Head of Global Research and Strategy, Phil Steggals, shares his top tips on running workshops that translate research findings into business action.
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As in-house design and video functions become more common in the market research industry and we consume more visual content than ever before, visual communication and storytelling are becoming increasingly important skills for insight teams to adopt. Integrating design and video teams into insight teams is key to ensuring design and video functions are not siloed, instead facilitating active collaboration across these disciplines that results in impactful, actionable and shareable insights. But how do you do this? We share 4 tips based on our experience of bringing the two functions together here at Kadence.
At Kadence we empower our teams by providing tools and training that go beyond PowerPoint. We run regular video production, storytelling and visual communication training sessions across our insight and data teams. This allows teams to not only gain practical experience across design and video production, but also have a full understanding of best practice and processes involved in producing deliverables across these disciplines.
We believe that understanding the theory of design, is just as important as practical training. As part of our global training programme, Kadence University, we’ve just launched a design module that provides teams across the Kadence group with extensive training materials, training sessions and interactive self-learn tools that cover design theory, visual communication and design thinking. We regularly run these sessions with everyone, from graduate to director level, encouraging team members at all levels to develop their skills in these areas so that they can apply the theory and frameworks when they think about design.
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We’ve developed a host of design resources such as curated icon and stock image libraries, standardised process documents for film production and post-production, as well as flexible brand assets and design elements. Easily accessible resources, along with regular knowledge sharing, training sessions and visual tools, provide insight and data teams with the resource and knowledge to create compelling, visual deliverables for our clients. These tools aid in raising awareness of design and video processes, encourage visual thinking and promote seamless teamwork across disciplines.
There are many benefits of fully integrated design and video teams, but involving creatives early on in a project ensures they have a full understanding of studies and can collaborate with our insight and data teams to capture, communicate, visualise and embed findings across organisations most effectively. Integrated creative teams, along with the global network of Design Champions across the Kadence group, advocate design, storytelling and video amongst our global teams. This means that it’s not only our design and video specialists that can think about the role of design in our work. All employees, regardless of role, have the skills to understand how design can be used to raise the impact of our research in our client’s organisations.
It’s because of this that we’re able to collaborate with clients so effectively to ensure that outputs are functional, engaging and optimised for internal channels and platforms, ensuring our deliverables are shareable across the most relevant digital and physical touchpoints, and that the research ultimately lives on within our client’s organisations. Just take our client’s words for it.
“Kadence has taken my work and insights to a whole new level, helping to translate words on paper into an inspiring story and vision! This has not only given me more credibility as an Insights leader at Mars but has helped me amplify and scale my work globally in just a few short months. Often something we overlook; strong visualization and engaging content is critical for delivering with impact. Both presentations they helped me design, as well as the beautiful infographic, were instrumental in driving a more engaging story across the business.”
– Mars
We have all fallen into the trap at some point in our lives. It could be at an important client meeting, an internal discussion, or even a family gathering. We speak for a while, throwing in some fancy or elaborate words or dropping in some acronyms or jargon so that we can confirm to our audience that we are speaking with authority. Then, the dreaded question. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand, what does that mean?”
Within any professional service, there is a tendency to think that the ‘methods & language’ that we use, and our internal jargon is of vital importance. I fear that market researchers might be some of the worst culprits. In my years, I have seen so much emphasis put on the ‘look how smart we are’ that people lose sight of what we should be discussing (thankfully this is not the case at Kadence).
As a father of a 2-year-old daughter, I have started to have to communicate in a completely different way, often in response to the phrase, “No, I don’t want to”. Slowly breaking down what I am saying and using simple language has become the norm. I have recently read a book that really brought this to life for me. Yanis Varoufakis, former finance minister of Greece and renowned Economist has written a book called ‘Talking to my daughter, a brief history of capitalism’ that takes this example further. In his book Varoufakis using simple language and analogies to explain to his teenage daughter the history (and implications) of the global economy. It is a very accessible, enjoyable read, and makes complex geopolitical arguments easily accessible.
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What we come to recognize, is that it takes a greater confidence to be able to speak without the use of jargon. If you can get your point across in the most basic terms, in an engaging and clear way – your audience will recognize you for what you are. A storyteller. If you hide behind jargon, then you will quickly be found out as someone that cannot get their story across.
At Kadence, we work with many nationalities. We are a multicultural office in Singapore, and we work on multi-market studies for many multi-national companies. As such, we have to recognize the best way to get our points across. Whenever I speak to an audience, I try to keep the following tips in mind.
4 top tips for communicating information clearly and simply
At Kadence, one of the key traits that we look to develop in all of our team members, is the ability to think creatively. The term ‘creativity’ is often misunderstood. It can be seen by some as a trait that only ‘artistic’ people possess – and not something to improve over time. Whilst it is true that some people perhaps have a more natural leaning towards creative outputs (and why we employ dedicated designers to help with the visual appeal of our output) at its root, thinking creatively is of vital importance for the growth of a business.
