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F&F A guide to day five brands

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Ian Pierpoint

The market research industry is broken. We think spending more and real time with people, researching those never researched before and talking to people with a story tell might just save it.

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a guide to
We are a team of 13 SENIOR RESEARCHERS, PRODUCERS and FILM MAKERS. Based in Montreal, NYC, Chicago and London we conduct exploratory research in the most authentic and human way. We have a unique immersive ethnographic approach to qualitative research, focusing on one project at a time, building trust with our subjects, spending real time in their world and following the story wherever it takes us. Since COVID-19 we have moved our approach online. Because the truth has never been harder to find. 2 02
the research industry is broken When you think about it, being a researcher *should* be the absolute best job in the world. You get to travel the world. Meet a host of interesting people. Dig deep into the fringes of culture. And get paid to think and read and write and help really interesting brands solve really interesting problems. But almost every researcher we know is fucking miserable. And tired. And not particularly proud of the work that theyre doing. There are a host of things wrong with the industry that both sides of the equation (client & agency) seem to immediately recognize when theyre brought to light. 03
professional RESPONDENTS The truth of the matter is that most research is done with boring people from boring databases. People who often show up to focus group facilities multiple times per week. People who are quite willing to lie to fit into whatever specs the recruiters are looking to fulfill. People who are mainly interested in a $100 Visa gift card and a slightly dry sandwich. In short: people who dont give a damn about your product or your brand. And people who are thoroughly disinterested and disengaged. Its a financial transaction. And they have absolutely no incentive or impetus to share their real feelings their deep truths with you. And why should they? 04
inauthentic environments Beyond professional respondents, most research is done in hot, dull, beige rooms. Youre lucky if you get a solitary plant and a decent binder of fast food options. These environments feel colorless. Joyless. Sterile. So why do we expect humans to truly open up in them? Or to be creative? Or to dream up the future of your brand? Clients struggle to pay attention in the dark backrooms. Its a battle between the moderator and the respondents who can go the longest without looking at their watches or phones. So why do we keep doing it? 05
The best researchers absolutely light up when they get the opportunity to talk to humans. To dig into how people look at the world, what they dream of, and what their tender underbellies look like. But when youre doing boring groups in beige office buildings with disengaged respondents you feel more like a dancing monkey. (Can we get more ENERGY! in the room, please??) Its disheartening and its boring to try to find any signal in such inauthentic noise. And frankly, most researchers are fucking exhausted. Theyve been on airplanes for months in a row. Theyre going to churn out your groups and go back to their hotel rooms to catch up on four other projects, and emails telling them that they need to bring in more new business. Theyre not fully dialed into your project because they absolutely dont have the physical or emotional bandwidth to be. FAKE NOISE FINDING THE SIGNAL IN 06
And the culprit is a severe shortage of authentic, deep connections that build trust. All of this leads to a lot of banal insights. 07
C Further&Further is on a quest for the truth. 08
Introducing: DAY 5 BRANDS 09
engaged SUBJECTS Day 5 brands realize that the most interesting insights come from interested, interesting people. And Day 5 brands look at them as humans, not just consumers. To get to deeper truths, we spend an inordinate amount of time making sure that we find the exact right people for every single project. We dont recruit from databases. We use a network of culturally connected people to help us find those who actually want to participate in this research. We look at them as subjects and make sure they feel the same way. They tend to genuinely WANT to talk to us. To feel special that theyve been cast in a documentary. And to want to let us much deeper into their lives. DAY 5 BRANDS BELIEVE IN 10
deep TRUST Day 5 brands realize that building authentic connections takes time. And Day 5 brands give insights the space & time they need to mature. We tend to spend a week with our subjects, at the very minimum. We talk to them online, talk to them in a neutral environment and then hang out with them 2-3 more times in the places that matter the most to them. We meet their family. We go out with them and their friends. We genuinely forge relationships with them. And in return, they start opening up. And telling us their actual truths. DAY 5 BRANDS BELIEVE IN 11
EXPLORE Day 5 brands recognize that context is absolutely everything. And Day 5 brands recognize that insights need some space to breathe, and evolve. Our approach gives our team the freedom to follow the most interesting stories to get to the heart of your brands questions. Sometimes a subjects friend might prove the most interesting source of knowledge. Sometimes we might spend a day or two talking to local experts. Sometimes we might hire someone to take us on a tour of a city, to truly understand whats happening there. Day 5 brands recognize that it takes a variety of inputs to get truly interesting answers. space to DAY 5 BRANDS BELIEVE IN 12
DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 5 DAY 3 DAY 4 We interview James, a native American, studying for his masters degree and working part time He introduces us to his room mates who he met when staying at a homeless shelter We visit the shelter where we speak to other people struggling with addiction, homelessness and getting work James introduces us to Grace who lives on a nearby reservation - we meet her friends who have been affected by opioid addiction We meet James to explore what weve seen and understand his perspective on our experience For every ONE recruit, we often meet up to TEN additional people along the way. These are far from recruits, they're real people and an integral part of our journey in search of the truth James takes us out with his college friends, also studying post graduate degrees. 13
Day 5 brands recognize that it takes a bit of time to get to the really good stu鍖 14
Without fail, we tend to get into peoples childhoods once they start to open up. Childhood is the foundation on which the rest of peoples lives are built. The years that literally built their brains & ways of looking at the world. The place that long-lasting trauma tended to have occurred. The era that truly made people who they are today. Talking about childhood tends to get to the root of WHY people actually are the way that they are. But it takes a lot of trust for them to tell you about it. of behavior DAY 5 BRANDS GET TO the or the origins 15
& FAILURES When you spend real time with people, you start to uncover the things that people arent as proud of. In a focus group, everyone wants to present themselves in the rosiest lens possible bragging, or even lying, to come across as successful and competent to their peers. But when its just you guys. On day 5 of building a relationship. They start to talk about their warts. The things theyve done that theyre not quite as proud of. The things that add really, really important context to their lives. But the things they dont want to tell to just anyone. FUCK UPS DAY 5 BRANDS GET TO 16
& contradictions Humans dont always make sense. What they tell you on Day One vs. what theyre waxing poetic about on Day Four might be at complete odds to each other. On a recent project, a young woman told us that she defers to her parents values & wishes, no matter what. On day five, she told us about a secret boyfriend of four years, who she didnt think her family would accept. People are complicated. It takes some time to unravel how they actually feel and to sort through their tensions and seeming contradictions. tensions DAY 5 BRANDS GET TO 17
& desires And finally, Day 5 brands get to the heart of human desire. Those secret corners of peoples hearts and souls, where their real wishes live. Wherein exists the person they want to be - who might be entirely different than the one they actually are. These secrets and deep-rooted desires are essential to brands. And youre only going to get to them if you take the proper time. And if you build authentic trust. secrets DAY 5 BRANDS GET TO 18
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F&F A guide to day five brands

  • 2. We are a team of 13 SENIOR RESEARCHERS, PRODUCERS and FILM MAKERS. Based in Montreal, NYC, Chicago and London we conduct exploratory research in the most authentic and human way. We have a unique immersive ethnographic approach to qualitative research, focusing on one project at a time, building trust with our subjects, spending real time in their world and following the story wherever it takes us. Since COVID-19 we have moved our approach online. Because the truth has never been harder to find. 2 02
  • 3. the research industry is broken When you think about it, being a researcher *should* be the absolute best job in the world. You get to travel the world. Meet a host of interesting people. Dig deep into the fringes of culture. And get paid to think and read and write and help really interesting brands solve really interesting problems. But almost every researcher we know is fucking miserable. And tired. And not particularly proud of the work that theyre doing. There are a host of things wrong with the industry that both sides of the equation (client & agency) seem to immediately recognize when theyre brought to light. 03
  • 4. professional RESPONDENTS The truth of the matter is that most research is done with boring people from boring databases. People who often show up to focus group facilities multiple times per week. People who are quite willing to lie to fit into whatever specs the recruiters are looking to fulfill. People who are mainly interested in a $100 Visa gift card and a slightly dry sandwich. In short: people who dont give a damn about your product or your brand. And people who are thoroughly disinterested and disengaged. Its a financial transaction. And they have absolutely no incentive or impetus to share their real feelings their deep truths with you. And why should they? 04
  • 5. inauthentic environments Beyond professional respondents, most research is done in hot, dull, beige rooms. Youre lucky if you get a solitary plant and a decent binder of fast food options. These environments feel colorless. Joyless. Sterile. So why do we expect humans to truly open up in them? Or to be creative? Or to dream up the future of your brand? Clients struggle to pay attention in the dark backrooms. Its a battle between the moderator and the respondents who can go the longest without looking at their watches or phones. So why do we keep doing it? 05
