entirely new person. She went from a beat-down empty shell to a smiling, vibrant woman. All she needed was for someone to say, “You did a good job. You are a great mom.”

Needless to say, the team and I were profoundly touched by this interview. As soon as we got in our car to leave, I knew that we had to do something for this remarkable woman. After some quick phone calls and trips to the Old Town Market, a beautiful hand-carved trophy, with the words ‘World’s Greatest Mom’ was delivered to her home the very next day, along with a note that read, “We have met thousands of mothers all over the world, but you are the one we will always remember.”

This is not a story about a trophy, nor is it about a small act of kindness on the part of our team.  Sure, this experience changed that woman’s life for the better, but the impact it had on our entire team was far more profound. It helped us see that even though our objective in a job is to improve products and services; our true goal is to do it in a way that positively affects people’s lives, and, by doing so, changes our own.

When I walk by that painting in our lobby now, I think I get it more.  This isn’t only about scheduling opportunities to do good, but looking for opportunities everyday – whether I’m in the field or her in Cincinnati.  Doing Good isn’t a mission statement, and it is not a series of charitable donations or events.  It’s a lifestyle, a new lens, and an imperative to meet people right where they are, to find some way to lift them up and call out their potential, and to invite them change me for the better.

 

Lane Byrum, Qualitative Research Consultant
lane@seekresearch.com

How to make your job matter: an open letter to the market researcher

You have dredged the deepest insights from the darkest corners of your
consumer’s mind.

You have distributed the most comprehensive report known to the industry.

You have presented the findings and recommendations to a visibly receptive manager, or even perhaps a fully loaded marketing team.

Then, you have watched helplessly as your organization drifted wistfully away from the needs, dreams, and desires of the consumer you worked so hard to represent.

I know it because I’ve seen it.  I was one of you.  

Here’s what I’ve learned:

People love ideas, not facts and findings. Look at the décor in a room, the products on your shelf, the bookmarks in your browser.  It’s all about ideas, or how to get ideas, or what to do with ideas.  Don’t get me wrong, here.  Anyone might like a fact or be interested in it, but no fact can stand up to the momentum generated by an idea.

Because of this, the transfer of output from a research project to a marketing team can be wonky.  To the detriment of your consumers and your company, the idea-rich marketing world tends to trump research, which has traditionally delivered mere facts and findings.  It’s time for that to change.

Consumer-driven ideas are your currency. Quit submitting your research as facts: no one cares. 

The lucky part for you is that many of the facts you’re uncovering about your consumer’s life evoke many larger ideas.  Simply identify them, rather than relying on a third party to “figure them out.” They won’t.  Because they don’t know your consumer like you do.  No one does.

Invest the effort, time, and money to make your work count toward moving the almighty Needle.  For example, try presenting the highest leverage ideas borne from your work before showing any of the research itself.  You might need help getting to this step, of course.  That is OK.  You have options: a few sympathetic members of your marketing team, or an ideation group who understands the value of consumer-centric innovation.  

In the end, your work can be, and should be powerfully influential. What will make your job matter is that you will deliver to the marketplace a more resonant experience for consumers, and a more profitable space for your organization.  Imagine that.

Ben Doepke, Innovation Consultant
ben@seekresearch.com