The Sound was founded nearly 11 years ago with the mission to challenge convention, having witnessed a myriad of bland, boring and somehow simultaneously over complicated qualitative research in the market. We knew there was not only a smarter way to do it… but one that was a hell of a lot more interesting, too. As a result, we’ve been doing smart as f*ck, never boring work for clients all over the world, for more than a decade!
We began with qualitative research, which we enhance with amazing film and design capabilities that are still rarely seen in this business. Then we extended into more expansive consumer exploration; finding ourselves in all corners of the globe with a team to match!
Brand strategy came swiftly after, having been asked to help some of the biggest brands on the planet figure out what will happen next, and what they need to do about it.
Most recently we’ve added product innovation to our repertoire, consulting for those same clients (and plenty of new ones) on how we can create new products that merge the intangible nexus of market opportunity and human need.
Each ‘new’ offering was a natural progression, addition and compliment to the work we were already doing and the work our clients were asking and trusting us to do.
We’ve never chased tools or new technology, unless it would genuinely make our work better, more interesting and more creative… Or more importantly help our clients engage with people, with more depth and understanding.
We’ve always been progressive, so it shouldn’t surprise us or anyone who knows us that we’ve now decided to challenge the conventions of quantitative research, bringing on our first ever Head of Creative Analytics to help us tell amazing stories. We will use data to help us dive deeper and tell more human stories, rather than stories about data that we see far too often.
Once again, we think there is a better way, a smarter way and most definitely a less boring way!
The power of quantitative research does not lie in simple yes/no answers, confirming hunches or sizing qualitative insights – it can answer rich, nuanced questions about what makes people ‘tick’, uncovering why people do the things they do and how it makes them feel. It can be inspirational, not just confirmatory. It can bring humanity to data, bridging the gap between big data and deep qualitative.
We will leverage human-centered data as another dimension that will bring us closer to understanding the true depth of people and the world in which they live.
When used the right way, data can create powerful frameworks that are holistic and flexible enough to inspire and inform; fueling richer, deeper qualitative research in the early stages of projects, or help to sharpen and enhance the stories we first uncover through qualitative exploration in later stages.
Call it ‘Human-Centered Data’, ‘Declared Data’, or ‘Thick Data’, even… We call it Sound Data, and we are thrilled to add this to our arsenal of badassery.
If you want to know more (you know you do!) shoot us a line and we will happily talk about what we can achieve together. In the meantime, here’s more about Our Approach to Creative Analytics.
Mindy Cultra, VP, Head of Creative Analytics: mindy@thesoundhq.com
