03 | our process
+Working in the consumer environment
+KidsLink®: Working with young people
+Primetimers: The 60+ age group
+Working with other age groups/social types
Working in the consumer environment
In all our projects we aim to recreate as natural an environment as
possible for our consumers, and to work through activities carefully
designed to engender relaxation and creativity. In this way we are able
to understand what is important to them and why, and use this information
to build new ideas.
KidsLink®: Working with young
people
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far the majority of our work with young people is done in the school
environment. We work with entire classes of young people for anything
from a day to a week or more, depending on the particular needs of the
project. In school the young people are comfortable and are in very
familiar surroundings that are conducive to working. They already know
the majority of the people they are working with, and thrive on the
additional attention and ‘real life’ nature of the work
they are doing. We never talk down to them, we impress upon them the
seriousness of what they are doing, and everyone gets a chance to shine,
whatever their particular skills. We also have a lot of fun!
Working with young people is all about understanding where they are
in their developmental process, what they are therefore capable of doing,
and then devising an activity plan that will achieve the aims of the
research, whilst delivering a real educational and personal benefit
to the kids. It is crucial that all the steps are put in the right order,
so gradually the kids develop for themselves the stimulus and tools
they need to work through the tasks. Projects typically finish with
a ‘grande finale’ presentation to the whole class and client/research
team, and results are always impressive, sometimes stunning!
‘Prime Timers’:
The 60+ Age group
People may stop working at different ages, but the thing they have
in common is that they have more time to do the things they want to
do/need to do, and less demands on their resources. Due to advances
in medical care they are also a lot fitter and physically able than
previous generations, and in many ways are in a second ‘prime’
of their lives. For this reason we call this group of consumers Prime
Timers. They are also a large (and growing) sector of the market, and
largely ignored by mainstream marketers.
In our research work with this group we have discovered that the real
differentiators are nothing to do with actual age or location, but are
all about attitude of mind. For this reason we like to run research
projects along similar lines as our school groups: we take like-minded
groups of Prime Timers, who may be recruited for example via clubs,
social groups, evening classes, then we build an activity plan accordingly.
The results are thought provoking and rich in content.
Working with other age groups/social
types
Our principles hold true whoever we work with. For work with young
adults for example, we will often work in further education establishments,
and when recruiting young mothers to talk about a sensitive subject
we will use particular methods to select a group that know each other
and are comfortable discussing these issues together (whilst of course
respecting any specific research criteria). All our research sessions/groups
are creative, interactive, thought-provoking and engaging, and will
uncover new layers of information for you well beyond the stated objectives.
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