Public Opinion Research and Communications Strategy in the 21st Century

LIGHT IN THE MIND, ART IN THE HANDS

DISCRETE INPUTS VS. UNIFIED STRATEGY• Old model: Market Research, Public Relations, Government Relations, Legal and other

disciplines acting as discrete inputs – low risk, superficial outcomes

• New model: Breaking down silos to build multidisciplinary teams that create unified strategies, rather than disconnected inputs – high risk, higher level outcomes

• 360 degree solutions – faster, more highly targeted, highly strategic rather than tactical, more cost effective

• Avoid the zero sum game

• As knowledge becomes commoditized, the era of the sector/subject expert ends and the era of the deep generalist begins

MARKET RESEARCH & PUBLIC RELATIONS – NATURAL PARTNERS• Rarely successful – added service rather than embedded in practice areas

• Evidence based is now demanded across categories – government relations, advocacy, consumer products, health care and others

• A collaborative team approach rather than an added service approach

POSITIONING MARKET RESEARCH IN P.R.• Market Research firms are still largely based on a data collection model

• Data and facts are freely available to everyone

• Insights are increasingly difficult to obtain

• Market Research firms can’t build in other disciplines, P.R. firms can

• P.R. firms are the Ad Agencies of the future

• A natural fit with key P.R. firm disciplines

WE ARE ALL STORYTELLERS• Market Research is not just about facts, data and analytics

• Insights attract a premium value

• Actionable facts and insights attract an even higher value

• Working synergistically to create more impactful stories

• Inherent higher measurability

THE IDENTIFY CRISIS• Too much data, less and less human insights

• Difficult to distinguish between directionality and noise

• Curate, don’t just report

• Who are the true targets?

• Who are true influencers and not outliers?

• What is the persuadable segment?

• What are the social attitudes, beliefs, values and aspirations?

• What are the icons, archetypes and imagery, vocabulary?

• What are the tables stakes?

• What will motivate?

THE BIG DATA CONUNDRUM• The bigger it gets, the less actionable it is

• The more Market Research becomes mechanical, the less human it gets

• Make big data smaller – smaller is actionable

• Sometimes, what you see in the data is just noise

• Correlation is not causation

• Interpretation is key

• Using data to derive insights is often working backwards

• Frame the right questions first, then look at whether the answers are there

• Don’t be distracted by big shiny objects

• Qualitative Research is human, not mechanical

PEOPLE REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL, NOT WHAT YOU SAID• Identify the persuadable and non-persuadable segments

• Identify the symbols, archetypes, icons and everyday vocabulary

• Use qualitative techniques in social media listening

• Use segmentation techniques to build online personae

• What creates trust and build permission to speak?

• Identify the emotions attached to the vocabulary to craft messages with deep emotional resonance

• Use qualitative techniques to probe the issue

• Get in front of and ahead of the issue before public opinion fully forms

• Market Research techniques in public opinion makes us less reactive and more proactive

• Following public opinion is always catch up – be a driver of opinion

SOCIAL SHIFTS AND POP CULTURE• Understand how The Walking Dead explains Donald Trump

• Public Affairs market researchers are immersed in social trends & dynamics

• Government Relations practitioners need that ammo in their toolboxes

• Public Relations practitioners are immersed in popular culture

• Market Research and P.R. acting together keep ahead of the emerging curves

MILLENNIALS – DIGITAL SPECIATION• Millennials are not a segment – they are a cohort

• Millennials are a transitional generation

• Digital speciation – the emergence of a new species

• Understanding the values & attitudes – the fourth turning

• Virtual reality – starting to live in the virtual world more than the tangible world

• Social identity becomes primary identity

AUTHENTICITY AND BELIEVABILITY• Communicators both understand that authenticity and believability are table stakes

• Market Researchers can uncover the emotional underpinnings, Communicators can craft a more powerful message

• Believability – on first base

• Relevance – double, runners on first and second

• Uniqueness – bases loaded, in scoring position

• Motivation – home run, bases cleared, in the drivers seat

• Amplifying the reach and depth through pre and post evaluation

• Inauthentic message or ambassadors can be negative motivators

TEST, TEST, TEST…• Can’t shift public opinion unless you know how it is framed

• Ethnographic research and conflict groups – explore the issue from all angles

• Give sector and subject experts a full deck to play with

• This is the era of evidence based advocacy – public opinion based

• Bad public opinion research will hurt the case

• Social media will take incomplete or inadequately framed messages and amplify them exponentially with unintended consequences

MARKET RESEARCH IS NOT A COST• If it sits on a shelf, it is

• If it is deep and actionable, it is an investment with an R.O.I. well in excess of cost

• In many situations the quantum of risk is high

• Value of outcomes can be high

• In a unified multi-disciplinary strategy it will accelerate, refine, expand, minimize risk and drive more profitable outcomes

THE SUM IS GREATER THAN THE PARTS• In public affairs/government relations, evidence based is public opinion based

• All communications today are social marketing - social segmentation is key to messaging

• A synthesis of open minds and astute observers

• 360 degree strategies

SOCIAL MEDIA IS NEVER A PROBABILITY SAMPLE• So it has some amazing uses in Market Research as a qualitative platform

• Use to bring customers into the decision making

• Apply qualitative moderating techniques

• Get past online personas, ‘claimed’ vs. ‘reality’

• Social Media is a microcosm of social construction theory

• Market Research firms do not do Social Media well

• Find trendsetters and use a moderator to enter their world and probe deeply

• A wealth of symbols, vocabulary, imagery, icons and touchpoints

• Distinguish between true influencers and outliers

• S.M. reaches an ‘event horizon’

• No shut off mechanism on S.M.

THE ERA OF LITTLE DIFFERENTIATION• Functionality is table stakes

• Great brands have multiple meanings

• All those meanings are social contexts, must share values

• We look at the future through a lens of today

• What will have the biggest impacts on brands:

• Technology

• Social structures

• Urban developments

• Cultural shifts

• Third World developments

POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS IN THE 21ST CENTURY• There is a reason that pollsters run successful political campaigns today

• A pollster understands the dynamics of public opinion

• A pollster understands data analytics

• A pollster understands that data is ultimately a rear view mirror

• A pollster understands that human (qualitative) insights drive the change dynamic

• Qualitative research in a campaign identifies emerging feelings and identifies obstacles before the discussion begins

• The myth of voters not engaging until after Labour Day

• The power of the subliminal campaign

BE TRIBAL. THINK TRIBAL.• We are becoming more tribal

• Be an open mind and an astute observer

• Good poets imitate, great poets plagiarize

• Take great ideas and make them your own