For many in advertising or marketing, the phrase “let’s do some research on those ideas” can be met with a lot of deep sighs and eye-rolls. Fair enough. The conversations with people meant to help uncover their human truths and help ideas grow can become a place where all those creative sparks get snuffed out.
At The Sound, we get this tension. Our approach to creative development research is built on the belief that talking to the people you want to engage should support and strengthen creative…not stifle it.
Our Framework for Developing Ideas
The reason we’re able to effectively support the creative development process is because we know that any piece of communication is made up of three distinct ideas:
We make sure that we always align with the specific layer that you’re developing, so we know the best methodology to use and can provide guidance and recommendations that are focused and actionable.
Partnering Through Your Entire Creative Development Journey
We leverage both qualitative and quantitative research to fuel creative development and our approach is entirely adaptable to where you are in the process of developing your ideas. 
Whether you’re just beginning to formulate your message or fine-tuning the final execution, we have a tailored research solution to help.
- Landing the Strategic Idea: If you’re not sure what to say, we use methods like Digital Diaries and In-Depth Interviews to uncover foundational human, category, and brand truths and tensions. If you have a few strategic manifestos, we use Discussion Groups to help you choose or refine your best strategic path, understanding which insights, promises, and proof points resonate most.
- Developing the Creative Idea: When you have rough creative territories or mood boards, we use Discussion Groups to explore what’s working and what’s not, helping you craft the most compelling “way in” for your strategic idea. If you’re farther along with WIP executions, we leverage Surveys to validate the direction you’re going in.
- Refining the Executions: As you move towards production and need a final gut-check, we conduct quick In-Depth Interviews or Surveys to provide crucial insight to guide refinements before launch.
Our Dual Expertise: Qualitative & Quantitative
As experts in both qualitative and quantitative research, we understand their unique strengths (and potential pitfalls) when it comes to developing creative.
The Power of Qual: Qual excels at telling you if people are picking up what your ideas are putting down. It provides the nuanced “why” behind gut reactions. To ensure great ideas thrive, we employ specific best practices:
- We use a waiting room exercise to capture genuine, unaided incoming perceptions, establishing a benchmark of how they feel about the brand before exposure to creative.
- We always clarify the process, reminding participants these aren’t “finished ads” and to keep feedback focused on the core idea.
- We prevent group think by having individuals commit their own thoughts to paper before sharing them with the group.
- We know when to pivot, by moving the discussion on or taking stimulus away if participants get caught in minor details.
- In final gut-checking stages, we keep conversations short and impactful, valuing raw, immediate responses.
The Precision of Quant: Quant perfectly complements Qual by validating hypotheses and providing data-driven direction. We take a particularly thoughtful approach to optimizing ideas that are more complex and nuanced:
- We align our assessment of creative ideas with your specific strategic goals, recognizing that not every idea is meant to elicit the same response.
- We capture ingoing perceptions to establish a benchmark, understanding exactly where your creative drives change in brand impressions.
- Our sensitive diagnostics go beyond simple “go/no-go” metrics, revealing the underlying “why” behind the “what”.
- We highlight both what works and what can be improved, even when an idea doesn’t immediately resonate.
- We establish relevant benchmarks using your best work (and competitors’), avoiding broad, ineffective databases.
- We ensure we’re speaking to your actual target audience, not just a general population, guaranteeing relevant insights.
Make Smarter, More Sound Decisions
Your ideas deserve to be handled with care, no matter what stage of development they’re in. Our mission is to protect their spirit while ensuring their strategic impact. By leveraging nuanced qualitative and/or quantitative insights, we can help you make informed, strategic choices moving forward.
To read more about our approach to developing ideas without stifling the great ones, click HERE.
And if you’re already convinced we’re aces at this kind of work and would be amazing to partner with, drop me a line at sandy@thesoundhq.com. Looking forward to connecting!
