everything's global nothing is really global
TRANSCRIPT
Qualitative 2010
Foresight on moods and thoughts
Barcelona / 16 - 18 November
Everything’s global, nothing’s really global!
Webinar 02.12.2010
Global brands expanded…
Global assumptions on local consumers
Today the consumer is different
He/she doesn’t just listen anymore tothe brand and welcome the stories it has to tell
He/she has/wants to play an active role
He/she interprets the brandwants to be a partner of the brand itself,
in changing its shape and substance
How can the new consumer relate to global brand needs?
The case: situation
Italian spirits market is showing a slight drop overall in the last 2/3 years
Aperitifs, vodkas and rums are the only growing categories, mainly thanks to an increasing trend of mixable drinks
Brand X market keeps on decreasing year after year and “Brand X” is one of the few brands that still over performs, although it is showing slight dropping signals in the last year
“Brand X” has a strong brand image, a good spontaneous brand awareness and a well distinctive positioning
However it seems to face a recruiting problem maybe linked to a loss of relevance and appeal to its core users 18-34 y.o, which in the short/medium term can start hindering the growth path
What of the 5 global core values at local level
The state of the art of the local relationship
The main research objective…
“Brand X” has a strong brand
image but a lack of relevance?
Spirit market is gaining volumes, but is the
specific segment of the brand failing?
The core target of the brand is becoming the weakest one?
what we immediately understood
Too linear approach could have risked not to catch the real issues behind
What the Client specifically asked
A mix of qual/quant approach
Web interaction
Creativity and Innovation
Our objectives
meeting at the same time the need to…
“few moves” to build a “research
system” capable of diving into the
local consumer, his own life, language
and the way he interprets the brand
itself.
Our objectives
meeting at the same time the need to…
to give the global team keys and findings,
comparable throughout all the countries involved,
nevertheless very peculiar, detailed and
definitively consistent with the local market
reality, thinking and specific values
identify the stereotypes of the “globalized” view of the
brand, to move forward and deeper
helping the target to escape the “iron bars” of those
stereotypes …
…leading them to emit signals, mainly the weak
ones, less conscious, caged but emotionally stronger
IN THE END..
So our keywords:
immersion
behaviours and use of the language inspired us
more than answers to questions
no trade-offs
qual & quant; quick & deep; offline & online
Research Hypothesis
Hypothesis1: if we understand which of our values people have, we can ride them communicating our brand values
Understand local values, their hierarchy,
local expressions
Assess brand perceptions
Portion of values to be covered by the brand locally Hypothesis2: if we understand how global brand values are
interpreted and the brand “grids”, we can leverage on it
Understand how brand values are
locally interpreted and relevance
Understand reported brand image
Local brand values to locally activate
+
from..
…to
?
We becamefriends by:
-Open Listening
-Spending timetogether
-Dialoging
Open Listening
T@LK, a proprietary tool of quantilitative technique: to a sample of
300 respondents we asked open ended questions using qualitative
projectives via CAWI interviews.
Using validated qualitative projective we let the consumer speak
about their feelings on the brand and the product, their
experiences, the typical target by using recalls, stories and
images.
Verbatims were analyzed with Statistical analysis of texts and
qualitative interpretation: people language and the semantic
segments emerged, allowed to understand the “hidden content”,
beyond the needs, perception and evaluation explicitly expressed
The words are the most important in identifying clusters (chi-squared)
22%
11%
67%
A sunsetLandscape bar sit sunset
A calm place to stayFireplace sofa fire fun cigar warm place beverage company sip
Brand/category iconsBottle bung waiting make_oldadvertising scene years pull wood old winery firm grassland desert
212%
213%
214%
212%
223%215%
212%
ResoluteResolute strong determined personality taste beautiful
Fun seekerFun new people night life moment ready want intense accompany dynamic easy nice
Open balancedParticular calm different reflective taste chat determined nice
Rough guyStrong beard wild robust taste flavor
Enjoy the lifeLife older prefer quality young chat usually sit company discotheque reflexive watching living
The gentlemanGlass_in_hand years man not fat northin consumer distinctive drinker mix
CoinesseurIce neat drunk rock alcoholic drink normal tough coinesseur taste discotequeCocktail elegant real_men
The words are the most important in identifying clusters (chi-squared)
Upper side of the map identifies local brand interpretations, far
from brand image (below)
Spending time together
to understand how the brand and its
competitors lived the experienced and
perception during the evenings of the
interviewed people.
Ethnographic
observations
pure observation and follow-up
conversations put at disposal
rich insights and allowed to
gather motivations behind
what we observed.
Dialoging
To generate local marketing activities
and branded events, with a direct
involvement of brand lovers and
“simple” consumers.
Discussion
groups
Longwave online diaries, thanks
to which the consumers were able to
supply multimedia material (photos,
movie clips, music) that describe their
way of expressing the brand at its best.
Hi all! In this discussion we’ll speak of
independency […] how would you describe the
independency of ‘BrandX’?
Results
RudeMasculineRoughSelf-confidentDeterminedResponsibleConsciousA self-made manLeaderArrivedRobust, against every stormKnows how to do thingsAlways the sameCares of its rootsHonest/Doesn’t tell you liesAuthenticOf substanceSincereWithin usIntimate sharingWell knownWell considered/someone which others askOutstandingUniqueDifferentExcellenceOf qualityRelaxedSmooth
GL
OB
AL
VA
LU
E1
GL
OB
AL
VA
LU
E2
GL
OB
AL
VA
LU
3
GL
OB
AL
VA
LU
E4
GL
OB
AL
VA
LU
E5
OT
HE
R V
AL
UE
S
Any possible route of those brand
interpretations for a new engagement?
Co-generation
A huge number of brand interpretations emerged, which were then classified into the 5 core values plus others
Client’s actions after the research
Key Learning: no real
engagement between
the category and the
younger target, mainly
due to the focus on
product, its origin vs
consumer needs and
lives
MKTG said : “More
than before we need
to transcend the
category in all
activities and
communication being
«Brand X» more than
a spirit”
Client’s actions after the research
Key Learning: The Brand is a respected brand but perceived as too ‘ego-referred’/ distant for a lot of target people
MKTG said: we need to inject warmth and a contemporary state to the brand•Key role of BTL activities and Radio/digital in media mix•Values like irony and fraternity to be leveraged for engagement
ConclusionsT@lk and ethnographics had quickly
and effectively given us back the
measure and the form of the
engagement of the consumer
t@lk the collection and the
measurement of the areas of
engagement + mind cages of the global
brand image
ethnographics the brand in the
context of the occasion, competition
consumer life The groups’ interaction had dived
deeply into the world of values of
the local consumers, where they
meet the global brand values for
generating marketing options.
how the consumer gives back his own
“interior feelings” of the brand and the
product, through the way he speaks and
lives it
Conclusions
The consumer is no longer as easy to understand, catch and track as he used to be
research necessarily needs to move forward.
One possible direction: moving toward the consumer himself, trying to
take out insights from his real life, behaviors and way of interpreting global brands.
Using technology
Mashing qual and quant
Observing more than asking
Cogenerating
Is the brand still the actor?
It’s maybe more the stage-setor the scene designer!
Is the researcher still super-partes?
Why don’t we try to engage
respondents? Why not be a friend?