Narrative Insight

What is the perception of your brand...right now?
We use a method called Narrative InsightTM to find a brand's "higher story" and build a compelling brand strategy. Too often, consumer marketing is full of abstractions. Finding a simple story that describes what a brand is and what it can be helps bring a brand to life. People hate being pitched and showered with product appeals. On the other hand, they understand and relate to stories.

Narrative Insight goes beyond traditional insight, which relies heavily on a predictable balance between quantitative and qualitative research. Adamson adds a third element, one we call "structural research." With the rise of the internet, companies have a wealth of "unstructured" data about consumers; mostly data consumers have posted themselves. We analyze that information in depth, with rigorous, proven processes, and then meld that with traditional research.

There are a few things that truly distinguish this approach:

  • Traditional research is limited. Everyone has the same data and does the same kind of studies. No one has an edge - it's like trench warfare.
  • It allows for continuous insight. Traditional market research looks at fixed moments and then generalizes about a participant's perceptions and motivations. But those things are changing constantly, so we use methods that take the pulse of the consumer over time.
  • This "structural research" is a cut above. It's much deeper than "buzz metrics" or other methods that purport to tap into the sentiment behind blogs and web forums. It is a sophisticated, highly technical approach (known as text mining) that incorporates the most advanced means of natural language processing.
  • It all comes back to telling the right story. Even when clients don't have the time or budget to undertake a full-scale text mining project, we incorporate an element that goes beyond traditional research: The element of narrative. By viewing a brand continuously, we can watch its story evolve. And then communicate this story to consumers in interesting, compelling ways.