A Case Study Illustrating SolutionSync’s Approach, Methodology and Deliverables
Seizing Opportunities in Dire Straits
Today’s turbulent economic conditions are making it most challenging for companies worldwide to not only expand their client base, but to merely maintain it. In addition, many of those companies had already invested significant resources in the development of new products and services just before the financial crisis hit our world in 2008. In the midst of a weary, stumbling economy, many companies find it risky and costly to launch new products and services, given rising consumers’ hesitancy to spend and caution of companies to green light new projects.
Despite anxiety about the impacts of the economic recession, creativity and adopting novel means to rapidly respond to crisis, change and emerging social needs can help businesses discover new prospects. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of how a particular product or service can cater to current consumers’ perceptions, behaviors and lifestyles can open up new horizons for companies, help them seize opportunities and realize long-term gains.
With many projects in the pipeline and mounting pressure to reduce expenditures, companies today are looking for speedy high quality, low-cost solutions to prioritize most promising ventures. Rapid, qualitative field research can enable companies to make informed decisions and to respond promptly to people’s real needs, based on a profound understanding of what consumers essentially think and want.
On-the-ground Experience
SolutionSync has been recently engaged in helping a renowned food giant draw a roadmap for translating an innovative idea that has the potential of revolutionizing current practices and in which it invested considerable resources, into a unique initiative, based on the integration of a culturally-sensitive perspective that draws on an in-depth understanding of consumers’ views and needs.
Our team was contracted to assess and evaluate possible ways for launching a new system combining a food product and delivery system for home use. This entailed not only probing consumers’ views on the product and delivery system, but also their appraisal of a prototype system placed in their homes. The objectives were to validate hypotheses drawn by the marketing team, develop a value proposition based on grass-roots consumers’ insights and identify key triggers and motivations that can drive the acceptance of this novel system.
To achieve that in a most time efficient manner, SolutionSync designed and conducted a qualitative field research over a period of 10 weeks. With an experienced anthropologist, a carefully selected representative sample of consumers and a blend of established socio-anthropological research methods, SolutionSync was able to generate a rich pool of data that was meticulously analyzed to highlight key consumers’ perceptions, views and lifestyles which influence their assessment of and preferences regarding the product/delivery system. Insights deducted from the study were then used to craft a culturally-sensitive value proposition that would make most sense to the target consumer segment.
Collaborative Approach and Methodology
Working closely with the client, SolutionSync engaged all relevant stakeholders (technical, marketing, R&D and business development) in articulating the study objectives to ensure that existing gaps in knowledge are clearly identified. Following desk research of relevant data and a comprehensive review of available documentation, SolutionSync’s research department developed the field research methodology. The study was carried out over a period of 10 weeks utilizing 3 primary tools; namely, In-depth interviews; Contextual and behavioural observations; and Diaries.
In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with research participants at their homes. The interviews were split in two sessions, each lasting 2-3 hours and planned to allow tracing patterns which could occur over time. A detailed interview guide was followed to ensure comprehensive coverage of key research questions, while allowing ample flexibility for participants to express their feelings and views and to follow the rhythm of the household. The interview guide included numerous open ended questions which provided participants with the chance to reflect on their emotions, experiences and dimensions of their lives which enriched the study’s overall understanding. With permission from participants, interviews were audio taped and photos and videos were also taken when allowed.
Observation of the contextual and behavioural aspects associated with product use was carried out. Lengthy stay at the households allowed for observation of the physical environment where practices and rituals took place as well as research participants’ habits and gestures. Research participants were also asked to keep a diary of their day-to-day product use. Diaries were intended to shed light on participants’ practices and routines and to augment data obtained from interviews and observations.
In order to methodically address the study’s dimensions, research participants’ background attributes were explored, examined and interpreted. Some of these attributes –such as education, profession, values and beliefs- are related to socio-cultural factors which shape people’s perceptions and attitudes. Other attributes include life experiences and acquired information which similarly influence preferences and choices with regards to product use and preferred delivery system.
These tools were complemented with a thorough review and integration of key findings and lessons learned from previous studies and other related research. They were also augmented by incorporating the views of key stakeholders such as family members, retail partners and authorities.
Tangible Outcomes
A rich pool of qualitative data was analyzed by SolutionSync to identify the following:
- Key emotions associated with the introduction and use of a new product in the household, highlighting how these emotions are influenced by participants’ perceptions and attitudes.
- Participants’ key concerns, highlighting attributes which enhance and/or undermine confidence in the product, delivery system and the prototype.
- How research participants’ and households’ lifestyles are associated with the perceptions of and attitudes towards the product, delivery system and the prototype.
