Don’t ask questions, don’t travel

anywhere… and still find better

insight?

How we helped Braun determine its

marketing and communications strategy

through new approaches to online

content analysis.

Copyright © 2014

EXPLOR FINALIST CASE STUDY

2

EXPLOR stands for Exemplary Online Research

The Catalyx and Listen + Learn partnership was recognized for our work on Braun, here’s why:

This research

opens up so many

doors to potential

new projects and

new growth

opportunities.

Global Associate

Director of InsightBraun

”

The Opportunity

As the global leader in male grooming, Braun relies on new consumer insights

to better innovate and communicate with consumers.

The Research Challenge

However, with traditional research methods Braun felt it was missing a big part

of the insight picture. They needed to get away from “more of the same”.

The Solution

We showed Braun how men really use the internet and social media when it

comes to grooming – and what this reveals about them. By combining social

listening research with search engine trend analysis, we delivered new global

insights that kept each country's cultural keys at its heart.

The Result

This helped Braun break from the established market clichés, by letting them

understand how men discuss grooming in their own terms. Which Braun is now

using to open up new projects and growth potential.

SUMMARY

CONTENTS

3

1. What is the EXLOR award?

2. The research challenge

3. Our methodology

4. Why is it creative?

5. What makes it innovative?

6. Contact

THE EXPLOR AWARD

4

Recognising Innovation In Research

The EXPLOR Award is an annual case study competition honoring innovation in marketing

research.

Innovation leaders from global corporations, research agencies and academia were invited to

submit high-impact case studies where technology or new methods have advanced the research

and insights process.

A global, world-class judging team selected the finalists.

Submissions were sought where research innovation demonstrated the quantifiable

advancement of an organization.

Ultimately, the award looks for work that elevates the research process and our profession.

This is our case study.

THE RESEARCH CHALLENGE

5

Understanding male grooming

Continuing efforts to understand male grooming usage and attitudes across different countries

were coming up short for the Braun team.

They were uncovering no new insights and were finding it difficult to find the right questions to

get men to open up.

Moreover, as a global company creating innovation and communication to reach as much of

the world as possible, any research solution had to work internationally.

So, they were looking for a flexible, faster and much cheaper approach that could be applied

with ease to any one of their main markets.

The Challenge

• To uncover genuinely new insights into the world of male grooming.

• Ensure that the methodologies could be consistent and comparable across countries.

• Complete the work in a time frame and at a cost that beat traditional methods.

6

ReviewWe started with a review phase; identifying and analyzing the main

influencer sites for male grooming in the USA and Japan.

This let us see what consumers see when they go online looking for

advice on male grooming.

What we found were highly fragmented and specialized conversations –

a conversational environment that doesn’t fit easily into the stereotype

of ‘male grooming’.

Innovative Research Design

We adopted an innovative method which combined our unique approach to social listening

research with search engine trend analysis. Each stage worked in tandem, informing and shaping

the other.

OUR METHODOLOGY

7

Social

Listening

Research

Far more detailed than automated text analytics, we combine discourse

and thematic analysis within a grounded theory framework to fully

understand and interpret what people are saying.

Using this method we structured the data to measure the differences

between different groups across the entire data set, and compare the

USA and Japan.

This meant that Braun could make decisions based on insight derived

from thousands of different opinions, being shared in context without

any researcher bias.

Men Talking Naturally

Our approach to social listening research uses qualitative techniques (we read everything) to fully

explore the meaning behind thousands of individual comments.

OUR METHODOLOGY

8

Search

Engine

Trend

Analysis

Because of this we have devised a way of combining search engine

analytics with social listening results to determine the relevancy and

influence of the emerging subjects from the commentary being analysed.

This allows us to see which subjects occur, on which type of sites, in

which country, during which time period, and what the influence is.

This let Braun see which subjects are shaping the different parts of the

male grooming conversation, and to determine its marketing &

communication strategy across different times of the year, and different

moments in the consumers’ purchase journey, for each country.