  • 6. The best researchers absolutely light up when they get the opportunity to talk to humans. To dig into how people look at the world, what they dream of, and what their tender underbellies look like. But when youre doing boring groups in beige office buildings with disengaged respondents you feel more like a dancing monkey. (Can we get more ENERGY! in the room, please??) Its disheartening and its boring to try to find any signal in such inauthentic noise. And frankly, most researchers are fucking exhausted. Theyve been on airplanes for months in a row. Theyre going to churn out your groups and go back to their hotel rooms to catch up on four other projects, and emails telling them that they need to bring in more new business. Theyre not fully dialed into your project because they absolutely dont have the physical or emotional bandwidth to be. FAKE NOISE FINDING THE SIGNAL IN 06
  • 7. And the culprit is a severe shortage of authentic, deep connections that build trust. All of this leads to a lot of banal insights. 07
  • 8. C Further&Further is on a quest for the truth. 08
  • 10. engaged SUBJECTS Day 5 brands realize that the most interesting insights come from interested, interesting people. And Day 5 brands look at them as humans, not just consumers. To get to deeper truths, we spend an inordinate amount of time making sure that we find the exact right people for every single project. We dont recruit from databases. We use a network of culturally connected people to help us find those who actually want to participate in this research. We look at them as subjects and make sure they feel the same way. They tend to genuinely WANT to talk to us. To feel special that theyve been cast in a documentary. And to want to let us much deeper into their lives. DAY 5 BRANDS BELIEVE IN 10
  • 11. deep TRUST Day 5 brands realize that building authentic connections takes time. And Day 5 brands give insights the space & time they need to mature. We tend to spend a week with our subjects, at the very minimum. We talk to them online, talk to them in a neutral environment and then hang out with them 2-3 more times in the places that matter the most to them. We meet their family. We go out with them and their friends. We genuinely forge relationships with them. And in return, they start opening up. And telling us their actual truths. DAY 5 BRANDS BELIEVE IN 11
  • 12. EXPLORE Day 5 brands recognize that context is absolutely everything. And Day 5 brands recognize that insights need some space to breathe, and evolve. Our approach gives our team the freedom to follow the most interesting stories to get to the heart of your brands questions. Sometimes a subjects friend might prove the most interesting source of knowledge. Sometimes we might spend a day or two talking to local experts. Sometimes we might hire someone to take us on a tour of a city, to truly understand whats happening there. Day 5 brands recognize that it takes a variety of inputs to get truly interesting answers. space to DAY 5 BRANDS BELIEVE IN 12
  • 13. DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 5 DAY 3 DAY 4 We interview James, a native American, studying for his masters degree and working part time He introduces us to his room mates who he met when staying at a homeless shelter We visit the shelter where we speak to other people struggling with addiction, homelessness and getting work James introduces us to Grace who lives on a nearby reservation - we meet her friends who have been affected by opioid addiction We meet James to explore what weve seen and understand his perspective on our experience For every ONE recruit, we often meet up to TEN additional people along the way. These are far from recruits, they're real people and an integral part of our journey in search of the truth James takes us out with his college friends, also studying post graduate degrees. 13
  • 14. Day 5 brands recognize that it takes a bit of time to get to the really good stu鍖 14
  • 15. Without fail, we tend to get into peoples childhoods once they start to open up. Childhood is the foundation on which the rest of peoples lives are built. The years that literally built their brains & ways of looking at the world. The place that long-lasting trauma tended to have occurred. The era that truly made people who they are today. Talking about childhood tends to get to the root of WHY people actually are the way that they are. But it takes a lot of trust for them to tell you about it. of behavior DAY 5 BRANDS GET TO the or the origins 15
  • 16. & FAILURES When you spend real time with people, you start to uncover the things that people arent as proud of. In a focus group, everyone wants to present themselves in the rosiest lens possible bragging, or even lying, to come across as successful and competent to their peers. But when its just you guys. On day 5 of building a relationship. They start to talk about their warts. The things theyve done that theyre not quite as proud of. The things that add really, really important context to their lives. But the things they dont want to tell to just anyone. FUCK UPS DAY 5 BRANDS GET TO 16
  • 17. & contradictions Humans dont always make sense. What they tell you on Day One vs. what theyre waxing poetic about on Day Four might be at complete odds to each other. On a recent project, a young woman told us that she defers to her parents values & wishes, no matter what. On day five, she told us about a secret boyfriend of four years, who she didnt think her family would accept. People are complicated. It takes some time to unravel how they actually feel and to sort through their tensions and seeming contradictions. tensions DAY 5 BRANDS GET TO 17
  • 18. & desires And finally, Day 5 brands get to the heart of human desire. Those secret corners of peoples hearts and souls, where their real wishes live. Wherein exists the person they want to be - who might be entirely different than the one they actually are. These secrets and deep-rooted desires are essential to brands. And youre only going to get to them if you take the proper time. And if you build authentic trust. secrets DAY 5 BRANDS GET TO 18
  • 19. 19