I think all the research industry should adopt a CFO, because what the CFO wants to know is not whether that ad. tested better than that ad., but does the whole program move us ahead in making brands more valuable in peoples’ lives and therefore dropping to the bottom line. (Alan C. Middleton)

ESOMAR’s 2008 Congress is nearly upon us and in this exclusive preCast, BrainJuicer Chief Juicer John Kearon chats with three of the keynotes about how cultural and technological changes are impacting peoples’ lives, and how the disciplines of marketing, branding and research need to adapt to keep pace with such change.

John is joined by former senior JWT executive Alan C. Middleton, popular anthropologist Grant McCracken, and design entrepreneur Richard Eisermann.

Listen to the podcast here

 STARRING 

• Alan C. Middleton, Assistant Prof. of Marketing and Executive Director, Executive Education Centre, Schulich School of Business, York University
• Grant McCracken, Anthropologist, Research Affiliate, MIT
• Richard Eisermann, Co-founder, Prospect
• John Kearon, Chief Juicer, BrainJuicer (host)

Listen to other podcasts in this series

Timeline [27:20]
00:00 Intro.
03:10 Brands as a shared construct (incl. 2-way conversations).
03:38 Edinburgh University’s research into the role of political brands (Alan).
04:52 “Designers will increasingly be providing the tools and methodologies for people to provide their own answers…the challenge is trying to provide a business model” (Richard).
06:20 Mass ethnography (Grant).
07:14 “In an experiment…noticed that everyone in a bar stopped drinking at the same time, even when they were blind!” (Grant).
07:33 Open-source branding (Grant).
08:29 User-created content is changing media consumption patterns (Alan).
10:10 Engaging people in the marketing process (“Marketers are becoming a symmetrical party in the relationship”) (Grant).
11:17 In a more complex world, research should be seeking themes and inspiration, not discrete answers (“Stop using research to invent products!”) (Alan, Richard).
13:38 Marketing needs to know when a prosumer vs consumer approach works (i.e. co-creation vs. prescriptive) (Alan).
14:30 Why ethnography can be more inspiring than traditional research approaches (Grant).
15:56 Designers need to understand ‘meaning’ and direct contact with consumers is the only source of this (Richard).
16:52 The need for ‘whole human research’ (Alan).
17:47 Innovation happens at the fringes, but most research doesn’t go there (e.g. off-road bicycles).
20:16 Overcoming risk-averse behaviour in corporations (“the high risk of not taking a risk”) (Alan).
21:59 Overcoming risk-averse behaviour in the MR industry (balanced score cards).
24:52 Wrap-up.

Notable Mentions
Andrew Keen, “Cult of the Amateur”.
Co-creation.
David Weinberger.
Design Council.
Disintermediation.
Economic downturn.
Ethnography.
IDEO.
JWT.
Naomi Klein.
Neil Gershenfeld.
Open source.
Sid Levy.
Edinburgh University.
UGC.
Whirlpool.

Music Theatrimus from the PMN

Series:AdTalk
Series:Events Series:ESOMAR Series:Congress08
Series:Commissioned

But not all applications are worth applying data viz to. In this video, Eric Rodenbeck, founder of design studio Stamen takes us through a few applications that do seem to make sense.

Based on live datasets, these involve Flickr, web 2.0 real estate site Trulia, and a SF Yellow Cab mapping initiative called Cabspotting.

One part we like is when Eric says that they’re not interested in the underlying technology, even though one of their team has developed the underlying software (and even better, made it open source).

You’ll find a much better writeup here, courtesy of Scribe Media, the folks who produced the video (and more besides).

Go here for the video (we couldn’t embed without it playing automatically when the page loaded, which slowed load times for everyone, never a good thing )

Series:AdTalk Series:MarketingTalk

This is the breathtaking handiwork of RT friend Olaf Willoughby, a strategic research consultant who specialises in brand innovation and creativity, and who also happens to be a fine photographer.

We’ve been urging him to put some of his portfolio online and luckily he’s obliged. So pop over to his new website where you’ll find more image goodness as well as some words about his passion to help save Antarctica from the perils of climate change.

 EXCLUSIVE  We like showcasing excellence. So why, you ask, does Anne Kirah deserve this accolade? Because she keeps things simple, she keeps it real. And while that may sound like a cliche, it’s what few clientside researchers do. Yet Anne has managed it at Microsoft. She and her team have got engineers thinking about the people who use their products. One team has even named part of their office Howard’s Corner as a legacy to an octogenarian man who forced them to design products and services for everyday folks and not just the tech savvy. Listen on, it’s inspirational and, as Vinny Jones would say, it’s emotional

 STARRING 

• Anne Kirah, Acting Dean, 180 Academy, formerly Lead Design Anthropologist, Microsoft

Recorded live at the Euro MR Event 2006

TIMELINE [18m38s]
00m00s Intro.
01m18s 180 academy – the genesis of a school that teaches radical innovation.
02m35s Reasons for leaving Microsoft.
03m17s Spreading innovation by communicating in the same ‘language’.
05m32s The importance of design in changing lives.

Microsoft
06m38s Products should be meaningful, relevant, desirable, useful – do Microsoft products pass this test?
07m26s Howard’s Corner – using everyday, ordinary people to create really useful products.
09m40s It’s all about people, not users.
10m33s Shifting Microsoft from tech to people focus.
11m35s The true art of anthropology and ethnography.
13m34s How Anne and her team drove change at Microsoft.
14m43s Should companies employ board-level consumer champions?
15m51s Does Ray Ozzie’s arrival as Chief Software Architect herald a new era of humanity at Microsoft?
16m28s Anne’s legacy at Microsoft: just think people, remember Howard’s Corner.

Other
16m49s Being picky with her new clients.

Notable Mentions
Anthropology.
Bang & Olufsen.
Bill Gates.
Denmark.
Design.
Ethnography.
Innovation.
Lego.
Microsoft.
MSN.
Nokia.
Novo Nordisk.
Ray Ozzie.

Music Theatrimus from the PMN

Series:MarketingTalk
Series:EMRE06 Series:Events