AQR’s Bring It. Yes, we did.

May 20, 2012 General No comments

I love devising and convening courses on behalf of the AQR. I love the freedom they give me to think ‘who do I think is cool and quite fancy sitting and listening to for a few hours’ and the freedom they give me to come up with fancy names, whizzy logos and choose my own venue. To me, that’s what being on the AQR committee is all about and why I may never ever leave it (unless of course, eventually, I’m voted out).

Friday 18th May was the third instalment of the trilogy that I’m now describing (after the fact) as the AQR’s ‘creativity’ courses. We had Pimp Up Your Qual which taught us to use language and with more punch, confidence and downright bravery. Then we had Swagger which made us run around, sing, yell, mime and eventually, just feel more confident about the panache and poise we can bring to the stage.

And we’ve just ‘Brung It’. Bring It was designed to be a crash course in ALL those things – being brave, challenging, questioning, naughty, unique, clever and everything in between. There was no real brief to the speakers and no real agenda for the delegates. Most of us didn’t know what to expect. Including me. I loved every minute of the day, albeit I’m biased. But here are just a few of the things that I brought home with me:
Charlotte Austin is an ex-producer for Radio 4 and is now a freelance performance coach:
You might feel like a div if you shake hands with someone for a few seconds too long – but if you pull away too fast you might make no impression at all. Emote, enunciate and don’t forget that if the vast percentage of what people think of you is made up of everything you DON’T say, just this once, act first and think later.
Jake Goretzki is a qualitative researcher by day and doubles as a cartoonist by night.
There’s nothing more marvellous than hearing marvellous people talk about what they’re passionate about. Jake took us through a brief history of pen and ink, (we love Modern Toss, we’d forgotten about Larsen) and having deconstructed his own approach to the art of skewering, he gave us some top tips doing the same. Provoke, don’t take yourself too seriously and about all, look for the funny.
Jonathan is co-founder of LoCo (London Comedy Film Festival) and a scriptwriter.
Jonathan knows how to tell a story. I was spellbound. He just makes it all look so EASY. And then he punctures our security by making us tell a half-crazed tale about an organ donor and the fine art of revenge. Yeah, Crazy Talk.
Nick Southgate is IPA’s Behavioural Economics guru, an ad planner and School of Life top dog.
Nick makes me feel like I CAN be a poet. From a blasé quip full of ‘e’s’ I create poetry in minutes. And I’m really really proud. If I could pay to listen to Nick just TALK for hours, I would. Oh wait, if I got to the School of Life, I can.
John Griffiths’ is Creative Director at Spring Research.
Just when we thought it was all over…John made us get up, get out and get thinking. He calls is psycho-geography, I call it stop, look and think. Either way, you DO see things you never saw before.

Chloe

So, all I can say is thank you to the amazing tutors who gave their time, their expertise and their clever little brains. Thank you to the AQR for continuing to let me run riot with what is supposed to constitute ‘a course’ and of course, thank you to the 21 delegates who came along and helped us, one and all, Bring It.

Coffee and Culture: My first Conference Paper in Rome

May 9, 2012 AQR, Conferences, Qualitative Research No comments

Our Senior Research Executive Tom Morgan presented a paper at the AQR ‘Qualititative Renaissance’ Conference in Rome last week. Here he tells us about his adventures with weapons-grade coffee, magical sights and what its like presenting to your heroes…

 

Last week I went to the AQR/QRCA ‘Qualitative Renaissance’ conference in Rome to present my paper as a young market researcher.

The first night of the conference involved a number of introductions, kisses on the cheek and handshakes as everyone got to know each other (probably one of the very few times I have legitimately given someone my card who isn’t my mum or grandma). The party split off into smaller groups for dinner; I had pasta, obviously.

The next day, any remnants of the first night’s dinner and drinks, were seen off with a small cup of coffee that can only be compared to plutonium in its strength – I know it’s a cliché but Italian coffee is SO GOOD! As I sat down at my table, it occurred to me how lucky I was. Not only had I left rainy London for sunny Rome, but I had been given the opportunity to sit at a table and listen to the likes of Rose Campbell, Liz Van Pattern, Wendy Gordon, Luigi Toiati, Ken Parker, Kevin McLean etc.

