tmrc zmet brief intro
TRANSCRIPT
TMRC – From Consumer Myths to Brand Legends
ZMET®Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique
A brief Overview
Creating Perceptions doesn’t work like this.
Changing thoughts and behaviors doesn’t work like this.
Impacting consumer behavior definitely doesn’t work like this.
The human mind – and decision-making – is rooted in different layers.
…and KEY layers are not consciously accessible.
ZMET® is effectively used to interview the “Other You” of the Consumer…
…and understand how the subconscious creates and guides conscious interpretation
and behavior!
The Consumer’s mind is a myth, they talk in one way, and act in another.
Verbal answers is just toe tipping the surface level of consumers minds.
Consumers buy your products but pay for the experience, consequently communication is mostly off-target!
Every consumer wears a “mental mask”, by nature
People’s true perceptions, experiences and motivations are deeply hidden and mostly cannot be articulated. Business using traditional research inevitably only communicate towards their consumer’s mask.
The problem is, the mask does not make the decision!
We fail to see the HUMAN being!We inevitably fail to understand her real thoughts, feelings, experiences and perceptions. And the critical elements that really drive her decisions and behavior.
Words are not the same as Words are not the same as thoughtsthoughts
Thoughts are activations of neural networks, which words cannot completely describe – thoughts are visual, not language.
Lots of information, especially critical subconscious experiences are lost in verbal descriptions & rationalization
Human thinking is expressed in Human thinking is expressed in Metaphors – we experience the world Metaphors – we experience the world
around in metaphorical processesaround in metaphorical processes
Metaphors and re-presentative thought processes help us tap into consumer’s deep emotions and
experience spaces.
We translate these deep findings into actionable marketing strategy, positioning and
communication!
Patented technique to dig deep into the consumer’s Mind. Uncovers real experiences and motivations – those that drive consumer behavior!Developed by Harvard Business School Marketing Professor Gerald Zaltman
ZMET® Insight then transferred into actionable Strategies to activate motivations, “engineer” perceptions, experiences and to influence behavior
TMRC uses ZMET® in exclusive license in Greater China, Thailand, India, and other SE Asian markets.
ZMET® - Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation TechniqueZMET® - Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation TechniqueDeep Dive into subconscious & conscious consumer Deep Dive into subconscious & conscious consumer
perceptions and motivationsperceptions and motivations
The ZMET interview
ZMET Overview: Each ZMET interview is a one-on-one discussion lasting approximately two hours. In preparation for the interview, participants are asked several days prior to their interview to collect pictures that represent their thoughts and feelings about the research topic. As a result of this pre-interview work, participants arrive for their in-depth interview at an advanced stage of thinking.
“Please collect 6 to 8 pictures that express your
thoughts and feelings about
[the topic of exploration]”
The ZMET® interview is carefully designed to probe various facets of the mind’s operation,
enabling the consumer to be more explicit about their implicit thoughts and feelings
This also engenders the surfacing of important but often hidden drivers of
behaviour
The ZMET interview
Steps in the ZMET® Process
Storytelling – key associative and re-presentative elements and themes that rule the conscious and subconscious experience of the research topic
Missing Themes
Expand the Frame
Sensory Explorations
Vignette
Digital Collage – the visualized thought experience
Surface expressions point to hidden patterns underlying human thought.
These patterns are called Deep Metaphors™
They are fundamental categories of human experience that shape everyday decision-making.
The ZMET “Deep Metaphor™”
What are Deep Metaphors?
