Archive for Razor’s progress

Razor is 4!

September 1, 2011 Razor's progress No comments

Oh isn’t it nice to have a birthday!

We’ve had cake (see below – courtesy of Claire – who made it HERSELF!).  We’ve had some prosecco.  We’ve had some japes.  Tomorrow night we will have a fancy dinner.

Then we will aim to have a most fabulous 4th year.

I shan’t wax lyrical about the last year because you’ll grow tired of it.  But it was GOOD.   The last few months have seen plenty of changes and I’ve no doubt that we’ll keep being surprised by the events, the people, the projects.  And I reckon that’s the point.  If you stay surprised then you will pretty much stay delighted.

So back to that cake…

Chloe

Sliding Doors

August 20, 2011 Razor news, Razor's progress No comments

Let me qualify – I don’t really understand what a sliding door is.  Other than being an actual door that slides I suppose.  I nearly titled this blog ‘one era shuts and another one opens’ but that felt a tad grandiose (and you know how I abhor exaggeration…)

But I wanted to mark what was, I feel, an auspicious week in Razor’s (nearly 4) year history.

Three much loved Razorettes have said their last goodbyes to the room on the 4th floor in Waterloo.  Debbie has gone off to seek better positions for her troublesome back, Lucy is returning to Australia and Sam Dodd is off to University to study Creative Writing.  Some of these departures were more inevitable than others but all are exciting – all heralding in exciting life changes for these three fabulous, inspiring, clever women.  We have been privileged to have counted them amongst our number for a few years.

But our numbers are swelling in return.  Claire and Rachel have been with us for a few months now – so few but so seamless that I have to keep reminding myself that they haven’t in fact, been with us forever.  Matt joined a few weeks ago and comes back on Monday after paternity leave…Steve’s fears that any of the WOMEN at Razor would have babies immediately laid to ironic rest by having a new father sooner than we have any new mothers.  Tara and Michaela form a small but perfectly formed Ops Team – Tara managing us and the office, Michaela is our very first book keeper.  I’ve already had to apologise twice for my shambolic finances (Steve has not had to apologise yet – namely by avoiding the issue altogether!)  And on Monday we are joined by Amelie – a stylish and funky researcher who we can’t wait to work with.  And we have a new intern with us too – my very beautiful and clever third cousin, Emmelia, with whom I sadly don’t share half enough family resemblance.

Elle will return in a few weeks – bronzed and refreshed after an amazing wedding and the 1st September heralds our 4th birthday.

So there’s a lot of change in the air. I COULD wax lyrical about the girls who’ve departed and weep into my hanky but I won’t.  They will ALL stay great friends – nothing is over.  But I WILL bang on about how excited I am that we’ve already met some great new people and that the opportunities to learn from them, work with them and introduce them to our clients and our values is just really, really cool.

Ta ra for now my dear darling departing Razors.

And welcome to Razor you lovely, exciting new friends.

Chloe

AQR Q Fest and The Devil Wears Prada

June 19, 2011 Qualitative Research, Razor's progress, research method No comments

Remember the scene in The Devil Wears Prada where Anne Hathaway’s character claims she’s ‘just wearing a sweater’ and Glenn Close turns on her and reminds her that the cheap turquoise ‘just’ sweater she’s wearing has in fact been passed through the style gullets of 10 or so luminaries in order to reach the level of affordable accessibility that she calls ‘just a sweater.’

I think maybe that’s how I feel about the things I hear at qual conferences.  By the time I get it (aka understand it)– it’s been through the layers of trend setting, dissection, resurrection and application that turn the theory into something I can actually use.

To be fair, I’m not a very good conference –goer.  Like I’m not a very good church-goer.  Or a stand up comedy-goer.  I can’t help but adjust my face into some sort of sceptic frown at some point around the first biscuit and it doesn’t lift until the final ciggie out the front with the cool kids.

Last week it was the AQR’s Q Fest – touted as the Glastonbury of Qual.  That sent me spinning for a start – as my idea of merry hell would be Glastonbury.  Or Sainsbury’s on the first BBQ weekend of the year.  But I gather it was all about melting pot, free-thinking and freedom of expression.  I was rather hoping it meant free weed but I have yet again misjudged my colleagues in qual.

