Blog
How EVs could disrupt the car category hierarchy
Hi, happy 2023! A funny thing happened over the holidays: I discovered that electric cars remind me of vodka. Several years ago I did some work testing campaigns for the vodka brand Smirnoff. In talking to vodka drinkers, we discovered the category was essentially a vertical stack, with well brands on the bottom, premium brands…
Why work with us?
We’re researchers and strategists who help leaders make big decisions. That’s it. That’s the pitch. Our partners come to us because they have to choose a direction for their brand or business. They want to address new markets around the world, appeal to new audiences, develop new products and services, or reposition themselves for a…
Politics & College Selection
Do politics play a role in how students evaluate their college choices? The other day I was listening to the latest Pivot podcast — Scott Galloway said he thought it was pretty unlikely that a state’s abortion regulations would have any impact on students’ decisions about where to go to college. Here’s the quote: “I…
Civic Trust is a (Legal) Design Problem
Reflections on a Primary Election in a Small Town June 28 was a primary election day to select governor and lieutenant governor candidates in the state of New York. I am what’s called an election inspector in Suffolk County, New York, which means when you come in to your local polling place you talk to…
The “New Normal” of Qualitative Research
What we found in our competitive review of the market research industry Especially over the last couple of years, when everything was about, well, coping — just getting on with it — we had sort of lost track of what was happening for the broader market research industry. We saw companies and products come and…
The Medium is the Mask-age
There won’t be one way to be after the pandemic, because there was no one way to be before it – and certainly not during it. Masks are just one example. We’re in that in-between space, again, which seems to come just before a new wave of a COVID variant, or just as the weather…