After much clapping, tweeting, nodding and note-taking, at the end of the first day we decided to walk through the streets of Rome to the ‘Gala’ event that had been arranged for us that evening.

As the majority of us didn’t really know what a ‘Gala’ was, you can safely say we were more than impressed when we walked up a flight of stairs to find that we were to be eating and drinking atop a balcony overlooking Rome as the sun was setting.

The next morning, after some more weapons-grade coffee and a few great presentations, it was time for the ‘Young Apprentice’ section of the conference. The idea was that Me, Sara and Ben all present our short paper, then our assigned mentors (mad props to Liz Van Pattern for being my ‘Simon Cowell’ for the conference) would tell the audience why they should ‘vote’ – presenter that received the loudest collective clap was the winner!

I have to say Sara’s wicked paper about trying overcoming the challenge of memory in research deserved to win – interesting stuff and really well presented. Being able to stand up and talk to so many great research heroes was such a fantastic feeling, having said that, there was a point where my nerves nearly got the better of me.

Every so often I would imagine the plethora of horrendously embarrassing things that could happen while up on stage; my Prezi presentation not working, the mic cutting out and top of them all; the classic broken-belt-trousers-falling-down-in-front-of-everyone scenario. Despite all this, I remember standing down from the platform to a hearty round of applause (second loudest according to some but who’s counting right?) realising that not only had I managed to avoid sounding like Dubya Bush in his speech-making heyday, but that I had actually enjoyed the experience!

At this point I would like to give a shout out to my awesome colleagues for all their support, they never once complained about hearing my presentation a gazillion times without complaining (not to mention the individually signed card from the Razor gang which Chloe gave me half an hour before my presentation). Matt was a great inspiration for the writing of my paper from start to finish too.

Biggest thanks definitely go to Chloe however, who on our arrival into Rome made this amazing transformation from agency co-owner and research director into a combination of trainer, coach and groupie – at one point I actually thought she was going to put on the Eye Of The Tiger and insist I run up some stairs but instead she just sat at the front of the room when I got up on stage and gave me the confidence I needed – nice one Chlo.

The afternoon after my presentation was testament to how much of a lovely bunch us qualitative researchers really are. I couldn’t move a step without someone congratulating me, patting me on the back and generally being nice about my paper. Some even billed our young apprentice session as ‘the best of the conference’ – high praise indeed when so many truly inspirational researchers had spoken before us and after us for that matter.

That evening, Chloe and I flew back from Rome and I could not wipe the smile off my face – all that work had paid off – and I decided while chomping on my slightly soggy British Airways chicken sandwich, sipping on an impossibly small celebratory can of beer, that I may have developed a taste for the bright lights. Now all I need to do is come up with is some groundbreaking theory…

 

Tom

Blatant plug for AQR’s Bring It!

April 22, 2012 AQR, Networking, Qualitative Research No comments

Booking now open for AQR’s ‘Bring It’

How do YOU enter a room? Do you ever find yourself watching other people present and wish YOU could swagger around the stage like you own it? Do you know what first impression you make? Find out how to be more confident, charismatic and memorable with performance coach Charlotte Austin.
I know you think you can’t draw. But you can. And not only can you draw but you can get better, quicker and more concise in your ability to distil a single thought into just that great one-liner. Learn how with marketing cartoonist Jake Goretzki.
Co-Founder of the London Comedy Film Festival (LoCo) and screenplay writer Jonathan Wakeham will get us thinking about how we tell stories and how we can tell them better by following some simple rules of genre, character, plot and action. Debrief as Spaghetti Western? You got it.
Even the term cliché is a cliché. Nick Southgate’s bag of tricks will help us unleash our inner creative beasts and think outside our boxes as we turn idea into insight. Feel the fear and do it anyway. What goes around comes around and you’ll never take language for granted again.
Finally, Datch Datchens (really), copy-writer at Saatchi & Saatchi will pit us against the clock to create memorable, snappy, meaningful descriptions of brands. You think they just sit and drink martinis all day. Well, maybe they do, but we can all sip with them.
During Bring It we’ll all be challenged to make weird noises, weird shapes and use words we tend to forget when we write our debriefs. It’ll get us thinking harder, being more confident and ultimately, remembering that we do is a lot more creative than sometimes we give it credit for. It’s not often we get to spend a day with such inspiring, charismatic and clever people…and that includes you…so come along.

