Where’s the research?

In the digital age, some agencies no longer see value in brand immersion – the research in the more traditional landscape was the nucleus of brand strategy. This intense comprehension of a client’s products or services – including who makes them and who buys them, and taking this information to inform the strategy and the campaign, is suddenly no longer the alpha and omega of brand strategy that it used to be.

But the fact that there are a number of digital channels, each governed by its own rules and algorithms, should not mean that brand immersion and research no longer have a place. Regardless of whether you’re playing in the digital or the traditional space, smart advertising cannot exist without it.

From the moment new employees join the agency, everything that is known about the client should be communicated upfront as a deliverable of their roles, whether they’re creatives or in client service. No single person should be exempt from this depth knowledge – and this should be instilled as part of the agency’s culture.

Both new and existing employees should take part in regular client immersions, literally spending time in the clients’ businesses – eating their food, using the products they make, drinking their coffee, on the showroom floor, in store – whatever is relevant to the specific client. This is the best way to create deeper insights and experiences that cannot be communicated via a strategy or brand plan presentation.

Equally important in understanding the client’s business in order to create the best work possible is integrated communications. It’s an area where partner agencies working together on the same brand often experience challenges. Even in an integrated agency, like G&G, the various departments forget to loop into the others.

That said, the key to knowing all we can about a client’s business lies in collaborative feedback loops between teams, agencies and departments. Central to this is the role of client service – it should be constantly driving the client to share previous, current or prospective insights into its brands, which are then fed back into the agency at all levels.

Agency employees have their own role to play in terms of understanding their clients’ brands – they should be keeping abreast of the trends and developments within the category of the client, and feeding these back to the agency.

Ultimately, the things the agency has to know about its client all centre on understanding the target market: stepping into their shoes – where they live, what they think, what media they consume, their likes, dislikes, hopes and dreams. The same knowledge should apply to the brand: how does it work, what are the benefits and features, how does it affect the lives of consumers, how does it differ from its competitors and what are its strengths, its weaknesses and its message. Research should go also into the communications objectives and the context in which the communication takes place. Without this it’s likely you’ll create work that not only underwhelms the client, but is ignored by the target audience.

With the insights taken from brand immersion, however, it is possible to create work that delights both client and audience alike – but only with the full scope of understanding.

The big take-out: Whether or not agencies play a digital or traditional role, there is no replacement for brand immersion and thorough research, without which work is not effective.