In our modern world, the gap between in-person realities and online perceptions can feel vast. Life, as seen on social media is filtered, perfected, and potentially polarized. These perspectives can feel exciting for those who have embraced this curated worldview and scary for those who would rather not.
Connecting with people IRL feels much more familiar and
normal. I still have the same love for
my kids. I still laugh and am silly with friends and coworkers. I still have my hobbies, still celebrate birthdays
and holidays, dinners still need to be prepared, etc. Although my social media interactions have a
big impact on the amount of dopamine I have coursing through my body, it hardly
tells a full story of how I feel or what my life is actually like at that
moment.
As marketers, it is important to acknowledge the macro noise we are inundated with via our devices while cutting through it to reveal actual behavior. Feelings, attitudes, and senses of security can fluctuate rapidly, and keeping a current pulse on their key customers’ thoughts and mindsets can be very valuable for brand teams.
REAL YearLook is an online community solution we offer that goes deep with a small group of the right people over an extended period of time. Over a full year, we connect with this same group for three days each month and look at happiness, confidence, shopping, and usage behaviors. Additionally, we introduce specific stim/concepts for feedback, when applicable, and tailor add-on activities to answer specific questions. This longitudinal look is useful for intuition building and concept feedback on digital messaging and communication, promotions, media/shopping channel prioritization, and innovation. More importantly, the length of time in addition to our experienced researchers enable this digital method to move past the typical social media posturing to create a safe space where participants can be transparent and vulnerable, leading to actionable insights.
Our REAL Intuition Journey is another way to connect
with consumer segments in a profound and authentic way while also providing brand
teams with the opportunity to personally invest and be impacted by these
connections. This approach involves customizable
online and in-person approaches with broad team engagement that builds strong,
unified intuition across stakeholders.
We recently completed this type of project for a client in a
unique situation. They had been hearing loud complaints from a certain segment
of consumers, but simultaneously weren’t hearing much of anything from others. By cutting through the filtered feedback gathered
via social media, the press, etc., they realized there was much more openness
and acceptance from the segment they assumed would be adverse, whereas there
was more hurt and opportunity to improve relationships with the segment they
hadn’t heard from. This research had a
big impact on how they expected to allocate their marketing dollars, the
message to communicate, and the audience that needed to hear that message.
As you have needs to connect more authentically with a
specific group of people, shoot us a note.
We would love to talk through which approach might be the right fit or
at least send you white papers on these methods.