Friday 18th May, 9:00pm – 6:00pm
Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre
108 Stamford St, SE1 9HN (a few minutes walk from Waterloo)

£210+VAT for AQR members and £350+VAT for non-AQR members (includes 1 year of membership)

*********
Session leaders include:
Charlotte Austin is a Performance and Development Consultant to some very swanky people indeed, including creative agency AKQA, the BBC and the Ministry of Justice.
If she can get chap from the Ministry miming ‘climbing the stairs’ and ‘opening the gate’ (with sound effects), then she can do anything. Seriously though, her expertise lies in helping you do things, say things and BE things you didn’t know you could be.

Jonathan Wakeham is the co-founder of LoCo and the London Comedy FIlm Festival at BFI Southbank. He was an advertising planner in a past life (AMV, St Lukes)
and has worked with entertainment companies including Disney, Discovery, the BBC, ITV and Random House, and is a director of Arts Emergency and Camden People’s Theatre. His screenplay The Nile will be directed by Susanna White. He’s still trying to work out whether he’s a man or a Muppet.

Nick Southgate is the IPA’s very special advisor when it comes to all things Behavioural Economics. But fear not (or I’m sorry), we’re going to be borrowing his skills as a ‘thinker’ for this course.
He’s a philosopher, a planner, a lover of art. And he teaches people ‘how to be cool’ at the School of Life.
You never know, if we stand close enough, some of it might just rub off on us.

Datch is an enigma. A man for whom only one name is sufficient. And whose surname is Datchens. Proof that some traditions in ad agencies are still upheld, he is a copywriter
who has worked alongside his art director partner (Reuben) since before they got their first ‘creative pair’ job at RPM (they’re now the hot stuff at Saatchi’s).

Jake Goretzki is a freelance researcher and consultant but that’s not why he’s Bringing It with us. He’s also a satirical cartoonist and illustrator, specialising in cartoons that lampoon,
reflect, challenge our marketing ways. Can’t think where he gets his inspiration from.

To Book: complete and return attached form or book online at http://www.aqr.org.uk/calendar/info.shtml?event=TC12BI

MRS Conference 2012: The Book Club reading list

March 27, 2012 MRS Book Club No comments

For anyone curious, the list of books discussed at the very first Research Book Club that launched at the annual MRS Conference last week:

Andrew Bradley (ThinkBritain) read ’1984′ by George Orwell, though I doubt I needed to tell you that
But he ALSO read his bosses book, Talking to a Brick Wall by Deborah Mattinson.
Jonathan Wakeham (Co-founder of LoCo) read ‘Comedy Rules’ by Jonathan Lynn
Layla Northern (Boots) read ‘Nickel and Dimed’ by Barbara Ehrenreich
Rose Van Orden (BBC) read ‘The Trusted Advisor’ David H. Maister, Robert Galford and Charles Green

Honourable mentions from the floor:

‘The e-Myth’, Michael E. Gerber, about entrepreneurs
‘Presentation Zen’, Garr Reynolds, which is attached to a good website
‘Influence and the Power of Persuasion’ Robert Cialdini
‘The Listen Lady’ F. Annie Pettit – about social media and market research
‘Nixonland’, Rick Perlstein
‘Never had it so good – a history of Britain from Suez to the Beatles’, Dominic Sandbrook
‘Capital’ John Lanchester
‘The Game’ Neil Strauss – about becoming world’s greatest pick-up artist

For details about how to sign up to come along to the next MRS Book Club go to http://www.mrs.org.uk/event/course/535. There are 2 coming up – the 20th April and 15th June. Turn up with some thoughts on something you’ve read and we’ll take it from there.

Chloe

PS. And with MASSIVE thanks to Rose who actually had the foresight to take notes during the session. My failing utterly. I was nervous and excited and realised (too late) that my pen was on the other side of the room. It won’t happen again.

Mothers of Invention; An Inspiring Dive into Start Ups

March 20, 2012 First Shave, Networking, Women in business No comments

Here at Razor we love supporting new business ventures and our First Shave initiative gives us lots of opportunities to work with the most cutting edge and exciting upcoming brands. We’re more a bunch of girls, not suits, so positioning ourselves as adventurous, enterprising women, Claire, Amelie, Tara and I went along to this year’s Mothers of Invention event at the British Library.

