With consistent growth and repeat business, we have remained deliberately small in order to remain true to our core vision of director-level involvement at all stages. There are many ways to tackle qualitative research, to get to the crux of the question, whether in research studio, in store, in home or online.
In addition to 'classic' approaches like focus groups and in-depth interviews, we also love:
- Shopper research, observations, intercepts, accompanied shops
- Creative workshops
- Friendship pairs/triads
- Ethnography
- In home immersions/connects
- In use observations (e.g. current, prototypes)
- Taxi 'Ridealongs'
- 'Speed dating' exercises with consumers
- Pre-work experimentation (e.g. digital or paper diaries, collages, 'selfie' video footage sent on Whatsapp, ‘bring a thing’, tasks on online platforms).
We cover a range of research types, including:
- Brand/category understanding and development, triggers and barriers.
- Brand essence, trawling for problems, usage/ habits and attitudes, needs, insights, and innovative ideas.
- Concept development
- Advertising communication
- Packaging/label communication.
- Sensorial and physical product attributes.
- Store layout and planning.
- Web and mobile usability.
Qualitative research is always challenging us to scratch the surface, to look much deeper and to question our own beliefs and behaviours, watching how people use products and interact with brands, and listening out for what people don’t say.
We work across South Africa, as well as elsewhere in Africa, with extensive experience in Kenya in particular. We observe all fieldwork, whether it’s in Johannesburg, Soweto, Polokwane or Nairobi, in order to ensure a consistently high standard and to be hands on to play around with the discussion flow, the kinds of questions we ask, the stimulus, the projective techniques we use, etc.
Lesley has been an assessor on the Unilever qualitative accreditation panel in South Africa since 2011.