Getting To Know You

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By Pablo Flores and Jennifer Karsh (Published in Quirk’s Marketing Research Media Magazine, February 2012)

In the past several years, marketers have become increasingly interested in Hispanic consumers. The latest census shows that the population of Hispanics in the U.S. is on a growth trend, increasing by 35 percent from 2000 to 2010, and expected to increase by another 12 million people from 2010 to 2020 (U.S. Census Bureau). When you consider that U.S. Hispanic spending growth is more than double non-Hispanic spending growth, it’s easy to see just what all of the buzz is about.

As a qualitative research firm that specializes in ethnography, we have seen a sharp increase in demand from companies seeking to conduct ethnographic research among Hispanics. Over the course of the last two years, we’ve led dozens of Hispanic ethnographies for food and entertainment clients – two categories where Hispanic spending growth trumps that of the general market. Even clients who have not traditionally viewed Hispanic consumers as their target recognize the enormous opportunity presented by this influential group.

Intimidated and Overwhelmed

As companies look to expand their brand and product offerings to Hispanic consumers, many feel intimidated and overwhelmed. A sense of mea culpa is often encountered among marketers and brand managers, who feel like they should know more about the increasingly important Hispanic market but don’t know where to begin. Here’s the good news: Ethnography can provide a clear and useful starting point for companies that have never conducted any research among Hispanics. In fact, not being familiar with a market can actually be beneficial when it comes to conducting ethnography. One of the most important tenets of ethnographic research is to begin the experience with what we often refer to as a beginner’s mind. This term, taken from Zen Buddhism, suggests that you look at a person or an experience as if you are doing so for the very first time. In this way, a lack of knowledge about a given cultural group or market is actually an advantage. Through the absence of preconceived ideas, companies have the opportunity to reap the greatest benefits ethnography has to offer.

So what does it take to conduct ethnographic research with Hispanics? Like all ethnographic research, Hispanic ethnography requires the leadership of a peer moderator – someone who belongs to, or is deeply immersed in, the culture. We sometimes refer to our ethnographic researchers as Sherpas because they provide insider knowledge and guidance in leading clients through the consumer’s cultural context and experience. This role is especially important when conducting qualitative research among Hispanics in the U.S. With multiple countries of origin and markedly different levels of acculturation, it is crucial to have a culturally-sensitive Hispanic moderator who is able to bridge the cultural divide and discover insights that will bring the Hispanic consumer experience to life.

Companies or clients who commission an ethnographic research study should not be passive observers. The key to ethnography is the act of immersion – taking part in the experience of the field research by actively observing it. We call this participant observation.  Like a true anthropologist, participant observers immerse, observe and record what they see in order to document the experience and later make meaning of it. While we ask clients to take an open (beginner’s) mind to the experience, we offer a primer that helps provide important guidelines and context for their participation. A thoughtful pre-field briefing is also key in preparing participant observers for their important role in the field.

Special Considerations

As with any culture, there are special considerations for conducting ethnographic research among Hispanics:

Extend your timeline. When planning your research initiative, you should add one to two extra weeks into your schedule to allow for the additional time required to recruit Hispanic research participants. Be sure to hire a firm that specializes in Hispanic recruiting and ask for several client references. Many recruiters may say they have a broad sample of Hispanics in their database but make sure they prove it to you through references and sample studies. Recruiting Hispanic consumers is a high-touch process that often requires grassroots recruiting, many points of contact and frequent communication.

Hire a Sherpa. Even the most skilled moderator will not be able to decode key insights without proper knowledge of the cultural context. Hispanic culture is multidimensional and represents a wide variety of demographics – from ethnic and linguistic makeup to levels of acculturation and socioeconomic status. Every region, every country and often every city hold cultural nuances that dictate traditions and, more often than not, consumer behavior. An experienced moderator will help navigate the very complex terrain that surrounds the Hispanic consumer.

Open your mind. To have a successful ethnographic research project you don’t need to be an expert in Hispanic culture but you do need to be culturally sensitive. A research firm worth its salt will advise you on how best to dress, how to engage and what to expect when observing an ethnographic research session with Hispanic consumers. Being conscious and considerate of customs and beliefs is a crucial component of successful ethnographic research with Hispanic consumers.

Look deeper. Regardless of their language skills, Hispanic respondents may be less forthcoming than the average gen-pop respondent. It is important to keep in mind that the best respondent is not always the most outspoken person. It takes time to create rapport between a moderator and interviewee and even more so for Hispanic respondents, who may not be as comfortable sharing personal information as their gen-pop counterparts. For this reason, a Hispanic moderator’s first priority must be to establish a sense of trust and create a safe environment in which respondents feel free to share their innermost opinions and beliefs.

