Re-writing Research Questions

When conducting research, it's important that questions prompt people to tell stories, and not just answer questions. For this blog post I have been given a short list of questions that could be asked in a research interview setting. For each question, I will rephrase it in two other ways in order to prompt the interviewee to really tell a story.

Have you ever sent a text message while driving?

• Name a scenario where you think it is okay to send a text message while driving. Have you ever been in this scenario?

• When you see your friend texting and driving, are you prone to say something about it, or more likely to let it go unannounced?

 Would you say you travel abroad frequently?

• Where is the coolest place you've ever traveled to and what made that place unique?

• How many countries outside of the US have you traveled to and what was the coolest thing about each place?

Do you post a lot of pictures on Instagram? 

• What would your friends say about the quantity and quality of your Instagram feed? 

• What sort of things trigger you to post pictures on Instagram and how often do you come in to contact with those said things? (ie. the outdoors, puppies, beer etc.)

Do you prefer to shop at big boxes or locally owned stores?

• If you could only shop at 3 stores for the rest of your life, where would you shop and why?

• If we asked your 3 best friends what YOUR favorite stores to shop at were, what would they say?

Do you have an iPhone or an Android phone?

• Describe your cellular phone with as much description and creativity as possible.

• Pretend your cell phone was the main character of a children's book, give us a brief summary of the book, outlining the life of your cell phone.

How often do you eat sweets?

• Rank your top 5 sweets and how often you eat each particular sweet.

• If you could only eat sweets for the rest of your life, what would you most likely live off of?

Do you tend to buy things that are on sale?

• Tell me about a time you found a really good sale. What did you buy and how did you feel after you made the purchase?

• Are you more likely to wait for a good sale or purchase goods when you want them? If the ladder, what items are you willing to wait for?      

 

When conducting research, it is important to ask the right questions as you have the power to spark a creative fire inside the minds of those being interviewed. Yes-or-no questions return just a fraction of the amount of insight as a well crafted story-telling question. In volleyball, in order to ensure that the ball is hit as hard as possibly to the other team, it must be set up perfectly. This idea can be applied in an interview setting as well. If you're trying to get the richest, fully developed response from your interviewee, you must set them with a question that begs that they take a swing at it. Analyzing your questions and rephrasing ones that are not open-ended is one way to perfect your set and prepare for richer responses.

The Art of Insight

Fact vs. insight.

In the creative world, facts and incites can be used to develop strategy and make for a more successful final product. Although both are important components to creative decision making, they differ in the way that they are derived. A fact, defined by the dictionary as: a thing that is indisputably the case, is unique in that it doesn't change. It is what it is, and it will always be nothing but that.

An insight, on the other hand, is something that has to come about. An insight is earned, but can  change as well. The combination of research and problem solving can give you an insight, but an insight is really the capacity to gain some intuitive understanding of some person or thing. However, in order for an understanding to become an insight, it must be accurate. It cannot just be a thought. It must be a fully planned out and accurate understanding.

Facts can even be used in the process of forming these insights. As a creative team collaborates to come up with certain insights, facts can be used to construct and support them. One commercial that I saw just this afternoon was a cheesy, catchy little nuisance of an ad, but a prime example of strategy that directly uses facts of life, as well as insights by the creative team.

Take a look at the ad below:

Fact: Kids with markers are destined to make a mess.

But the ad was not made on this fact alone. The ad screams that messes are okay. Crayola is introducing a marker that is completely washable. The ad demonstrates the marker being washed off the wall, a child's hand, and even clothing. No matter what the material is, Crayola says these markers can be washed right off. To me, the insight here was gained from the concerns of mothers, teachers, or anyone that is directly responsible for children that use Crayola markers.

For anyone who gives a child a marker, their major concern is that the child will miss the paper and in turn, ruin anything the marker makes contact with. This commercial did just what. Set to an annoying but lovable tune, they had children openly admitting that they're going to make a mess. Their creativity is flowing so heavily that they just have to let it go. This was Crayola's sneaky way of addressing these maternal concerns about markers.

But when selling any product, why would you want to highlight a major concern like this? When the product revolves around addressing that concern, and serves as the main selling point for that product, it just makes sense. To me, this was a great insight painted perfectly into an ad that makes the worst thing about Crayola markers, not a problem anymore.


Incase the video did not embed above correctly, see below for the YouTube link:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff1JoN00yVY

Back to the Start

For my first blog post, I decided to analyze what I consider my favorite piece of advertising. It was aired for the first time on TV during the 2012 Grammy Awards, but lived on YouTube since mid-September. For Chipotle's first national TV ad, they used a 2 minute YouTube video to set them apart in today's realm of advertising.


'Back to the Start' is Chipotle's short film showcasing Willie Nelson's take on Coldplay's 'The Scientist. This ad is nothing less than creative genius, in my opinion, as it tells a story that ends with the simple message: Cultivate a better world.

The creative team that dealt with this account made several strategic moves that made this advertisement really resonate around the world. The most obvious of those moves was the use of YouTube, and leveraging that platform to reach more eyes than your typical 60 second spot. The 2 minute video has over 8 million views on YouTube to date.

I think the team behind this ad put a strong emphasis on storytelling, and reaching their target audience that way. The choice to show a cartoon world with oddly shaped people and robotic road systems was a risky decision, but contributed very positively to the entire experience of this so-called "short film."

A common response to the video, however, is why Chipotle? Are their ingredients and their practices really "cultivating a better world?" I can't really answer that question. To me, though, it is obvious that Chipotle wants to be aligned very closely with the green movement and environmental practices to show a progressive mindset in their company. They used YouTube, which has it's own vast audience to reach out to people who share their same progressive mindset. And like that, their name sticks.

Although the advertisement showed no clips of the actual store and less than 10 seconds of their logo on the screen, they've convinced many people that they should eat at Chipotle, and in-turn, change the world. But, whether or not any of that is true, I'm still sitting here thinking about this commercial, and the incredible storytelling that is illustrated so professionally.

For me, the combination of the song, the singer, and the story combined to make one perfect piece of work. Maybe in a future post, I'll talk about Chipotle's follow up 'The Scarecrow.' This is another awesome piece from Chipotle, but doesn't trump the original!

Incase the video did not embed above correctly, see below for the YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMfSGt6rHos