the scuttlebutt method

KIM MØLLER-ELSHØJDIRECTOR & FOUNDER

1torsdag den 6. maj 2010

WHAT TO INVESTIGATE?

• Current perception of liquor “Brand X” on-line

• What stories were people telling each other about this liquor?

• What narrative patterns (positive/negative) could be identified?

• What kind of stories should a future strategy focus on?


LynxEye on Scuttlebutt• LynxEye did a global brand strategy project for a brand in the spirits category

between October 2009 and April 2010. As part of the insight hypothesis generation Scuttlebutt conducted an on-line narrative research project.

• It has been an exciting process, and very interesting to see how the method works. More importantly, however, we have learnt that the method works. As this was our first experience with on-line narrative research, we used it as a compliment to more traditional qualitative research. It was interesting to see that many of Kim’s findings went hand-in-hand with what we learnt in consumer focus groups.

• On-line narrative research is a useful brand equity snap-shot , providing an understanding of which brand perceptions seem to be stable and which could be changed, and what functional and emotional role (if any) the brand plays in people’s lives. Kim also did a good job pointing out potential watch-outs for the brand positioning. Next time, we will also be sure to include a competitive brand in the research, in order to gain an even wider understanding of the market.

Sofia Björkman, Project Manager, LynxEye Brand Consultants


4. DESIGN & EXECUTION OF THE ANALYSIS

THE METHOD

• Collect narrative fragments* from social media (~500 stories)

• Enrich them with descriptive meta-data (rich tags)

• Analyse and detect patterns across them all (sensemaking)

• Matching key patterns with matching strategic actions

*Fragments: blogs, reviews, photos, threads, videos, tweets.4torsdag den 6. maj 2010

jello

food

coffeeBaileys

dessert

alcoholic

sweet

food macro


SIGNIFIERS & QUESTIONSthe meta-data


THE META-DATA“QUESTIONS”

1. Point of Consumption

2. Brands Role in Story

3. Emotional Intensity

4. Type of Fragment

5. Endurance of Story


TOP LEVEL RESULTSSELECTED EXAMPLES


How long is this story likely to live on?How long is this story likely to live on?Moment 151Fade Eventually 175Few weeks 61Years 15Forever 1

37 %

43 %

15 %4 %

How long is this story likely to live on?

MomentFade EventuallyFew weeksYearsForever




37 %

43 %

15 %4 %



80% of stories are short-lived. Shows ‘low invol-vement’ and ‘instability’




37 %

43 %

15 %4 %



Grandma’s “Brand X” was something that truly brought people together. ...friends always looked forward to her “Brand X” parties

80% of stories are short-lived. Shows ‘low invol-vement’ and ‘instability’



THE META-DATA“SIGNIFIERS”

1. Brand’s Role in Story

2. Tone-of-voice

3. Time

4. Kind of Relationship

5. Uniqueness

6. Resonance

7. Brand Feature Focus

8. Love or Hate?

9. Brand Benefit Derived

10. Markers of Community

11. Kind of Interaction

12. Consumption Context

13. Fundamental Motivation

14. Identification w. Brand

15. World Outlook

16. Perception of Value


55%

WAA HOOOO!! RT @NewestDrinks: Stealthy Blackout: 1 part Everclear, 1 part “Brand X”, 1 part “Competitor Y” @LizBlaine @runedart @0402sgrl

chocolate buttermilk cake with chocolate/“Brand X” ganache and toasted, salted pecans. It was Jacob's birthday. :) Yay for Jacob! he's the best. :)


>15%

55%

Yep. Definitely a “Brand X” in the coffee kinda morning

3:12 PM Dec 30th, 2009, ctiedje

WAA HOOOO!! RT @NewestDrinks: Stealthy Blackout: 1 part Everclear, 1 part “Brand X”, 1 part “Competitor Y” @LizBlaine @runedart @0402sgrl

chocolate buttermilk cake with chocolate/“Brand X” ganache and toasted, salted pecans. It was Jacob's birthday. :) Yay for Jacob! he's the best. :)