Health and Nutrition

As an example of ethnographic research in action, a major health care company hired us to better understand how to communicate to Hispanic consumers on the topic of health and nutrition. Through a series of ethnographies, we talked to more than 30 participants about their medical history, their perspectives on health, wellness and nutrition. We uncovered many important insights:

  • Hispanic moms are very self-sacrificing and often put their needs last.
  • Hispanics often opt for folk-healing and home remedies before seeking medical advice.
  • Diabetes or “sugar in the blood” is viewed with less alarm and urgency by Hispanics versus the general population.
  • Hispanic women use the fit of their clothes, rather than a scale, as a gauge of their overall health and fitness.

Among Hispanics, women in particular, the subject of personal health is considered very private. Through use of a peer moderator and one-on-one interviews that took place in the home, we were able to uncover important insights that may not have been gained through a more traditional qualitative or quantitative study.

Insights from this research informed several strategic initiatives, including a public health campaign that directs communication at Hispanic moms to get regular checkups for themselves so that they may be there for their family.

Meaningful Experience

Hispanic culture is one of the richest and most diverse cultures in the world. Once all of the practical considerations have been put into place, you are ready to experience a beautiful, powerful, field cultural experience that will, no doubt, lead to transformative insights. It is not uncommon for client participants to receive a gift from a grateful participant, be invited to a special event or find themselves choked-up from a profound and meaningful experience in the field.

As Hispanics continue to influence and inform culture in the U.S., it is critical to deepen our familiarity with them. Ethnographic research is a valuable tool for conducting qualitative research among Hispanic consumers. Done well, Hispanic ethnography offers an up-close and personal experience with a dynamic and powerful consumer group.

Read the article on quirks.com: http://www.quirks.com/articles/2012/20120206.aspx

Get to know our newest Axen team member, Giovanni!

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Q & A with Giovanni Riggioni

If Hollywood made a movie of your life, what actor would you want to play the part of you? Either Johnny Depp or Peter Facinelli

In a spontaneous talent show, what hidden talent would you enter? I can make water dripping sounds by flicking my mouth.  Weird!

Outside of your family, who has been the biggest influence in your life? Walt Disney – I remember going to a lot of movies as a kid (the classics), most of which were Disney movies.  It instilled in me a great love of movies.

What do you miss the most about being a kid? For years my best friend and I used to go to an after-school program every Tuesday.  (Yes, they made us do homework, but…) What I remember the most is the time we spent playing with our other friends.  I miss getting together with my friends every Tuesday afternoon to play.

What are you looking forward to most about working at Axen? (Or, what has already surprised you about working here?) When I was an Axen client, I thought everyone here did such a fantastic job.  What I’ve been looking forward to is the challenge of working with such a professional, dedicated and fun group of people.

 

Does Your Package Have a Personality?

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By Jen Karsh (posted on www.gcimagazine.com )

Each month we help companies understand how to help their product break through on-shelf.  With shrinking retail real estate and decreasing advertising budgets, it’s difficult to figure out just how to get your package to “speak” to your consumer. “I admit, I have like 20-seconds to actually look at anything here” says Bettina, a Sephora shopper we interviewed in Chicago.

Savvy companies like Benefit Cosmetics have figured out the best way for a package to standout in the crowd is for that package to have a winsome personality all on its own.  Benefit’s famously sassy packaging has a way of adding fun and levity to the business of beauty – an area which is otherwise riddled with doubts and insecurities. By offering up a we’re-all-in-this-together-sister sort of vibe, Benefit adds a whole new level of moxie to the world of cosmetics. “I just love the whole tone of Benefit. I feel like they just get it” says, Jessica, 28.

Take, for example, their new mascara which is aptly called “Yes, They’re Real”. The film noir packaging matched with the clever quip of the product name is nothing short of genius. Why? Because it gives the whole product story, a voice, a strong sense of personality. This kind of product naming and packaging design speaks to the kind of design-centered, experience-driven, product development that wins with consumers.  As Kris, a San Francisco native, puts it “I’ve been buying Benefit since I was in High School. Their cute-sexy packaging gets me every time.”