Deep Metaphors are the Mind’s first and subconscious responder to any stimulus
biological reactions to events or circumstances
unconscious and precede conscious thoughts and feelings
hardwired or instinctual, few in number and universal
Deep Metaphors™ rule the Human Mind’s fundamental thought processing system
Technical definition A fundamental orienting structure of thought that operates automatically and unconsciously
Working definition A viewing lens; a basic but powerful way of seeing the world
CHINA - Whiskey:Allows me to restructure and simplify my thoughts
Container
Journey
Surprise-filled “Journey” experience during consumption of light and crispy wafer-chocolate snacks
Reconnecting with my youth: anti-aging crème products
Connection
THAILAND - Whiskey:THAILAND - Whiskey:Creates Container of Creates Container of intimate and protective intimate and protective friendshipfriendship
Container
Deep Metaphor Example in Deep Metaphor Example in AdvertisingAdvertising
By controlling the unconscious frame
of “Michelin tires as a CONTAINER for your loved ones,” Michelin helped
consumers to see and feel key
emotional benefits.
Michelin thereby was able to
establish and sustain a 30% price
premium for its tires.
The importance of Mental Frames created by Deep Metaphors:
BOTH executions communicate SAFETY and both are based on the Deep Metaphor of CONTAINER –
surely the “safety feel” is different?
The Marketing / Communication Theme is different, because the
mental frame is different!
ZMET® Mind Map
Mind Maps represent bundles of thought, or constructs, that many consumers share regarding a specific subject
• A particular thought never stands alone… individual thoughts bundle together in the mind and work in partnership with behavior
• The map captures the socially shared, connected constructs that are most prominent
• The construct associations illustrated in a Mind Map represent how consumers currently think about a topic
• In this sense, a Mind Map serves as the “anatomy” of the mind of the market
Brief Case study on using ZMET® to understand how consumer’s perceive and a motivated by a certain Brand
Message / Positioning Theme
Objective:
Understand consumers’ subconscious perceptions of natural beauty and naturally beautiful hair
Insight Translation into tangible communication
For this project, ZMET® dug deep into the consumer’s experiences and perceptions of
“naturally beautiful hair”
Note: Case Study used with permission from Unilever
Healthy
Shiny / Bright
Balanced diet
Black
Feel more
natural
Motion
Shows overall body is healthy
Look / feel more
energetic
Gives me the look I
desire
Feel calm, relaxed
Clean
Care for my
hair
Smooth
Look more
beautiful,
attractive
Feel comforte
d
Straight
I am more loved
Look young
er
Shows I am a
caring person
Brings me
closer to others
Changeable
Have positive influence on others
Self - confidence
Feel happy
Feel more
successful
More power / control over
othersI show myself more
What we learned from the ZMET® Mind Map
On an emotionalized functional level: the element of “motion” is the
key element that creates consumer’s subconscious
experience of having “naturally beautiful hair”
Energetic Energetic and Lively and Lively
FlowingFlowing
What kind of Motion defines “naturally beautiful”? What kind of Motion defines “naturally beautiful”?
Within the context of a Woman’s “naturally beautiful hair”: the Motion Within the context of a Woman’s “naturally beautiful hair”: the Motion of a Woman’s Hair has an of a Woman’s Hair has an Energetic LivelinessEnergetic Liveliness and a and a Smooth FlowSmooth Flow
Consumers’ deepMotivations which impact their
behavior don’t get lost in translation anymore:
“Normal methods only help us get facts, which is the surface of the iceberg. TMRC’s ZMET® really gets true insights deep down in consumers’ minds, an into their real feelings which they normally cannot articulate. We have been using ZMET® successfully to launch new brands and re-launch brands in China. As a client, I cannot find anything better than ZMET®.”Joanna Wang, VP Beauty Care, Unilever China (2006)
The Deep Metaphors of RESOURCE and FORCE define “Motion” in Hazeline .Shampoo “Naturally Beautiful Hair” TVC.
On an executional level, note how every single hair shot shows moving hair - fluttering strands of hair, filled with energy, brushed by windy breeze, in a
“resource-infused” manner, and using a water fountain cue…
This TVC put the brand back onto an 18% / annum growth path
TMRC – From Consumer Myths to Brand Legends 27
www.tmrcresearch.com
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TMRC India:123, 1st Floor, Vipul Agora, M.G. Road Gurgoan, 122001, Delhi, IndiaTel: +91 124 4609906 Fax: +91 124 4609900