For the believers of quali research, it's been getting increasingly difficult (particulary in India) withdemanding respondent criteria from clients, shortage of genuine research talent and extremely suspect field work. The fact that most clients feel comfortable with the tangibility of numbers makes the task of convicing them about the validity of findings even more challenging. The proverbial 'searching under the lampost for keys not because you lost them their but because that where the light is' phenomena is inescapable in the research context.
Two relatively recent works propose a couple of interesting directions quali research could take. Firstly Doug Holt's How Brand Become Icons?, looks at the cultural role brand play and in the process some become symbols of their times in a society a la Beetle, Coke, Bud, Apple etc. The other very interesting work is by Dr. Clotaire Rapaille called the Culture Code and recommends a semiotic/psychoanalytic approach to uncovering the hidden codes and symbols at the heart of a category. Both these books put enormous emphasis on the societal/cultural aspects in which the brand or the category is rooted and going into lives of the consumers to uncover the meaninsg they attach to using these products.
Both these methods require very high level of skill and specialization and focus on going deeper rather than broader in terms of understanding a phenomena. Both the methods require talking to a select few respondents and going beyond the superficial or spontaneous responses.
Doug Holts recommends studying the societal conflicts that define a certain time period and peg the brand as a reconciliation of that conflict while Dr. Rapaille's methodology belives in going deeper into the lifescripts of consumers and getting them in touch with their earliest memories and associations with that brand/category.
Both are extremely compelling arguments that make enormous sense in explaining a lot of the complexity behind how people interact with brand s and why some become more successful than others. However, the execution of this kind of research (including interpretations) is complex and demands qualifications that very few quali researchers lay claim to.
However, I see it as the future of research as the easy gains that come in a high growth economy dwindle and brands would need to pull off something extraordinary in order to justify their premiums. It is agreat opportunity for research firms to decommoditize themselves and occupy a place that is as valued as any upstream consultant's.
The question is - how many are up to it?...afterall easy gains are easy gains for all and god is the enemy of great!
Two relatively recent works propose a couple of interesting directions quali research could take. Firstly Doug Holt's How Brand Become Icons?, looks at the cultural role brand play and in the process some become symbols of their times in a society a la Beetle, Coke, Bud, Apple etc. The other very interesting work is by Dr. Clotaire Rapaille called the Culture Code and recommends a semiotic/psychoanalytic approach to uncovering the hidden codes and symbols at the heart of a category. Both these books put enormous emphasis on the societal/cultural aspects in which the brand or the category is rooted and going into lives of the consumers to uncover the meaninsg they attach to using these products.
Both these methods require very high level of skill and specialization and focus on going deeper rather than broader in terms of understanding a phenomena. Both the methods require talking to a select few respondents and going beyond the superficial or spontaneous responses.
Doug Holts recommends studying the societal conflicts that define a certain time period and peg the brand as a reconciliation of that conflict while Dr. Rapaille's methodology belives in going deeper into the lifescripts of consumers and getting them in touch with their earliest memories and associations with that brand/category.
Both are extremely compelling arguments that make enormous sense in explaining a lot of the complexity behind how people interact with brand s and why some become more successful than others. However, the execution of this kind of research (including interpretations) is complex and demands qualifications that very few quali researchers lay claim to.
However, I see it as the future of research as the easy gains that come in a high growth economy dwindle and brands would need to pull off something extraordinary in order to justify their premiums. It is agreat opportunity for research firms to decommoditize themselves and occupy a place that is as valued as any upstream consultant's.
The question is - how many are up to it?...afterall easy gains are easy gains for all and god is the enemy of great!
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