September 01, 2011
August 28, 2011
Chilly Reception in Multiple Courses at Sotto Terra for ConAgra
From August 23rd to August 27th, ConAgra's Marie Callender's brand, in collaboration with its PR firm Ketchum, ran a publicity party/research debacle that was the pop-up underground restaurant of Food Network chef George Duran and Supermarket Guru Phillip Lempert. The pop-up restaurant was known as Sotto Terra and it lived below the parlor floor of a Greenwich Village brownstone for five days.
The exercise broke every basic social media and research rule. When all was said and done, invited bloggers felt hoodwinked that they were invited to a four-course dinner and served frozen food. They were irked that they unknowingly entered a research experiment. And most of all they were embarrassed that they involved their trusting followers by inviting them to participate in online sweepstakes to win invitations.
What was ConAgra thinking? ConAgra also forgot context.
The restaurant was run in a New York City R6-zoned residential block that happened to be our block -- a very tight residential Greenwich Village block known for its solidarity and community activism. ConAgra's use of the block was non-conforming use for an R6 district, and was carried out without the necessary permits and/or licenses. All negotiated under a residential sublet lease.
To boot, on the first day, a satellite truck was parked down the block while interviews were conducted. A telltale red cable connected Sotto Terra to the truck. The NYC Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting had no record of issuing a permit to hold parking for a satellite truck. All that existed was an unsigned No Parking sign with the office's logo on a tree adjacent to the truck.
Sadly, misconduct and lack of understanding of the purpose of pop-up kills it for the more compelling pop-ups. For big brands, this demonstrates a more fundamental misunderstanding of people and culture.
Here's the scoop from bloggers that attended the dinners:
"When the Food Turned Sour" via @MomConfessional
"Why Sotto Terra was an Epic Fail" via @NYCityMama
"Hoodwinked" via @FoodieCityMom
August 27, 2011
August 18, 2011
Culture Networks, and the codes that drive them (our proposed talk for SXSW)
Please vote for our talk here
Culture networks historically have spun narrative for how we live. Think about it. After WWII, an emerging American middle class decided to expand its options for commerce and camaraderie. So they built highways and a networked culture of early suburbanites was born. But when we talk about networks today, we see only the technology system that supports the network, not the human structure. It’s the structure and process behind the human connections that’s critical. The structure empowered by technology allows likeminds to connect, thrive and make global impact -- no matter how micro. Not too long ago, rave culture leveraged digital networks and pioneered podcast. And, more recently, the Tea Party leveraged digital networks to make its stand. Without technology, we might have dismissed the movement as laggard. To understand where we go next means we need to evolve our perspective on how we look at the systems and unlock the human codes that drive them. If we do not, culture will leverage system decline before we know what’s happening, much like graffiti leveraged the decline of cities and skate culture leveraged the decline of suburbia.
- Why is anonymous cultural data valid?
- How do subcultures and their trends reflect hubs of larger cultural zeitgeist?
- How can brands synchronize with culture networks? If at all?
- How does collective sense gain momentum and not lose essence?
- How do larger trends play out in hubs of local language across networks?
RELATED PRESENTATIONS: Culture Networks http://www.slideshare.net/scenariodna/culture-networks-2010 Culture Mappinghttp://www.slideshare.net/scenariodna/culture-mapping-managing-brands-in-a-social-economy-6094993
August 02, 2011
July 21, 2011
Market Research For The Mobile World: Expressive Research (via PSFK)
I'd like to thank Paloma Vazquez for this wonderful summary and analysis of a recent presentation I gave at the Market Research in the Mobile World conference.
Our attention was recently caught by a presentation... proposing a ‘New Era of Expressive Research’ as a strategy for addressing the changing needs of a mobile world. Essentially, the presentation covered how, when and why we access data and content now that mobile is experiencing a shift, with data moves from living ‘in’ any single device (be it your mobile phone, your laptop or your tablet) to living in the cloud. The increasing mobility of content, coupled with data and content’s evolving role in our lives and culture requires a different approach in how ‘mobile’ is evaluated in market research.
July 18, 2011
Research Advice from a Caterpillar
‘Who are YOU?’ said the Caterpillar.
This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, `I–I hardly know, sir, just at present– at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.’ –Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, (1865)
And so goes the standard market research conversation today. Brands, much like the Caterpillar, respond by asking again. `Who are YOU?’ And each time, a cynical consumer is further shaped. Read article
July 16, 2011
June 15, 2011
June 13, 2011
My Other Accounts
Recent Posts
- China: Who Gets to Live Whose Dream? (Black Report)
- POVs On Cultural Leadership (conversation with Rob Fields)
- Analyzing & Patterning Generational Codes (Analyzing Trends Spring 2013)
- How Networks Shape Culture (Analyzing Trends Spring 2013)
- The Codes of Luxury Workshop (Analyzing Trends Spring 2013)
- The Business of Insights (Analyzing Trends Spring 2013)
- Culture Mapping research methodology
- Analyzing Trends Product Language Workshop
- The Structure of Trends (Spring 2013)
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