The result was a totally new perspective on American and Japanese male

grooming attitudes.

Seeing What They Search For

Of course not everyone comments online, but instead many read and review existing content.

Therefore, understanding the level of influence existing commentary has on those viewing it, is as

important as the comment itself.

OUR METHODOLOGY

WHY IS IT CREATIVE?

9

Braun has been asking men about shaving for years.

So to find a genuinely new perspective that built on this existing knowledge, we needed to be

creative in how we designed our approach.

We began with a simple question as our starting point: should I shave today?

At first, we weren’t looking for answers, rather

we sought to understand the depth and

breadth of the conversation.

We soon found out men don’t really talk about

‘male grooming’ (except on some fashion

blogs), rather they talk about shaving, or

growing and looking after a beard.

This insight enabled us to frame the project in

a completely different way. Not as the further

exploration of male grooming, but rather

focused on the individual.

Our combination of techniques (web trend and

keyword analysis, search and social listening

research) let us explore how people really use

the internet.

We saw how what they do there informs their

offline lives. As well as uncovering who is

talking, why they are talking and what is driving

the most interest and influence online.

Packaged correctly, this provided the brand

with a goldmine of new insight for their

innovation and communication teams.

WHAT MAKES IT INNOVATIVE?

10

Traditional Methods Weren’t Cutting It

Until now, the only way to reach significant numbers of end users and consistently uncover insight

was through resource intensive usage and attitude studies, ethnography or extensive focus groups.

As well as being time consuming and resource intensive each of these has its downsides. In Braun’s

case, they felt they did not know what questions to ask to get new insight, so all of these methods

were offering diminishing rates of return.

Getting The Whole Picture

Some argue that social listening engines are a way to overcome some of these limitations. However,

although social listening has been evolving for a number of years, semi-automated approaches are

fraught with issues. Including often quite inaccurate data gathering and analysis methods that don’t

go beyond brand or key word tracking and are unable to determine most sentiment and unspoken

conversational context. They can also democratize commentary, so it’s very difficult to determine

which comments are causing traction and buzz.

Furthermore, with most of the population on any one topic only passively reading and reviewing and

not actually posting and contributing, a purely social listening approach misses a significant portion

of consumer understanding.

WHAT MAKES IT INNOVATIVE?

11

Our Approach Is Different

Our approach addresses all of these concerns and shortcomings.

It’s also faster, cheaper and offers deeper insights derived from

consumers in a more natural environment, with less potential for

researcher bias.

For the first time, thousands of bits of qualitative data are being captured,

read, coded and analysed, given a relevancy and influence score and

then used to determine what people are talking about and thinking about

on a specific brand, category or topic.

The research itself can be replicated globally at a fraction of the resource

needed by more traditional approaches. In the Braun specific case, prior

to this work Braun was unaware of quite how deep the grooming

conversation went.

This research

opens up so

many doors to

potential new

projects and new

growth

opportunities.

Global Associate

Director of InsightBraun

”

{ CONTACTS }

THE TEAM

Catalyx helps organisations accelerate marketing, research,

innovation and corporate practices by using our unique

approach to crowdsourcing to disrupt traditional brand

building mind-sets and processes.

We use technology and collective intelligence methods to

help our clients integrate end user intelligence and co-create

end user creativity throughout the marketing and innovation

process.

Contact:

Guy White / Founder

t: +41 797 93 43 98 e: guy@thecatalyx.com

w: www.thecatalyx.com @Thecatalyx

We listen to what people say in social media around the world,

to help companies learn about their customers, products or

services. Unlike other research agencies, we use real people to

sort through and analyse social data. Yes, we read everything…

Which means we deliver insights that go deeper and are more

relevant.

This helps inform, inspire and challenge organisations to think

and work more effectively.

Contact:

Jeremy Hollow / Founder

t: +44 7799 415829 w: listenandlearnresearch.com

e:jeremy@listenandlearnresearch.com @LALResearch