I hear the big words: neuroscience, paradigm, plasticity, heuristic…and this year we have ‘BE’ (Behavioural Economics) – looming over all the how’s and why’s.

But what sticks?  The next day – always more than I think at the time.

But there’s something else I learnt more than anything else and that’s having the courage just to TALK about what you’re doing is as important as doing the doing.  What was it Jo Kennedy Snr said in the first episode of C4’s The Kennedys (it’s not as dire as you think) “It doesn’t matter who you are, it’s who they think you are” that counts.  And that’s it.  I think at Razor we shy away from bundling our practices into words and calling it theory.  We assume what we’re doing is dead normal and run of the mill and actually, I’m wondering whether maybe it’s more unique than that.  And sometimes we DO get there first – or at least, we’re not last.

Okay, maybe I personally will only ever be the one wearing ‘just a sweater’ but we need to keep surrounding ourselves with the people wearing the banana print sawn-off shorts and sometimes we need to be confident enough to go out there wearing the latest fashion and being proud of it.

Chloe

Another New Year Blog. Yup. Another one.

January 1, 2011 Razor news, Razor's progress No comments

It’s time for a new year. Which means it’s time for a ‘here’s to the year just gone’ and ‘here’s to a year to come’ blog from me. Whoopee. So to the 8 readers we have out there (all of whom, I suspect, work at Razor)…I shall resist the temptation to load up on carb-like clichés about 2010 and just dole out some highlights:

-3 brand new shiny and sharp Razor blades joined us: Lucy Sinclair, Sam Siva and Tom Morgan are our (no longer so new) researchers but we also have the wonderful graphic designer, Maria Stephens of Tigerlilly Designs, with us part-time…she’s the one that makes our debriefs look awesome and a whole host of other clever things besides. She also does a great job at wedding invites…but that’s another story
-We’ve had the pleasure of several interns accompanying us on our rounds: Sylvie, Sharleni, Andrew and Fiene. We like interns. They buy us biscuits.
-Elle was elected vice-chair of the AQR and single-handedly whipped up a batch of stellar entries to the Prosper-Riley Smith Award AND took part in a live debate about online vs offline qual which NONE of the rest of us would have been brave enough to do. And her team won, of course
-Elle and I went to Prague for a jolly…sorry, conference…which was splendid and invigorating and we were honoured to be chosen to present our paper on ‘First Shave’
-Debbie and Sam S bagged the project of the year…in which they moderated with sex toys in their hands and spare batteries in their pockets. Whether or not they kept the stimulus is strictly entre nous.
-Lucy has become thoroughly conversant in all things meat and pastry which makes her only marginally less scary than Sweeney Todd’s wife
-Tom has learnt more about girls and pet food than he thought possible in the space of a month.
-Sam D managed to move us into the new office with her customary organisational prowess…AND created a set of flawless systems that mean everything works… AND changed her hairstyle 5 times…and got several new tattoos (I am so jealous)
-Steve moved about very fast but got everything done. He showed us his abs and we were all a bit awed. And we think he’s just marvelous.
-We’ve getting all numerate and are delighted to have worked with Payam and Sam at Four Eyes Research on several projects. It’s a fabulous reunion. And Payam has great taste in sweet treats.
-We reminded ourselves of our visions and values with the help of my little sister Polly and her MBA BFF, Cheryl
-We’ve worked with wonderful friends and agencies who help us do what we do so seamlessly
-We raised money for Barnado’s by taking over their Marylebone store for a day
-We went to the MRS conference en masse and held our own on the dance floor
-We held our own on the dancefloor because of our constant practice in the karaoke booth after our nights out

And of course, all of it possible because of our fabulous clients who seem to keep commissioning us to work on wonderful projects with them. We love what we do and we hope to do even more of it next year.