I spend six out of seven days a week, interviewing consumers about their innermost thoughts, aspirations and ideals. Sometimes we’re talking about floor cleaners, other times we’re discussing financial aid options, occasionally it’s toilet paper but 100 percent of the time we are talking about emotions – the kind of emotions that drive us to buy brand name products and the promise of a better life for our kids – or maybe just our skin. The point is that we all dream and we all aspire and we all shop. And when we are rolling our carts at Target or perusing the shelves at Sephora, we are looking for a reflection that speaks to our inner-longing, our inner dialogue. As packaging professionals, this is where you come in. The best packaging invites, reassures and delights. The best packaging both acknowledges and elevates the consumer. There are many techniques for this but let me give you a few of my personal favorites:


Benefit. Please see glowing commentary above. Their products practically whistle and wink from the cosmetic shelf where they are perched.

Another package that has personality-plus is certainly Method. They have created a very clear brand personality that extends to their packages. Method revolutionized the shape of cleaning by inventing bottles that are worthy of display in a modern art museum. Their “People Against Dirty” is a memorable and exacting tagline that speaks to the persona of their products.

Trader Joe’s has always been savvy with its private label brand persona. TJ’s has done it again in the otherwise “dry” category of paper goods. TJ’s private label tissue has a tongue-in-cheek, vintage chic package that elevates “Kleenex” to a whole new level. It actually has taken the bold step to personify tissue paper with cute messages to the consumer such as “I’m here when you need to pick-up icky things. Kindly, Tissue.”  Or “I’m there when you run out of toilet paper. You’re welcome, tissue”.  “I felt myself oddly reassured, by a box of Kleenex!” says Dianne, a Trader Joe’s Shopper from St. Louis Park, MN.

So how do you apply these ideas to your packaging? First and foremost, personality needs to be authentic. Here are three important lessons to consider in taking your brand/package to charm school:

  1. Discover Your Brand’s Personality. There are several ways to uncover or re-discover your brand’s personality. One of my favorite techniques for conducting this research is called a Brand Essence Study. In addition to providing this service, my company conducts this study on ourselves every few years, just to keep on our toes. This study allows you to understand your brands’ attributes, promises and overall story. At the end of the study, you have a full report card of what your brand means to your customers and how you can position yourself to win with these customers and win-over new customers. It’s genius (like a Myers-Briggs for Brands!) and it gives you the key insights you need about your brand’s personality.
  2. Be Your Consumer. One of the very best ways to internalize and externalize your brand and, therefore your packaging is to BE THE CONSUMER. Once you have discovered your brand’s personality, get in the shoes of your customer to understand how your brand is perceived through your packaging on the shelf.  This requires in-context research (in-store, in-home) followed by a one-day session in which you can create a profile for your consumer. By getting this kind of intuition about your consumer you can better guide decisions and creative. Once you create this kind of “brand architecture”, it pays back in spades!
  3. Let Your Packaging Do the Work. Once you’ve cemented your Brand’s personality and learned to think like your consumer, you can let your package designers and Creatives do the rest.  With a clear vision of your brand and your brand’s personality, packaging simply becomes the invitation to the party, the welcome mat that draws people in.

Perhaps this whole matter of packaging with personality can best be summed up by one of this week’s most popular tweets,  “beauty fades but personality lasts a lifetime”. We couldn’t agree more.

Co-Creation with Kids

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By Jen Karsh (posted in “The Toy Book” Sept/Oct 2011)

If you’ve never heard of “co-creation” before, the term may sound biblical or, at the very least, epic. In the field of qualitative research, co-creation describes a process in which companies and consumers work together to jointly create a concept or product idea.

With the accelerated need for new and innovative ideas, companies are becoming increasingly interested in conducting co-creation sessions. Finding the right consumer participants is a key to the process. They must be both consumers of a given category or brand, and demonstrate an open mind and creative aptitude.

Kids and Co-Creation

So, where do you find a strain of consumers who possess positive and creative problem-solving skills? Having designed and led co-creations for years, I can honestly say the best pool of candidates for the job represent a larger share of the population than you might guess. That’s right—kids!

Kids are inherently open-minded and creative. They are comfortable with process-oriented activities that don’t always have a clear and identified outcome. On the whole, adults tend to see matters in black and white and feel less comfortable conducting tasks that feel ambiguous. Kids, on the other hand, feel perfectly comfortable working in the “gray,” which makes them ideal co-creation participants.

The Co-Creation Process

From an outside perspective, a co-creation session looks like a cross be- tween a science fair and a school carnival. Several stations are typically set up with prototype materials of varying sizes, shapes, and textures. There’s even an artist, called a “Rapid Viz” illustrator, on hand to instantly bring ideas to life on paper.