In-depth understanding of people’s perceptions, attitudes and needs enabled SolutionSync to provide its client with a set of valuable insights which it shared and brainstormed with all stakeholders; technical, marketing, finance, risk management, R and D, public relations and communication agencies.
Key findings and insights were illustrated by people’s real quotes and gestures, photos and videos. This helped bring the study conclusions and recommendations to life, in such a way that enabled all those involved to land on the same page despite their diverse backgrounds, agendas and interests.
The study successfully culminated in:
- Positioning a product offer based on an understanding of people’s needs and expectations.
- Crafting communication of a system’s value proposition in a way that makes sense to target consumers.
- Management support and approval of funding for next steps towards a global product introduction.
Open-door Policy and Knowledge Transfer to Stakeholders
To ensure smooth implementation of research and effective collaboration with clients, SolutionSync adopts a participatory approach and an open-door policy, whereby the research owner and its collaborates are encouraged to take an active role in the various stages of the research, from conception throughout its conclusion. This approach is intended to ensure a common comprehension of key issues, an effective transfer of consumer insights to relevant stakeholders and management of various parties’ expectations.
Needless to say, field research similar to the one outlined in this case study face various operational, organizational and communication challenges. Squeezed time frame, difficulty in recruiting research participants, respecting participants’ availability, responding to clients’ emerging needs, reconciling expectations of different functions within a given company and bringing diverse background on the same wavelength are only a few. However, hurdles that are bound to occur need not stumble a transparent, collaborative process. SolutionSync had learned that challenging situations are best addressed through free-flowing communication and cooperation with clients. Transparency, regular interim meetings and updates and orchestrated workshops for team members are means that we use to enhance collaboration and common understanding.
The Power of Fieldwork
Fieldwork is central to SolutionSync’s approach, where exploration, discovery and making sense of people’s perceptions take place. To be in the field means to have direct, personal contact with people in their own environments. It allows for contextualizing research questions in their natural settings. The natural setting becomes the direct source of data and the skilled researcher is the key instrument.
SolutionSync’s qualitative data analysts thoroughly worked on largely descriptive raw data from interviews and observations to generate major themes, categories and case examples. By paying close attention to detail, descriptive vocabulary and direct quotes which people actually use, a sense of a story emerged. Constant comparison, deduction and thematic organization were carried out to better understand the underlying meanings of expressed ideas, beliefs and attitudes and to extract key findings from a wealth of detailed data about a defined number of people and cases.
The results and effects assessed through this approach are difficult to capture through standardized quantitative methods, which typically fits people’s ideas into predetermined response choices. Making sense of a given situation without imposing pre-existing expectations on the setting allows observations, comments and expressed views to drive towards the construction of general patterns and a picture that takes shape as the parts are collected and examined.
Using Details to Construct the “Bigger Picture”
SolutionSync adopts a holistic approach that strives to understand situations in their totalities and to explain people’s viewpoints not only in their socio-cultural context, but also in light of local and global trends, economic and technological changes. We move beyond the telling details to create an embracing perspective, through which a product, service, innovation, or an opportunity could be seen with a new eye. Our anthropologists and qualitative data analysts combine efforts with multi-disciplinary expertise to generalize details in a broader context of competitive and strategic factors which influence today’s consumers and businesses.
Conclusion
This case study illustrates how field data, generated from interaction with “real” people in “real” life situations, was interpreted, correlated and leveraged in relevance with a concrete issue that a business is attempting to address; i.e. crafting a culturally-sensitive value proposition. Contrary to a prevalent perception that qualitative research, including ethnography, consumes a lot of time and resources, this case study shows how a rapid, focused and well-articulated appraisal of a current situation resulted in generating insights about consumers’ needs and preferences, which promptly fed into a giant company’s product offer and communication package.
Today, socio-cultural understanding of consumers’ immediate needs and preferences is inevitable for grasping emerging consumption habits and patterns in a world that suffers from an unprecedented economic downturn. More than ever before, there is a pressing need to comprehend how social and cultural drivers come into play to shape new models of consumption. This entails a comprehensive understanding of how people manage their limited resources, spending and prioritization process within the broader context of revolutionary means of communication, trends, concern for the environment, lifestyles and social standings.
EER
Our qualitative data analysts thoroughly work on largely descriptive data from interviews and observations to generate major themes, categories and case examples. 
We work closely with our clients to engage all relevant stakeholders (e.g. marketing, business development, technical, R&D, production, risk management, finance, public relations, communication experts) in articulating the study objectives to ensure that existing gaps in knowledge are clearly identified.
Posted by solutionsync.com 
Posted by solutionsync.com 