And what of next year/this year?
-We hope to keep growing. We may be running out of desk space but there’s room for a few more and hey, perhaps that’s just the excuse I need to find that Manhatten-style loft office with even posher furniture, another napping room and our very own photocopier?
-We’ll work more with our current clients and hopefully add a few more to the mix
-We’ll keep tweaking our approaches and honing our techniques (like Steve and his abs)
-We’ll speak at some conferences and write some articles
-We’ll party. Hopefully, occasionally, without having to sing while we’re doing it. Elle’s wedding in the summer will be a good start…unless Steve’s band gets the gig

And what of me? I keep being astounded that Razor exists, year after year. I work with people who I am astonished by, daily. The company is like a Christmas present that you can’t stop playing with and when the batteries run out, your mum is always there with a new pair. And who can ask for more than that?

Chloe
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Annual Birthday Blog. We turn 3.

September 1, 2010 Razor news, Razor's progress No comments

Oh heavens. It doesn’t feel like a full year since the last time I wrote a ‘yay, Razor has a birthday’ blog. I know what that means. That means that I’m getting older, we’re getting older and from now on pretty much every sentence will be prefaced with ‘I’m sure time is speeding up nowadays’. How very dreary of me.

OMLG (if you don’t know, look it up)…to summarise our best bits:

-Super new Razorettes Lucy Sinclair and Sam Siva joined us. They are both Australian. Which wasn’t intentional but does mean I can practise my Kath & Kim on them constantloy. Super different & unusual. And super smart.
-Steve wore a pink hat and jacket and helped us raise a stonking amount for Barnados.
-We’ve done too much Karaoke. I HATE karaoke.
-We moved for the 4th time. We now live in the 3rd floor ‘penthouse’. We have a room with a view. And our own kettle.
-Sam Dodd changed her hairstyle 30,000 times. Today – it’s blonde wooly dreds. Coolest cat I know.
-Steve didn’t get older but in fact got 5 years younger. Yes, really.
-Debbie did lots of running. Like proper running.
-Jake came to see us a few times and we all blushed. He may not have noticed, but we did.
-Elle got engaged. We are pretty sure she’s going to ask us ALL to be her bridesmaids with Steve as pageboy. Can’t think what’s taking her so long.
-We’ve been to Paris and we’ve started planning the jaunt for this Christmas. Buenos Aires? Sydney? Loughborough?
-We won an award. That was nice.
-We designed lifesize cardboard cut outs of consumers to stand beside our clients’ desks. Wax works will follow.
-We asked a cartoonist to draw bespoke illustrations for a debrief
-We’ve held events for clients and consumers at Legoland, Henley Rowing & River Museum and some very funky pubs
-We did some groups on dildos and we kept a straight face
-We tempted Maria away from her old job and bought her a fancy new Mac so she could graphic design for us in some very cool ways. Go Tigerlilly!
-Steve and I were given amazing tea towels with self portraits of all the Razorettes on them.
-We have films of consumers doing some very strange things. And that wasn’t even for a project.
-We’ve been on stage in Prague talking about cool brands and new businesses
-We’ve been on Gastrotours and Design museum tours and tours of Soho sex shops
-We’ve talked to consumers about cake, chocolate, beer, ice cream, sweetcorn, magazines, curry, fruit juice, podcasting, ready meals, cereal, clothes and on and on
-We’ve learnt about families, the concept of taste and flavours, what it’s like to grow old, what it’s like to be a teenager, what it’s like to be a girl, what it’s like to snack and on and on

Frankly, it’s all been rather marvelous. We love our clients. We love the work we do. We love each other (not in THAT way Steve.) Here’s to next year…

Chloe

Here’s to 2010

January 1, 2010 Razor news, Razor's progress No comments

2010. It even sounds like an auspicious year. Pithy. Snappy.

Today, we’re joined by Lucy Sinclair, Research Manager. Lucy was at Leapfrog Research & Planning (not entirely coincidentally where I started my own qualitative research career 11 years ago). She also happens to my oldest friend…all the way from Lauriston Girls School in Melbourne, Australia.

And in March, we’re moving into our 4th office in the Waterloo Business Centre in 2 years. We’re finally in the ‘penthouse’ – yes, a whole floor to ourselves. We’ve even got a teeny tiny kitchen all of our own…which gives me an excuse to accessorize with a trendy fridge, coffee maker, matching toaster and kettle. Fabulous.