If you have not read Ed Catmull’s book ‘Creativity Inc’ – Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration – I would highly recommend it. Firstly, it is a fascinating story about how a person who dreamed of becoming an animator, but could not draw, ends up as the President of Walt Disney Studios and Pixar! However, more importantly is that Catmull brings forward usable, relatable stories of how they could foster an environment of creative thinking. “For me, creativity includes problem-solving. That’s the broad definition of it”.
Whilst it may be easy to associate creativity with a movie studio – much of the lessons learned are hugely practical for any business (or team within a business) that are tasked to ‘think outside the box’ to solve a problem. For me, the largest problem with the term ‘thinking outside the box’ is that it is a cliché, with no clear meaning or benefit derived from doing so. Sometimes, thinking ‘within the box’ is effective. By the purest definition, it was ‘thinking inside’ that you got you to where you are today. ‘The box’ is often a negative, the norm, staying with what you know, how a company operates, and there is often nothing wrong with optimizing this as a starting point.
However, there does come a time where you need to look for new ideas and inspiration. You could Google ‘how to think outside the box’ but there are many, many results that come up – and whilst some claim to give you advice (Forbes for example) it is not as easy as that to implement.
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This is where research companies can play a pivotal role … not just by collecting data, but by helping you think about a problem differently – creatively!
At Kadence, we look to help companies make sure that they are focused on the impact that research can have – and we work creatively to be able to do that. Our starting point is always making sure that we are thinking about the business goal. A great example of this (and an interesting read regardless) is in HBR’s article on ‘Are you Solving the Right Problems’. The author describes framing a problem, an elevator being too slow in an office building – with disgruntled tenants – with the list of potential solutions geared up around making it faster (new lift shaft, upgrade motors, change algorithms etc). However, the problem is really that ‘the wait for the elevator is annoying’. This then presents a much different list of potential solutions (provide entertainment, TV screens, mirrors to check appearance, etc) – all of which are much cheaper than construction of new lift shaft!
This correct framing of the problem brings us back to creativity as a tool. If we are tasked with thinking ‘creatively’ about a problem, how do we do so. Particularly if we have been ‘in the box’ for a long time. The rest of the HBR article continues with suggested ways of re-framing the problem, but at Kadence – we go searching outside the box!
We use a term called ‘spheres of influence’ to assess what are the associated, but distinct industries, or experts that might be able to give an opinion on the problem or potential solution. We draw this up with our clients, then we go looking for our creative solutions. For example, when working with an airline, whose goal it is to create the best in-flight experience possible we would create a map of the ‘spheres’
By looking at the spheres of influence on a brand, and by speaking to people who have a viewpoint on this (e.g. for an airline, understanding views on what makes best in class bedding or a best in class luxury car seat etc) we can reframe the problems creatively and therefore focus our proposed solutions on something that is likely to be more relevant.
As a first step, you could always look to assess how creative you, or your teams are. There is a test called the Torrence Test of Creative Thinking (which we recently carried out on our team in Kadence) that allows you to assess how creative individuals are. If you do find that you or your team score low on this, don’t fret. Either give Ed Catmull’s book a read….or simply get in touch with Kadence*
*ideally you should do both
Design is the silver bullet for research. Make your findings interesting, simple and easy to understand and the world will take notice. If it intuitively makes sense your findings will spread like wildfire. If not, it’ll die on the screen.
Recently there’s been a hive of innovation in research: online; mobile; social… the list goes on. But this list is all just different methods of collecting information. What has been more resistant to change is how we present that information.
If research wants to have more impact with decision makers, we need to be more palatable for them. This means translating the findings into something they can intuitively understand. The problem is it is easiest to present people with the same representations used by the research: graphs and numbers. This is not the way it ought to be. We need to present decision makers with information in the format most appropriate to their needs and to the decisions they need to make. What is wrong with a lot of presentations today is their design, which requires people to behave in research-centred ways, picking apart data and numbers, ways for which many people are not well suited. What we find, then, is that the form of representation makes a dramatic difference in the ease of understanding the research.
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There are two tasks for any audience – finding the relevant information and deciding upon the desired action. The design of the research presentation can either help or hinder this process. We believe we must work harder to make sure the design of the presentation does not get in the way; as if designed inappropriately we are at risk of losing the audience and not giving them the opportunity to find the information and make the most appropriate business decisions.
To combat this, we will argue there are three major changes researchers need to undertake:
We believe that taking on even just one of these changes will greatly enhance the impact and relevance of research to senior decision makers
There’s a great book by Columbia Business School associate professor, William Duggan, called Strategic Intuition. The book posits that intuition is ‘the selective recombination of previous elements into a new whole.’
One of Duggan’s examples of intuitive thinkers is one of Napoleon’s early campaigns. When ordered to re-take the port of Toulon from the British invaders via frontal assault ‘with the sword and bayonet’, Napoleon suggests an alternative strategy; to take the smaller fort of L’Agiuilelette, which overlooks the port of Toulon. Against the received wisdom of his peers and commanders, Napoleon goes ahead with his plan, takes the fort, and in doing so terrifies the British into leaving Toulon and sets his path for Emperor of Europe.
