culture-watch
A shop window of mannequin heads in wigs, each styled differently.
A man in a vest and hat stands at a clothing store window, studying the suits.
John Vachon. Chicago, 1941.

Practice

A business canbe performingand stillbe misread.

Your results show what happened. A new decision raises different questions. Tell us the choice you face. We study your product, price, where you sell, your partners and how customers respond, and give you one signed conclusion: Protect, Clarify or Change.

Bring us a decision

Carol M. Highsmith. San Francisco. Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress.

Output

Protect.Clarify.Change.

  1. 01

    Protect

    Customers already know why they choose you. Changing that would do more harm than good.

  2. 02

    Clarify

    Customers would choose you if they understood what you sell. Today your prices, your website or your partners tell them different things.

  3. 03

    Change

    The problem is in the business, not in the message: the product, the price, where it is sold or the service. That is what has to change.

Mannequins in a department store window.

John Vachon. Chicago, 1940.

The questions we ask

Four questions,in this order.

We answer the same four for every decision you bring us.

A shopper at the counter of a department store corset department.
Arthur S. Siegel. Detroit, Michigan, 1941.
01What you sell

What are you asking people to buy?

Four sailors, seen from behind, looking into a shop window.
Angelo Rizzuto. New York, 1956.
02What customers think

What do customers think you sell, and why do they buy it?

Two mannequin heads in the wig window, styled against each other.
Carol M. Highsmith. San Francisco (detail).
03What does not match

Where do your words, your actions and your customers’ experience contradict each other?

Shoppers at the corner doors and awnings on Herald Square.
Detroit Publishing Co. New York, about 1908 (detail).
04Conclusion

What could this decision set off, and is the conclusion Protect, Clarify or Change?

The Macy’s building at Herald Square, its awnings, signs and street traffic.
Detroit Publishing Co. New York, about 1908.
Method

What welook at.

  1. 01

    The whole business

    We look at the whole business, not just the advertising: product, price, where it is sold, service, partners, design, who owns it, what you do and what you say. Customers read all of it.

  2. 02

    What your results do not show

    Revenue, conversion, reach, awareness, search, retention and market share show what happened. We work out what they cannot show about the decision you are facing.

  3. 03

    What you say, what you do

    We compare what you say about yourself with what your products, prices, where you sell and partners show customers over time.

  4. 04

    A difference customers notice

    A difference is worth money only if customers can see it and choose you because of it. Something new, or something your own team cares about, is not enough.

  5. 05

    Does it all say the same thing?

    Your product, prices, photos, partners and messages can look different. What matters is whether a customer who sees any two of them would think they came from the same company.

  6. 06

    The conclusion

    We test each contradiction against your decision. We end with one signed conclusion: Protect, Clarify or Change. It says why, which part of the business it concerns, the consequences of each option, and what would change it.

Crowds on the sidewalk in front of a department store.

Arthur S. Siegel. Detroit, Michigan, 1941.

Bring us the decision,not the answer youare hoping for.

Tell us the decision you are about to make, what you stand to lose if it goes wrong, and what your current results do not tell you. If we can answer it with methods we already trust, we will. If it needs research first, we will tell you.

Start a request