I read a lot of research. A lot. I have an ongoing working relationship with a very plugged-in research consultant, and one of the key players in Tangelo Ideas has roots in research. I get buckets of information on any given subject with two phone calls.
All agencies absorb research of all kinds. When you're creating stuff for people who aren't exactly like you (which is always), research is imperative. I don't mean you have to run out and do mall intercepts or focus groups (I hate both). I mean, you have to do your homework. Problem is, just reading about stuff is almost never enough.
Think about it. You absorbed everything ever printed (or it seemed like it) about advertising and marketing before you started advertising and marketing. And day one you probably learned, as most people do, that you didn't know boo.
So, how come agencies think they can read a brief, or a description, or even several, and understand perfectly the mindset of a group of people who are different from them?
Like I said, I read a lot of research. A good chunk of it, lately, is about how wired youth and young adults use the technology they have in their hands. It's good information. I thought I had a pretty good picture. Then I hired Marlese. She's a fairly typical 17 year old, who needed work after school, and started helping my wife around the house. Because she's pretty smart, likes computers, photography and media, and wanted to learn more, I started using her occasionally as a go-fer/production assistant. The thing about Marlese is her Sidekick. For anyone over 30, it's a Blackberry, basically, but cooler. Observing Marlese interacting with friends via the Sidekick is easy. Just observe Marlese. It never leaves her grasp. She's a total multitasker: perfectly capable of getting anything done, without missing a beat in the ongoing conversations/game-playing/web-browsing/text-chatting world she has in her hands.
I knew a lot about kids and the Sidekick, and other forms of text messaging, etc., before I hired Marlese. Because I've read reams of research, and trend analysis, and worked on stuff where that knowledge has come into play. But watching it happen in real time has taught me stuff I didn't read about. Lots of stuff I didn't read about. Stuff that would be important for anyone who wanted to sell something to Marlese - on her Sidekick, for her Sidekick, or not. I know Marlese is not a microcosm for every 17 year old. But she's in no way atypical. Which brings me to this:
Reading about it is important. Seeing it in action is always better. Admittedly, it's not always possible. But it's always better.
technorati tags: Advertising Marketing Creative
Firms that understand the value of anthropology in their research definitely have an advantage over those that focus almost exclusively on collecting data.
Posted by: olivier blanchard | December 11, 2005 at 08:42 PM