
When was your first romantic kiss?
Were you indoors or outside?
Which of these would you choose for a romantic getaway?
(select one):
Paris in springtime
Japan during the blossom festival
The Australian outback looking up at the stars
The Canadian Rockies in autumn
These are just some of the questions I had to ask randomly selected households during the 1990s, with the market research I conducted from 5pm to 9pm each weekday. Bear in mind, this meant ringing people at home, during their dinner time; not the best time to call.
Thankfully we have moved on from selecting people at random from a physical directory, but how can we build rapport and develop relationships when we are engaging digitally, and not in person?
What I learned is, you quickly develop your empathy, listening and engagement skills, or you don't get the results, and don't build rapport. Keeping the call light-hearted and introducing some of the questions early meant women and men of all ages were keen to take part. In fact, the TV was muted, and it felt like a friendly chat around their kitchen or coffee table. And all of this was by phone; I and the participants didn't even have the benefit of seeing each other during the call.
While I and my colleagues met our client's brief, we also gained valuable insights into the experiences and views of women and men either side of their selected age range. This provided the client with a much richer view of the romantic experiences of different age groups, which informed their forward plan and content strategies.
What did you answer to the questions above, and what lessons have you learned from interesting and unexpected projects that you'd like to share?
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