It’s time to question the fundamentals. The shock to the systems (personal, business, economic) from COVID-19 came from both its staggering speed-of-change and scope-of-change. Businesses have been shaken to their core and need to focus on two discrete strategies in the pursuit of post-COVID growth. Regardless of whether your business strategy will skew more towards Inversion or Re-immersion, the situation has forced an opportunity to invent a new you, refreshing your foundation.

Let us start by saying, we didn’t believe in online focus groups. So far in our careers, we’d really only had experience with in-person groups, where you can more easily read body chemistry, tone, and energy when you’re sitting right across from someone. It’s easier to spark rapid fire conversation and build on exciting ideas through the in-person energy of others. But, we’re “yes and” kind of people. So when COVID-19 started, we said, yes! We can do it online, no matter how complicated.

The COVID-19 pandemic situation is creating perhaps the most significant shared experience the world has ever witnessed. During this uncertain time, a common question is, “how are you adapting to the new normal?” Well, this isn’t the new normal—yet. The stay-at-home orders will end, the economy will start-up again. What follows will be the “new normal.”

There is already no question that the growing global pandemic and mitigation efforts are going to affect human attitudes and behaviors deeply. For you, as Founder/Owner/Executive/Marketer/Product Manager/Champion of your brand, your company will, of course, need a new strategy. However, to grow in the inevitable era of “the new normal,” you will need both a proactive strategy to step into the new future and a reactive growth strategy to save the present.

COVID-19 is impacting the way we all do business, especially for in-person market research. Delaying (or canceling) projects isn’t an option, as urgent business questions remain. Hypothesis has been supporting clients around the world to quickly adapt their research plans in the wake of the situation. It’s time to get creative.

Most firms strive for a uniform look, but what if your business card reflected you?

At Hypothesis we believe in rewarding hard work with fun of the going-all-out variety. This year was no exception.

Introducing the Hypothesis Values Box: designed and carefully curated to celebrate our company values and inspire every employee to do amazing things.

Presidential general elections in the last century were often focused on making a case to swing voters. After primaries ended, both Democrats and Republicans ran to the political middle in order to convince people to choose their side. But that all changed in the new millennium.

Based on the success of our bite-sized infographics (fondly dubbed “infobites”), we’ve decided to host our first ever Infobite Contest! We created infobites in 2016 in response to the changing ways we consume media (thanks, memes) and our passion for design, data, and insights.

Authentic, human insights are gained by emulating a more natural environment. As researchers, we must be willing to let some of our outdated “facility” habits go and adopt a new set of practices that facilitate more empathetic qualitative research.

Once again, Hypothesis took over Perry's in Santa Monica for our annual summer luau. It was too hot for volleyball this year, but the ocean was super warm. The DJs provided great music while the henna artist and lots of ice cream kept the kids busy.

The question is simple: “Which of the following brands have you heard of?” from a preset list. Most brands see this question, aided brand awareness, as an important KPI. It’s often the very first metric reported in a presentation. But is aided brand awareness worth the attention?

Moving your brand tracking study from one research partner to another can cause anxiety. One of the first questions researchers ask is “How can I move this tracker and keep all of my historical data trends?”

It’s daunting to look at a timeline for a research project. You have a deadline; you need answers. But, the first phase that can contextualize a project with your internal team is important, really important. I’m talking about stakeholder interviews. There are three key reasons to let an experienced, objective third-party conduct these interviews.

Our internship program has proven to be a successful way to identify, train, and hire new talent. But what makes for a great intern, you ask? Great question! We asked Associate Consultants Josh Erdman and Bonnie Tam, both from internship Class of 2013 who now run the program, for their perspective.

BrainTrust, the famed Hypothesis in-house marketing science team, receives an extraordinary amount of questions from curious clients on a variety of topics ranging from larger methodological issues (“What is your approach to brand equity?”) to more tactical questions (e.g., “What’s better, a 5-point or 7 point scale?).

Last Friday evening (okay, let's be honest...more like late afternoon), the newly remolded Hypothesis grand kitchen was transformed into a premium cocktail lounge.

Kaitlyn Hutt is an Engagement Manager at Hypothesis. We sat down to ask her about her work and life at Hypothesis.

At Hypothesis, we recommend expanding your benchmark with a longer pilot survey and a larger sample size. This gives you flexibility to test approaches that you are unsure about during your first benchmark wave. With more questionnaire real estate and sample, you can solve for potential problems before they ever become issues.