Co-creations are usually conducted over one or two days, with each session lasting about two to three hours. Co-creation sessions are most often held in a large, open room providing plenty of space for creativity and movement. During a co-creation, consumers and team members are given a briefing on the co-creation process, assigned to teams, and then led through a series of fun and experiential activities. This process ultimately leads to the immediate brainstorming of new or improved concepts.

A significant amount of design and planning goes into every co-creation process. As facilitators, we take great care to design and develop the curriculum and stimulus that helps fuel a co-creation session. There is a science to briefing and pairing client team members with consumers. This protocol is especially important when facilitating co-creation with young consumers.

Co-Creation Results

While the elements of each session are unique, the process is consistent and the output is clear. At the end of a co-creation session, a company can expect to have dozens of new concepts to take into the next stage of product development.

With co-creation, you can expect the unexpected. I have witnessed kids light up with excitement when they are introduced to the brand manager behind their favorite video game. I have also seen the most cynical product designers be blown away by a kid’s idea for a solar-powered toy. The unique collaboration of company, consumer, creator, and fan, is, indeed, epic.

Brand Authenticity: Breaking Through on Shelf

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By Jen Karsh
(posted on
www.beautypackaging.com)

I grew up on a farm in Southern Minnesota. I have vivid memories of an older gentleman we fondly referred to as “The Watkins Man” who would visit us twice a year, selling natural soaps, spices and remedies from his old-timey delivery truck. I can still remember the quaint cursive labels that adorned the apothecary products that lined our medicine cabinet shelves.

Strolling down the health and beauty aisle at Target recently a familiar-looking package caught my eye. At first, I mistook the tubes of lip balm as an attempted Kiehl’s knock-off. Upon further examination, I realized the brand was none other than J.R. Watkins (minus “ The Watkins Man”)!

I can attest to the fact that J.R. Watkins was natural before it was cool.

I’ve since investigated J.R. Watkins online to help me connect the dots between my memory and what I discovered on the store shelves. Turns out, Watkins has been in business since 1868. Located in Winona, Minnesota, the Watkins has a 143-year old history thanks to being 100 percent authentic to its brand.

Here are three key lessons every beauty, fragrance and personal care company can learn from Watkins’ well-won wisdom:

1. Keep it Real.  In the high-glamour, trendy world of beauty and fragrance, it’s easy to get caught up in the latest style and trends. “What I love about Watkins is that it’s never tried to be anything it isn’t.” says Cheryl, a stylist in Los Angeles and long-time Watkins consumer.

2. Stay Close to Your Roots. In 2005, the J.R. Watkins was picked up by Target. This, of course, was a big win for the company who did not have much distribution in brick-and-mortar stores. Nevertheless, the company did not abandon its heritage in home sales. In fact, home sales are still a major part of Watkins’ core business.  

3. Evolve Organically. It goes without saying that packaging trends have come and gone since the mid-1800s when the first Watkins’ first package was conceived in a kitchen in Plainview, MN.  “Imagine if Watkins would have followed every bottle and package trend throughout the decades, the brand would have been a hodge-podge with no clear identity” says Tricia, a San Francisco industrial designer. By staying true to its heritage, Watkins has withstood the test of time and that’s a claim few companies can make.

While your brand may have a shorter history or a more modern brand positioning, you can still take a page from the Watkins’ playbook. Flash may draw consumers in but brand authenticity is what keeps them coming back to your product.

Axen Research welcomes new managing director, Giovanni Riggioni!

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via www.mrweb.com

Boutique MR firm Axen Research has appointed Giovanni Riggioni – previously Executive Director of Global Research at Warner Home Entertainment – as Managing Director.

LA-based Axen was founded by Jennifer Karsh, now the firm’s President, employs a team of nine people, and focuses on creative qual research, with an offer including concept testing, packaging validations, name testing and brand positioning, ethnographic and online research.

The company says Riggioni’s expertise will help it expand into the entertainment sector, as well as maintaining its offer for existing clients. His role includes helping to oversee Axen’s day-to-day operations, including its trademarked video production services.

He brings more than a dozen years of experience managing quant and qual research client side, with particular knowledge of emerging research technologies, and international and multicultural expertise.

‘Giovanni is a ‘director’ in the truest sense of the term’ says Karsh. ‘He is a big-picture thinker who has a keen ability to guide partnerships, oversee details and carry out a clear plan with his exciting vision.’