With our ‘First Shave’ heads firmly on we set out to immerse ourselves into the mind-set of these budding entrepreneurs. What challenges do they face in launching a new brand and what concerns them most? How have successful entrepreneurs tackled these problems and what advice do they have for start-ups?

The Business and IP Centre at the British Library seems to have played a core role in supporting new start-ups. Since its establishment in 2006, it has assisted in creating approximately 800 businesses with a good balance of gender ownership.

The speakers were testimony that there is no template for the successful start-up. With over 56 years business experience between them (some enviably young), they were, as chair Emma Jones said “incredible women who have built amazing businesses.” These weren’t women who moaned about men and glass ceilings and maternity leave. The ‘g’-word was barely used: the women were there to talk business, not gender.

There were, however, some common strains of advice:

Research. Research. Research. Research

“Be incredibly well prepared…it just has to be done”

As Sophie Cornish from notonthehighstreet.com said, her overnight success was pretty much due to being the “right brand at the right time. For her, research meant knowing what kind of customers she wanted, and more importantly, what they actually wanted to buy, whilst enabling customers to get the ‘feel-good’ factor of supporting small retailers.

Research doesn’t end the moment the site goes live

Consistent knowledge of trends and changes means that notonthehighstreet.com can really stay on top and basically “targeting the right people with the right story” – a consistent brand profile and message enabled her to do this. With one straight, clear story, she was able to sell over 40,000 little products.

Being a great start-up doesn’t necessarily mean relying on the latest technologies or whizzy gadgets to do the work for you

Kamal Baran from the Authentic Food Company talked about how she succeeded in a bygone era (ok, 1985), when she didn’t have the Internet at her disposal. Her inspiration came from the kitchen and from the conviction that she could, and would do better than the average Joe mass-produced Samosa. Having a conviction in a product gave her, she said “the confidence to say yes”, and from this, her research stemmed- the competition was lame, the quality poor. Regardless of gender, age, nationality, or technological tools, she’s testimony that opportunities do exist with a little research and a lot of hard work.

Sometimes we stumble on ideas by complete chance

The non-conformist Tatty Devine duo is a swell example of going beyond a standard brainstorm session. By literally stumbling on their materials, and by being self-confessed clueless on setting up a business they went back to basics- asking strangers for advice (calling up Radio Kent for some sewing advice!), and against all odds, their scatty, disorganised, bit bonkers and slightly off the wall approach has been a success. Tatty Devine have also navigated the tricky issue of being small fish in a big pond – their recent popup shop in Selfridges, for example, enabling them to make a mark. Constant product development, too, has featured in their repertoire. Once the start up is, well, started up, it can’t be static. By mimicking the fashion seasons, publishing a book, alongside constant product development, the dynamic duo ensure that they remain, ‘out there.’

These women were representative that starting a start-up means… hard work. There’s no quick fix- the likelihood of networking your way to a multi-million investor is, alas, fairly slim.

 

Some key points that we really found useful…

  • “Be distinctly different by playing a different game” Christina Richardson of The Nurture Network really emphasised this. If the market doesn’t exist for your idea, make it. If you’ve got the interest and passion and conviction in your ‘onlyness’ thing, then make that idea a reality.

 

  • Brand everything: Spread your message- whether this is through collaborations (make friends!), social media, or just good old word-of-mouth. Build lasting relationships and make your mark. But don’t be afraid of innovation.

 

  • Networking: If this idea sends you into paralytics, relax. t’s not the be-all-end-all! See events as opportunities to boost your brand, and share your personality quirks- play to your strengths, not what you think others want to hear.

 

  • Take risks: Because really, what else are you going to do?

 

Rhonda

Adventures in Research: Kids and Organic Food

March 12, 2012 Qualitative Research, research method No comments

Recently, on a dark and very cold morning, I headed out to Henley-on-Thames for a day of researching for a food brand.