What’s interesting here – and why Duggan raises this example from history – is how Napoleon came to his plan, by bringing together abstract parts of his memory and experience: his reading of the contour maps on the area of Toulon; his knowledge of how best to deploy light cannon and his understanding of past British defeats. The contour maps showed him that the fort of L’Aiguilette occupied high ground over Toulon; from his light cannon experience he knew he could take the cannon up to the fort and deploy them overlooking Toulon and the British fleet; and his understanding of past British defeats at Yorktown and the Siege of Boston taught him that the British would never again risk being cut off from their navy.
None of those thoughts – contour maps; light cannon; British defeats – were taught to Napoleon together. Instead, as Duggan argues, it is the ‘selective recombination of previous elements into a whole.’
Have you ever had an idea flash into your mind? A random thought disconnected from what you’re trying to concentrate on – that’s strategic intuition. And it’s proof that our brains are non-linear. Try as we might, we struggle to focus on a single thought for a long period of time. Rather our brains are adept at working in our subconscious and delivering fresh ideas and insights at a moment’s notice.
You can’t help but think of multiple things at once, or just as likely thinking multiple things about one idea at once. In contrast, however, Word, PowerPoint and Excel, by their very nature, are linear. Word splits information over different pages, PowerPoint chunks information in slides and Excel breaks then across tabs. And all are subject to the limitations of screen size. This linear function is in direct odds to the brain’s non-linear thinking, forcing you to work to their restrictions.
By chunking information into different pages, slides or tabs it also forces the brain to change its functioning. When all the information is displayed at once, the brain can focus on analysis and connecting information. We can tap into the very strength of our brain – making random, subconscious associations. However, when chunked over different pages, slides and tabs the brain must first remember all the information it has been exposed to before it can then begin to analyse and connect it. This exerts increased cognitive load on the brain and causes a significant break down in your brain’s ability to create those connections.
So, what if we moved away from linear formats and embraced our brain’s capacity for non-linear thinking, for sparks of insight. This is where the power of Post-It notes – or record cards, or just scraps of paper – come in.
When first planning or thinking of an idea or concept, a good idea is to plot your thoughts on Post-It notes. Each one holding one thought. And filling your table, or wall, or desk with them. The beauty of this is that it embraces our non-linear brain. A random thought or idea can be jotted down and placed to the side, not distracting your attention by needling your mind but also addressed and captured quickly during it’s fleeting appearance. Overall, Post-It planning seems to help in three main ways:
Post-It notes and record cards allow for the creation of non-linear narratives. With the use of Post-It notes, or record cards and a box of pins, you can map out an entire concept visually, highlighting interconnecting thoughts and relationships – celebrating the very non-linear thinking our brains champion and computers cannot copy. As an individual activity working with Post-Its allows us to re-arrange ideas as we go. Once we have captured all our thinking on multiple Post-Its we can then begin to rearrange them over and over again, in different orders and ways until we are happy with our outcome.
By filling a wall with Post-It notes we are avoiding a linear path through the information, rather we are creating a free-form structure. Every time you look at the wall, or return to the room, you can look at the Post-It notes in a different order. And perhaps draw out new meaning or sense from it. It also means you’re not enforcing a structure on others, they too can create their own path through the information – a very effective element when developing ideas and concepts with others.
When working together, cards and post-it notes invite displayed thinking. By committing our thoughts to paper and then arranging them on a wall we can easily invite others to see our thinking; but just as easily others can begin to add to, edit or rationalize our thoughts, so that together we can create a shared cognition about an idea and together create a common understanding. This shared activity fosters creativity, especially as any person can re-arrange cards.
So, before you next fire up your laptop ask yourself, would I be more creative if I used Post-Its and embraced my brain’s non-linear thinking?
We’ve been working with Kadence on a couple of strategic projects, which influenced our product roadmap roll-out within the region. Their work has been exceptional in providing me the insights that I need.
Senior Marketing Executive
Arla Foods
Kadence’s reports give us the insight, conclusion and recommended execution needed to give us a different perspective, which provided us with an opportunity to relook at our go to market strategy in a different direction which we are now reaping the benefits from.
Sales & Marketing
Bridgestone
Kadence helped us not only conduct a thorough and insightful piece of research, its interpretation of the data provided many useful and unexpected good-news stories that we were able to use in our communications and interactions with government bodies.
General Manager PR -Internal Communications & Government Affairs
Mitsubishi
Kadence team is more like a partner to us. We have run a number of projects together and … the pro-activeness, out of the box thinking and delivering in spite of tight deadlines are some of the key reasons we always reach out to them.
Vital Strategies
Kadence were an excellent partner on this project; they took time to really understand our business challenges, and developed a research approach that would tackle the exam question from all directions. The impact of the work is still being felt now, several years later.
Customer Intelligence Director
Wall Street Journal
Senior Marketing Executive
Sales & Marketing
Vital Strategies
Customer Intelligence Director