With Nature

With Self With Others

01


With Nature


02Strongly positive

Positive

Neutral

Negative

Strongly negative


With Nature


02Strongly positive

Positive

Neutral

Negative

Strongly negative

On trade

Off trade


With Nature


02Strongly positive

Positive

Neutral

Negative

Strongly negative

On trade

Off trade·


With Nature


03


With Nature


04


55%


>15%

55%


>15%

55%

More negativeMore enduringLess enduring

Easily influenced More set/stable(when X’et w. context)

More positive


INTERDIMENTIONAL CORRELATIONS


NEW INSIGHT ON BRAND XSELECTED FINDINGS

• Despite lots of love for the brand, no great loyalty towards the brand is evidenced. ‘Occationals’ are by far in majority

• Brand X appears as a ‘brand without a cause’

• Currently no basis for a brand community

• Positive stories were about ... / Negative stories were about...

• Latest brand strategy had had no enduring effect on sales

• The ‘original people’ ad campaign had found no resonance in the minds of the consumers, who didn’t even mention it


FUTURE PLANS FOR BRAND X

• Company to develop a gross-list of 6-10 low cost (aka safe-fail) marketing initiatives inspired by the insight from the research

• Will launch initiatives as probes (some solo, some in parrallel), run research again, and monitor pattern evolution

• Develop and expands on initiatives that have a positive effect

• Stop initiatives that have a negative or no effect

• Loop process, to continuously measure and pattern market’s evolution in both volume, attitudes and perceptions, to safely inform strategy ahead


STORIES THAT WILL FIND RESONANCE IN THE MARKET

• Found the recipe for stories that will work, answering• place - occasion - ambience

• who - motives and values

• ways to consume the brand

• What kind of stories should be avoided?


WHAT WAS IT FOR “BRAND X” ?!?!!

1. Develop Insight

• The consumers’ Story about the brand in their own words

• How they make sense of:- your brand- them-selves as members of your brand culture



1. Develop Insight



2. Measure effect

• Monitoring - web presence (quant.)- consumer opinion (qual.)- evolution of perceptions

• Benchmarking- against competition



1. Develop Insight



2. Measure effect

• Monitoring - web presence (quant.)- consumer opinion (qual.)- evolution of perceptions

• Benchmarking- against competition

3. Turning this Knowledge into Action

• A decision framework for influencing evolution

• Patterns: Developing the good, disrupting the bad


QUESTIONS?

Kim Møller-Elshø[email protected]

+45 6133 4181


mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

BUZZ MONITORING(web-crawling for mentions)

ON-LINE NARRATIVE RESEARCH


ADVANTAGES OVER OTHER METHODS

• Compared to other Buzz or Social Media Monitoring tools

• Other tools only tell you “how many people talk about you” and guesstimate “how positive or negative the stories are”YOU LEARN: How many! (...and with little accuracy)

• Scuttlebutt tells you all that, plus 10-20 other dimensions of insight YOU LEARN: (1) How they perceive your brand, (2) how stable their views are, (3) how to strengthen the brand’s position...and with great accuracy, because people (not PCs) interpret the stories


ADVANTAGES OVER OTHER METHODS (cont.)

• Closer to “The Truth”, compared to other methods of analysis• Is truly exploratory. Doesn’t ask questions*, just listens!

• Compared to Qualitative research (e.g. focus group interviews)

• Same, or better, ability to explore a field of study/uncover new insight• No bias from a predisposed moderator, no situational bias of informants• No informants trying to please the moderator

• Compared to Quantitative Research

• Same potential for statistical rigour (Easily analyses 1000s of stories)• No questions bias, no respondent bias, no situational bias• Honest stories, since there is nothing at stake for respondents


WHAT THE OTHER METHODS DIDN’T UNCOVER... (EXAMPLES)

Both focus groups and questionnaires were also used, but neither of these uncovered the following:

• Brand turned out to be very popular in both • Home cooking, and

• Innovative restaurant cooking

• Several new connections emerged between annual traditions and the consumption of the product

• What perceptions were stable and which were temporary• Even by segmentation of ‘Occationals’ and ‘Loyalists’


the scuttlebutt method

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