Nothing out of the ordinary so far…except that this was for an organic children’s food brand and I was on my way to talk to children about the environment, healthy eating and friendship in a bid to produce a series of videos to go on their website. As I sat in the car, I told myself that surely the kids would all be lovely and sweet … and of course answer every question in an articulate and intelligent way…

To my huge relief, they were all delightful and amazing (no, really!). Two camera ops, my colleague and I hung out with 8 amazing kids, their mums and some of their siblings.  We chatted about what organic meant to them (my favourite answer is “organic is a man that changes the oil in the car”), about why it’s important to recycle and about their best friends.

We made some space rockets and princess crowns out of empty water bottles and cereal boxes (I think that’s called ‘junk modelling’); we also did some painting using broccoli and potatoes. They (not me) ran around the fields in the snow. We even fed some very big horses that very nearly drooled all over our cameras!

The video is being put together by our talented editor at the moment…watch this space as we’ll put up the link once it’s finished so that you can all see how cute these kids were. And I even think that the organic/mechanic quote made the final cut!

Amelie

Welcome to The Breakfast Club

March 1, 2012 Breakfast Club, chat, General, Networking 2 comments

So I was thinking. So shoot me. Or rather, scramble me. I was thinking about starting a new thing – The Breakfast Club. I wondered who might pitch up if I said something along the lines of:

Come to the Waterloo Bar and Grill at 8:30 one morning. My ‘third office’. The first being right upstairs in the Waterloo Business Centre, the second being my own private smoking balcony and the Bar and Grill being my third.

Open to anyone really – though given that pretty much all my friends are researchers, I was thinking that would be the gist of the thing.

We have breakfast, we chat about stuff, we have those coffees and conversations we mean to have and sometimes don’t quite get around to.

If it works, we can think of a broad ‘topic’ to chat about each time. If it doesn’t, it’ll just be me and my eggs.

What do you reckon?

Let’s set a date – Thursday 5th April. If you wanna come, come. I can stop emailing you if you want me to just bog off. If you DO wanna come, let me know and I’ll just send a reminder nearer the time.

There’s a Facebook event in case anyone wants to come along and it’s on the Razor blog too if you want to forward the link.

I reckon it will be fun. But I’m a geek. And I like breakfast.

Oh, and check out the swanky logo I had designed especially – another great creation courtesy of Maria at Tigerlilly Designs…only you can’t poach her. Geddit.

Cx

PS. Feel free to forward to anyone I forgot…

TEDs 2012 Ad’s Worth Spreading

February 29, 2012 Advertising, Opinion No comments

Each year TED sets a marketing challenge to create ads that communicate messages in a way which TED wants to communicate with its followers. In short, they ask for ads you want to share with everyone around you. Personally I think this is an incredibly useful campaign to run, ALL advertising should be interesting, engaging and most importantly, talked about so I love to see something like this challenge lazy advertising and encourage creativity.

The 10 finalists really do just that. TED have scouted the globe for the winners and its easy to see why they were picked. Raising the bar for advertisers everywhere, these ads make you think, inspire you and get you talking and really isnt that what advertising should be about?

My favourite has to be ‘Bear’ by Canal+, silly but clever message about getting involved in film:

I found the L’Oreal Aimee Mullins spot inspiring and courageous:

This stunt by Ogilvy Tunis for Citizen Engagement provoked a genius reaction from the public, clearly getting the message across:

“The Difference Between a Dream and Reality is Just Doing it” – inspiring words from illustrator Boey for Sharpie’s ‘Start with Sharpie’ campaign:

 

View all the winners on Youtube

Tara x

 

Saatchi Live Chat 22/2/12 ‘Is the High Street Dying?’

February 22, 2012 Debate, Twitter One comment

Today Saatchi & Saatchi launched their first live twitter debate on the subject “Is the High Street Dying and do we Care?”. The result was a mish-mash of adland professionals, research gurus and concerned consumers battling it out to get their opinion heard with some really interesting results! Chloe, Tom and our new intern Rhonda all got stuck in to the online discussion which provided some very enthusiastic (and vocal) debate throughout the Razor Office. From analysing the tweets we found some of the main points to be:

  • It’s all about the ‘experience’ of shopping and the local high street has to offer something special to draw people in.
  • Government incentives are needed to draw the big stores in to the high street rather than locating in out of town retail parks. Alternatively local authorities should buy up derelict buildings on the High Street and rent them out at more affordable rents to new retailers.
  • If brands get too involved in the local community will people start to think of them cynically and as just vying for customers.
  • High Street needs to be more exciting (see the ‘experience’ point above) and pop-up shops were seen as a positive way to encourage High Street growth.
  • Buying online obviously has its pros but you can’t beat the thrill of buying something and having it physically in your hand
  • Is this a cultural problem too? Does the onus lie with the consumer to be locally aware and support their local shops?
  • Integration is the solution, how can the online world and high street world operate harmoniously?