A brand tracker is like a check of your company’s vitals. It’s often the first thing a new consumer insights director either establishes, dismantles, re-invents, or pulls from an existing vendor. It’s almost always the single most expensive research initiative. It's considered critical and high-profile, yet its value is often questioned.  

As part of its quarterly guest speaker series, Hypothesis was treated to a lecture by the Sleep Doctor, Dr. Michael J. Breus, Ph.D. Dr. Breus is a Clinical Psychologist and frequent guest on the Dr. Oz Show. He is a widely recognized leader in field of sleep and has given hundreds of presentations at fortune 500 companies. 

For our second year in a row, Hypothesis took over Perry's in Santa Monica for our annual summer party. The event hosted employees, their significant others, plenty of adorable children, and the first set of Hypothesis doppelgangers (no, really).

Gretha Seltzer (who just happens to be the daughter of Managing Partner, Jeff Seltzer) along with her 7th grade colleague, Haley, led an impressive and informative interactive discussion on slime.

Discrete Choice, along with other trade-off techniques, are sophisticated modelling approaches used to guide product bundling, feature optimization, pricing, market sizing, and decisions. In a Choice study, the relative importance of different features or attributes are determined on the basis of a consumer’s pattern of choices when presented with different combinations of options within a survey.

Throughout the year, our design team, Gridspace, has been tracking the pivotal events of 2016. From the environment, to politics, to economics, we dug into the data to demystify some of the controversies that dominated this year's news cycles while still serving up our signature design.

Last night, Hypothesis held it's annual Holiday Dinner Party at The Library at the Redbury Hotel, right in the heart of Hollywood (and, yes, that was an X-Wing fighter we saw parked across the street).

One of the distinguishing aspects of Hypothesis is how collaboratively we work together. When you have multiple departments (design, analytics, and project managers) housed under one roof, clear and respectful communication is critical. But it isn’t always easy.

Too often, market research is conducted, summarized, and then sits on a shelf. On the other hand, forward looking companies understand how to use consumer insights to inform decision making and move the needle. But, that process of creating momentum internally can be challenging. Cross-functional stakeholder ideation work-sessions can help.

What a great time! Hypothesis took over Perry's in Santa Monica for our annual summer party! Co-workers, spouses, significant others, fiances, and a record number of kids (including all the new babies!) enjoyed music, DJ, dancing, BBQ, and of course, a great bar set up.

Derived importance is essentially a statistical method used to understand what “drives” a variable of interest. For example, we may use it to understand what elements of a message drives interest in an ad or what service features can lead to satisfaction. The analysis helps marketers know what to prioritize and emphasize in product development, service improvements, or messaging.

Earlier this year, I asked Ke, the newest (and easily the most fashionable) member of BrainTrust, about her Apple Watch: “So, how do you like it?” She responded lukewarmly, “It’s kind of, well, dumb.” That’s interesting. I noticed that no one else in the office had one – and this is an office full of early adopters and folks who love wearable tech (lots of Fitbits, for example). Then, I saw this article forecasting sluggish Apple Watch sales in 2016.

Infographics have become a buzzword in research and information design circles. It seems like everyone's building them to help summarize information, and online tools are making it easier for non-designers to create their own infographics.

Indoor pollutants are found in the office and at home. They can cause a wide variety of serious respiratory and central nervous system problems. What to do? Plants have the answer with natural pollutant-fighting power. Which plants work the best to remove pollutants, and which pollutants are the most dangerous? Infographic research and design by Hypothesis.

Maybe there are a few people out there born with the amazing ability to present, but most of us have to learn this skill. It’s easy enough to Google “good presentation skills” and find lots of tips like: use proper body language; speak with conviction and clarity; don’t rely on notes…and my personal favorites: use humor and have visual aids.

This week we launched our official Instagram page (@hypothesisgroup). Instead of a typical corporate instagram page, though, we wanted to do something unique that showcased our skills and personality. We also wanted to offer something of value that was original. Enter the Infobite.

It’s getting more and more difficult to keep respondents engaged with traditional, long surveys. To reach respondents and compete for their limited attention, we need to create research experiences that are engaging, immersive and allow them to participate on any device, whenever and wherever they are. To do this we recently added 2 new tools to our research toolkit: Ideastream and Recollective. 

Our Big Ideas teams put together an impactful presentation about retail engagement. The presentation synthesizes insights from hundreds of groups, interviews, and ethnographies from around the world.