Tactical Research

We provide rapid tactical assessment--not the same as market research. What we study what's going on with people who use the products and services of interest to you.

When an enterprise can answer Mike Agar's famous ethnographic question, "What's going on?" they may be able to ask more tactical, or "testing," questions about products, services, or policy.

Tactical work can range from setting specific public policy or designing in-store approaches to marketing and communication.

Successful tactical research, done from an anthropological perspective, starts with the small groups of people who make shopping decisions--households, key advisors and friends, and so on. And we often find that there are natural sources of information where customers, clients, or guests interact with products or services. We tap those sources of information, and use them to triangulate against other sources of data to find trustworthy, practical answers to tactical questions.

Tactical research may not take as long as strategic research. For a new package, a new positioning, a new market entry, or a new product, a month or two may provide surprising depth because we work in teams, we sample for contexts and people, and we use our research blog technology to steepen our and our clients' learning curve.