Got an opinion on the above? Send us your thoughts: @razorresearch

Want to join the chat? Check out Saatchi Chat for details of the next live debate.

Tara x

Cold weather DOESN’T necessarily mean cold respondents!

February 20, 2012 Qualitative Research No comments

I thought I would write to tell you about my recent vox popping adventures in London and Berlin. I was asked to get the ‘voice of the people’ i.e. young, urban, trendy people, regarding a popular Australian soft drink and to video their responses. In many ways this is what my job as a researcher is all about – picking the people/the masses/the public off the street and encouraging them to talk about how it tastes/looks – essentially, are they prepared to buy it? Qualitative market research in it’s purest, most stripped down form – oh yes!

Having said that, we started in London and I am not sure if you remember 31st Jan? Well let me remind you – it was the day PROPER winter started, temperatures dropped and Mother Nature decided that we had had enough of the mild weather – all that ‘winter hasn’t been that bad this year’ chat was punished with some truly Baltic conditions – a perfect day to spend on the streets of London haha! That said, we all managed to keep warm with some very daft ‘clapping monkey’ (see above picture) style dancing, and the footage turned out great – the visible breath and snow flakes only served to add to some very atmospheric shots!

The plan was to visit 3 locations in London and get some Vox Pops in each one – South Bank, Exmouth Market and Spitalfields/Brick Lane. It is pretty common knowledge that as a group, Londoners have a bit of a reputation for being rude and ‘too busy to talk/stop/be nice generally’, which didn’t fill me with confidence when I thought about the prospect of asking them to stop in the cold street and chat about a refreshing soft drink. Against all expectations however, this was not the case – we had an amazing response, not only was the average Londoner happy to stop but most seemed genuinely happy to help – nobody was rude (well, nearly everyone – thank you Shoreditch!), people were genuinely interested and friendly!

For as long as I can remember people (namely anyone who doesn’t live in London, largely Northerners) have told me about the inherent rudeness and ‘sorry I haven’t got the time’ attitude of people that live in London. The story always goes that in anywhere up north, you get people making new friends EVERY day, on the bus, in the supermarket etc. etc. while in London you get pissed off commuters refusing to even look at each other, let alone say hello.

Well, I beg to differ! Our Londoners were so much fun, we had a great response as people were happy to stop in the cold and talked for way longer than we expected. The climax of this for our Australian client viewing the interviews (as you can imagine, coming from 32 degree heat in Oz, he did NOT appreciate the colder weather conditions!) was someone putting their hot lunch down to conduct the interview – this respondent was prepared to let his LUNCH GET COLD – all in the name of market research – what a guy!

The second part of the project was to visit Berlin to get the voice of the German people. We visited the very cool districts of Kreuzberg, Neukölln and Friedrichshain – only this time it was -15°C. The first time I have ever worked in 5 layers and STILL felt the cold – as you can imagine, many more monkey clapping impersonations ensued! After a slower start, we soon found that Berliners are as up for a chat as their London counterparts, despite the insanely cold conditions. The one small difference between our British and German respondents was the fact that in Germany, they could ALL speak another language i.e. English and we are not talking pigeon, GCSE style ‘I have a dog, a sister and my Dad is a postman’ English but proper, full blown let’s have chat English – I was even able to recruit Berliners in English! Also, you don’t have to look for cool people in Berlin because THEY ARE ALL COOL, and not just cool – über cool – if trendy East London were a city, it would definitely be Berlin.

Anyway the rather drawn out and convoluted point to this story is that in my opinion all is not lost with modern society – the young and the cool in London (and Berlin for that matter) are not as rude and disconnected as everyone makes out – they DO have time to stop for a chat, in fact some will even sacrifice the warmth of their lunch in the name of said chat – so to all you haters and doubters out there – have faith, we are not as bad as everyone makes out!

Tom

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