Research
Before undertaking a project, we like to go up to the top of the hill and have a bit of a look around, so to speak.
Who are the audience? What do they know? How can you express your messages to them most effectively? Is your case complete and convincing? Have there been programs like yours before, and did they succeed? These are good questions. Are you happy with your answers?
Research is a bit like insurance: in this case, it protects you against program failure. There are those who think they have all the answers, just like there are those who think their house will never burn down. Personally, we base good communications on research, and encourage our clients to do likewise.
There’s been lot of money wasted on research over the years. Research strongly recommending that more research be done. Research that raises more questions than it answers. Research that’s simply not useful for your next project.
Our research designs identify the key questions that must be answered for your project to be a success: questions about your audience, your message and your intended communications approach.
Our designs show you why these questions are important, and the sort of data we expect to collect to answer them.
A lot of research looks at what's happening, but not enough looks at why it's happening, and how you can influence it to happen differently.
We collect ideas through literature and internet searches, and through focus groups and key person interviews. We identify the major streams of thought that need addressing, endeavour to explain why people think that way, and recommend responses. All of which leads to extremely useful results for you. And we have some very smart ways of building research and evaluation into a continuous process of audience focused project planning and materials development.
We only do research you can use: in fact, that’s our reason for doing research. Our reports bring together lots of streams of thought (some things you already know, some things you don't) to paint a comprehensive, interesting picture. We analyse what we find, make recommendations and propose or adjust programs.