FishEyeâ„¢ - Lifelogging Research
posted 20 Apr 2010
In 2009 we hooked up with a pioneering project being run out of Cambridge University that was exploring the potential of new ‘Lifelogging’ cameras. Over the past 8 months we have used this new technology in a variety of ways - both for client projects and for our own interest. This work has taken us on a journey of discovery from a brand spotting mission in the less muddy than usual fields of Glastonbury in June to spending Christmas Day with a chocolate loving family in Long Eaton.
Using FishEye allows us to experience other people’s lives in specific situations or in their entirety – allowing us to see more, ask more and understand more than we have ever done before. On top of this we are working closely with a world leading academic team in Ireland to begin to use computer analytics to make sense of the thousands of images that this technique generates. Ultimately this will advance the scope of FishEye as strange sounding techniques such as SURF extraction to allow us to easily spot every occasion where someone is involved in relevant activity or comes into contact with a brand or object.
FishEye has already firmly established itself in our methodological repertoire and we have just bought more devices that will allow us to do more FishEye projects - bigger, better, faster.
We had an article published in Marketing Week talking all about it. Take a look by clicking on the following link:
http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/in-depth-analysis/the-camera-never-lies/3011209.article
For more (and there is lots more) on this contact: Dr Bob Cook – Director of Innovation and Inspiration
Aquariumâ„¢ - AQR QRCA Conference Prague 2010
posted 20 Apr 2010
Our private, research/social networking site, Aquarium, is now a very busy corner of our digital world. One of the many things it allows us to do is to create and observe a variety of different dialogues in a way that transcends the more traditional limitations of what used to be known as the ‘real world’. This is a subject that Dr. Bob will be introducing in a talk titled ‘Polyphony not Cacophony’ at the AQR QRCA ‘Inspiration in Action’ Conference in Prague in May 2010. If you want to jet off and see him there, tickets are still available from the QRCA website and other sources.
In our next newsletter in June, we will give you a full tour of the site for you to wrap your eyes (and minds) around. If you can’t wait that long, just get in touch and we would be more than happy to come over and show you what it can do. Click here to email us or call us on the usual number, +44 (0)20 7940 4100
100% Design
posted 20 Apr 2010
September 2009 saw ‘100% Design’ take over London’s Earls Court Exhibition centre. It’s the country’s leading showcase for the very best in interior design and emerging design ideas and talent – a trendsetting event. This year, the Firefish monthly Ministry of Education took a trip over to West London for bit of new thinking and inspiration – 100% design is a hotbed of inspiration for future brand trends to think about in the next decade. Also along for the ride were the Firefilms team who captured a fascinating, bespoke tour of some of the show’s highlights by its creative director, Jamie Anley. The film is now on Firefish TV and well worth checking out if you fancy knowing more about the last word in reflective bike accessories – or the more philosophical issue of ‘what is red?’
The Miracle Factory
posted 20 Apr 2010
If necessity is the Mother of invention, then who’s the Daddy? Creativity, that’s who.
In most industries creativity is a necessity and qualitative market research is no exception, it already exists in bucket loads in the minds of researchers everywhere, it’s just that in the organised chaos of our daily lives the ingenuity and creative gems that are conjured from the depths of proposal/debrief obsessed and frazzled minds are all too often later forgotten, not shared or learned from and more importantly not encouraged or nurtured. We work in a creative industry and are creative with what we do everyday, we should give creativity more space to exist and give it it’s due care and attention.
For this purpose we have invented our new creative department called The Miracle Factory. Turn up in meeting room one on a Wednesday morning and you might be forgiven for thinking that you’d stepped into a freewheeling creative hotbed of new wave thinking and ingenuity, which of course you have!
Unlike the traditional creative department model, the ones you see in advertising agencies all over the land, Miracle Factory is not an exclusive club. There are not creatives per se, employed to be ‘creative’, there is no one person who is more creative than the others. There are 4 permanent members of Miracle Factory, their job is to encourage, nurture and stimulate good ideas, they simply facilitate the Miracle Factory process by engaging any number of the Firefish team on a subject, be it a challenging brief, a new methodology or a new working practice. Their job is to get the right people together to tackle the task at hand, we can all bring different skills, different perspectives, ideas and insights and the Miracle Factory enables us to marry the right thinking to the right challenge. So at it’s greatest every single member of the Firefish team number among it’s ranks and at it’s simplest it is a single person working unhindered in an encouraging environment to quite simply deliver a good idea.
So whatever your brief and whatever your future briefs, the Miracle Factory is a place where new and exciting methods of answering them will be born.
Watch this space!
We are 10
posted 20 Apr 2010
Thank you for all your support over the last 10 years, we have enjoyed every minute. You have helped us grow into the thriving and innovative agency we are today. To celebrate we have put together a short film for your enjoyment. Within this time we have grown by over 2000%, won numerous awards from project specific, employment and research innovation, are a well respected agency and are loving the whole qualitative research process more than ever – can’t be bad! If you haven’t been in touch for a while, we are always available to let you know how we have evolved, and how we will continue to evolve in this new decade. Email Alison or Martyn or call the office for a chat.