I’m running a course for the AQR in March. I’ve yet to, ahem, determine the precise nature of the course but it will involve the alchemy of creative writing and qual. Promise.

In April a few of us will be in Prague to attend the AQR QRCA Spirit of Inspiration qualitative conference. I’m part of the social committee so I’ll definitely be down the pub but don’t know yet if we’ll also be on the stage actually presenting.

So that’s what we know is happening…but then there’s the stuff we don’t know about yet…

New projects with existing clients
New projects with new clients
New techniques (including online communities, graphic design, more film, more workshops)
New Razors (especially a boy to keep Steve company!)
A bigger, better brand identity that will kickstart a 2010 for Razor that is brave, clever, perceptive, commercial, creative and fun.

Bring it on.

Chloe

We did it! Razor scoops MRS Best New Agency 09/10

December 15, 2009 MRS Best New Agency, Razor news, Razor's progress No comments

When you’re new you have to be sharp to cut through. Phew, we are! Razor has been crowned Best New Agency at the 2009 MRS/Research magazine awards and we’re all delighted.

The last two years have been a whirlwind for us. We’ve progressed from 2 to 7 people, from 2 front rooms to a funky 3 room office, from one big client to well over 20, from small projects to 14 group UK wide projects, from great debriefs to exemplary ones with theatre and role play as well, all whilst championing new methodologies and never forgetting to keep the things we do most fresh and exciting… You get the drift!

Some things have remained the same and central to our success. Simplicity and commercial focus, which are at our heart, and the oodles of passion and personality we bring to every brief.

We all enjoyed a glam night out at the awards ceremony at The Royal Lancaster Hotel on Monday night to find out our fate, with partners in tow. It was a great night. Steve DID shave, all the girls put their glad rags and heels on and everyone washed down a rather tasty lamb shank with plenty of fizz before leaping to the stage to collect our award.

Chloe and Steve said a few words to camera after the big moment…

http://www.research-live.com/news/flamingo-named-best-agency-at-research-awards/4001725.article

What makes us most happy is that we really HAVE cut through…and this is just the beginning.

Today’s the Day – we wait with baited breath

December 14, 2009 MRS Best New Agency, Razor news, Razor's progress No comments

Blimey – the time has come around. Though not that fast to be honest…!

We’re off to the MRS Awards dinner tonight to find out whether we have or haven’t been crowned Best New Agency 2009.

Obviously – for most of the Razor girls, our competitive spirit is manifesting itself in 5 pairs of killer heels and short skirts. Steve, we believe, will shave.

To be honest, even being a Finalist has been a fantastic feeling. We’re all really proud and although we’ll play nice and cheer for whoever wins…if it’s us we may not stop cheering until 2010.

Fingers crossed!

Chloe

Our very first Blog

August 2, 2009 Razor news, Razor's progress No comments

Here we are ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it’s the birth of the Razor blog. A place for us to swing open the doors to chat with you and share more stories from the chair. Here’s a very warm welcome. Can you feel it? Quickly rub the palms of your hands together if not, as if you’ve got styling wax that needs warming up before you craft that Razor sharp look… That warm sensation is our way of saying hello. We hope you’ll enjoy catching up with us. We’ll certainly enjoy you reading us.

It’s Elle swiveling in the chair right now, although she’s not alone, each Razor will shape this diary over the next weeks and months and years, cutting it anyway they like. There are no hard and fast rules. We’ll share some tales about us, consumers and everything in between and if you can give us a smile from time to time we’ll get along just fine (… a party invitation, present, appointment or sparkling CV would be even more splendid of course).

It’s a great time to start this blog. Razor’s busting with exciting news, like a can of mousse stuck uncontrollably on open. We’ve opened our doors to more great clients and brands, are applying some shine to the world of methodology and output, have doubled the team over recent months and are looking for new Razors to join us (fancy a job?). We’re also packing our boxes and moving to a new barbers around the corner, celebrating our second birthday on September 1st and getting married in less than 2 weeks (… well Deb’s is, lucky man). And on top of all this, there’s the industry events we’ve been masterminding, articles we’ve been writing and Oscars we’ve been applying for.

We’d love you to be part of our story. Razorglass to us and you. We’ll be back with more soon…

Chloe