WHAT THE F*CK IS GOING ON?
An overview of some work with Saatchi & Saatchi UK
Yesterday we traveled to London to attend the launch of a project we’ve been working with Saatchi & Saatchi UK on for the past 6 months or so.
Titled: ‘What the f*ck is going on?’ - it’s a state of the nation piece that gets close to real people around the UK. Not brand personas, not data-led aspirational segments to target. No focus groups, no viewing facilities. Real people in their natural environments.
It’s a piece of work that is perfect for Saatchi & Saatchi - a world-renowned creative agency that wants to make the most influential ideas from Modern Britain.
We thought we’d share an overview of the project as a whole.
The Starting Point
Richard Huntington - Chief Strategy Officer - reached out to us with a simple, yet powerful brief:
“We have rising inflation, a Prime Minister who lasted 44 days, unity via mass mourning from the death of The Queen, but deep division because of Brexit…What the f*ck is going on in the UK?”
It’s the kind of brief we love to work on: Deep, wide and important.
The Methodology
Working with the Saatchi & Saatchi team, we agreed to visit a broad range of people all around the UK. From Glasgow to Maidstone, Belfast to Newport, Otley to Bristol.
We recruited people with only minor screening. We were interested to get a broad brush and not a manufactured sample based on specific requirements. So whilst we did look at gender, ethnicity and geography we didn’t screen for specifics such as income, voting history or political leaning.
(We did have one or two specifics we looked into - such as meeting someone who had taken in a Ukrainian family, and someone who was living with disabilities).
The Visits
Working with our friends at Flume, we went on a road trip and met a whole bunch of interesting, welcoming, diverse people.
We sat on their sofas, rummaged through their fridges, learned to wear thermal socks to deal with no heating, and listened listened listened.
And what we heard was fascinating. Here are a few snippets.
Angela and Hamid talked to us about the racism they have encountered as people of colour growing up in the UK:
We heard from Matt, who told us how more recently, his friendships have been put to the test because of divisive politics:
Chatting to Matt in his 2-bedroom, semi-detached council house, he also shared his frustration with friends who state England is “the envy of the rest of the world.” He looked out of his window, sighed, and said:
We met Bethan, a 25 year-old living in Newport. The only one of her friendship group not to have moved away to study at University. Sitting in her lovely home (because she went straight into the workforce instead of Uni she could just about afford to buy whereas none of her friends could) we discussed her hopes, dreams and plans for the future… but very quickly realised that whilst being young does bring hope for the future it also brings huge worries:
As well as listening, we observed too. Capturing their lives via photography and film allows us to spot parts of their lives they may not volunteer up in a more forced conversation. It allows us to see the items and spaces that may hold a deeper meaning. It allows us to see how they interact with specific spaces and items too.
Such as Chris - a public service worker in Rochdale. Sat in his home, discussing his worries about the future, he said “I say this… sat in my house, looking at the view outside, drinking a cup of coffee of the brand I like…”
We chatted to Adam in Glasgow - a recent graduate - and asked him which of his items he’d paid more for than he would typically, and why, and he shared thoughts about walking, the outdoors and mental health:
And we chatted to Lynn about her shared love of LEGO with her kids. It connects them and gives them shared joy:
The Playback
Taking this content back to Saatchi & Saatchi was exhilarating.
We were briefed to look beyond immediate brand impact, so our findings were based more on overall feelings, opinions, stresses, hopes and fears in the lives of our participants, and less on which brands they had in their cupboards (although we did capture that too). Which meant we delivered an immersive picture of how our participants were feeling. Good, bad and indifferent.
Our output spans Journalism, Ethnography and Documentary footage, which means we can bring people’s lives to life in a really rich manner.
Our background (Mark has over 15 years as a Brand Strategist working globally) means our outputs go beyond some standard research findings. We’ve don’t just deliver the facts, we decipher their meaning and add a layer of consultancy about what this could mean for brands or specific products.
We can deliver springboards for new product development, product line extensions and sometimes work collaboratively with our clients to ideate new routes to market.
The Ongoing Value
Beyond the initial playback, we’ve been working ongoing with Saatchi & Saatchi as their project has become bigger and more multifaceted. They’ve augmented our content with YouGov data and expert opinions from a range of cultural figures. And it’s been featured in The Independent, The Express and other outlets.
We’ve helped them shape the content, the events and other outputs. The work formed a key part of their event last night:
What’s Next?
Well, this wealth of content and insight is being used across the Saatchi & Saatchi business. We’re partnering with them to ensure it adds as much value to their business as possible - in pitches, with existing clients and with new opportunities too.
You see that’s the beauty of this kind of research - it generates a whole heap of content that can be used in different scenarios, in lots of different ways, to generate ongoing value.
Lastly…
Lastly, we should say a BIG thank you to the Saatchi & Saatchi team. They’ve been a joy to work with, to partner with and to collaborate with on this project. It’s led to other projects, and hopefully an ongoing relationship.
A big personal thank you needs to go to Richard Huntington and Alice Flanagan who brought us in initially, and who have given us an opportunity to work on something really interesting and really important.
And thank you to our friends at Flume - giving valuable support when we need to scale quickly on multiple projects.
We traveled around the UK and truly got closer to people to understand their lives, beliefs and behaviours. It’s something we have loved working on.
If you’d like to know more about the “What the f*ck is going on?” findings, contact Saatchi & Saatchi here.
If you’d like to hear how Meet the 85% can help you understand what is going on with your customers, in your category or with your brands, please contact Mark here.