Video ethnography is one of the best market research methods for getting close to real behaviour. People film at the time, in the place and with the people they'd normally be with. There's no moderator making them feel awkward and no group think shaping their answers. No method removes observation bias completely, but we think video ethnography is one of the methods that gets closest to it.
This is very rarely needed. We've been writing video activity guides since 2011, so we've got a lot of skill in setting them up in a way that answers the research questions, and clients are often surprised by the depth that comes back first time. However, on the rare occasion it is required, Thinkers (our research participants) can complete an additional video or we can arrange online 1-2-1 interviews. Both of which can be done within days.
You get strategic "If-It-Were-Our-Money" recommendations. Our researchers (we call them Strategy Brains) watch the videos, do the critical thinking and deliver the next steps in a strategic report with highlight reels to land the findings. Products, packs and services have been launched, reformulated and rethought off the back of them. If you'd rather do the watching and analysing yourself, that's fine too. (And we can, of course, just do highlight reel montages too.)
Yes. But it depends how many groups or segments you want to include in your research. We recommend a minimum of 6 per group. As the classic adage goes "If one person hits a pothole in the road, you don't need to see 30 more people doing exactly that to know that it's a problem". There comes a point where you stop learning anything new. Quant is to measure. Qual is to answer why.
For those who have skeptical stakeholders or want to cover eeeeven more segments, we can also add an expansion pack to your sample size without sending time and cost into the stratosphere via our Breadth Booster. It bolts onto a project with full analysis and tops up your headcount with 30-40 more real people, each recording one unmoderated Q&A video. Adding even more weight to your findings.
We pride ourselves on our recruitment quality and are often complimented on it by our clients. Thinkers record an intro video when they join our panel, so we can see they're real and get a feel for who they are. Screening questions are set up to remove people who aren't doing what they say they're doing and include an articulation question to make sure they can explain themselves with enough depth and without AI. We also have multiple sets of human eyes on the videos once uploaded, so we can easily spot clues that don't add up, for example kitchen shelves, bookshelves, plug sockets etc. Anyone who has taken part in our research more than four times in the last 12 months is excluded.
Yes to both. For example, we've recruited people who live near specific test stores, have a particular device or a specific medical condition. And, as long as they've given you explicit permission for us to contact them, we can recruit from a specific list of your customers.
Yes! For example, we've recruited the likes of bar staff, tradespeople and healthcare professionals. If we don't think we can deliver on your recruitment criteria, we'll tell you rather than avoid the problem and underdeliver.
Yes. We've worked in 69 countries since 2011, and in 22 different countries in the last 12 months. Outside the US, UK and Australia, where we have offices and our own pannels, we work with long-standing local partners who've been thoroughly briefed on our quality standards. From Argentina to Algeria, Guatemala to Greece, and Bangladesh to Belgium, we've got it covered. All respondents need is a smartphone and stable internet connection. The countries we haven't worked in are a case of not being asked.
You'll always get the agreed number of respondents, every one of which is high quality. Every video is quality checked by a human researcher as it comes in, and anything below standard is rejected and replaced at no cost to you and with no impact on your timings.
The number of Thinkers, how many videos they make, the fieldwork markets, whether translation is needed, the depth of analysis and the final deliverables. We'll talk it through with you and shape the approach to fit your objective and budget.
For a straightforward recruit and everyday video tasks in the US, UK or Australia, a project takes around 5-6 weeks from sign off to debrief for our full analysis. Highlight reels only (no analysis) takes around 2-3 weeks, and raw footage only (no analysis) is around 1-2 days less than that.
Markets outside of the US, UK and Australia add around 3 days, and an extra 3 on top of that where footage needs translating.
A complex recruit, multiple usage occasions or behaviour over time also extend timelines.
That's up to you! In 95% of projects we do all the watching and analysing. And you still get access to all of the videos, so you and your team can dive in too if you want. The other 5% are mostly highlight reels only with no analysis, plus the occasional client who takes the raw footage and does all the watching and analysing themselves.
Yes, just ask. As standard with our full analysis, you and your team get access to the footage on our platform by the time our analysis starts, once every video has passed our quality checks. If you need to see it sooner, just let us know.
On highlight reels only and raw footage only projects, footage appears as soon as it passes our quality checks.
Once you've signed off on the project, its objectives, recruitment spec and activity guide, we don't need anything more from you. We'll keep you updated throughout, of course. And if we're doing the analysis, we'll have a mid-analysis call with you to go through the story so far. So you can get on with the million and one other parts of your job, maybe even have a cup of tea. Safe in the knowledge that we have everything in hand and will deliver on time. Lovely!
You get access to our platform and all of the raw videos and transcriptions. With highlight reels only you also get the reels, and with our full analysis you also get the report and the reels. On our platform you will be able to make clips, share videos with colleagues and download any of the content.
By default, you can use any of the videos or reports for internal presentations and emails, plus external presentations and emails that aren't in a public forum. Anything in the public domain needs extra permission from us and our Thinkers, so just let us know at the start and we'll build that into your project.
Absolutely! The gold standard for any big business question is always a mixed-method, multi-phase approach. We're used to working with other agencies you may be partnering with.
We use AI to help with some of the nuts and bolts of the research, such as sense checking screeners, pressure testing activity guides, pattern matching screener responses, and flagging questions that haven't been answered properly. All while maintaining or even helping to improve the research quality. However, in all cases, everything is still human verified and the final thinking remains fully human.
We aren't an AI agency. Our analysis is still very much done by humans. But our researchers do lean on AI as a research assistant during the process. For example, they'll use AI to help find any patterns they may have missed while watching all of the videos. They'll also use AI during reporting to help wordsmith titles, deliver a more concise message, and find repetitive information. Human researchers still always add depth, make the strategic connections, shape the narrative and write the report.
We're primarily a human-led research agency. The only exception is our Fast Feedback offering which is AI-led. It's a fast, lightweight solution for simpler questions that don't need in-depth research. 30-40 Thinkers make an unmoderated Q&A style video. These aren't behaviour or occasion based. Every respondent is still recruited and QC'd by our trusty team of humans. Unlike our usual approach, the videos are then analysed with our own AI tool, developed by our research team, to mimic their process. The analysis is then checked by a human researcher.
In our human-led approach, our human researchers will use AI as a research assistant. We use a handful of leading AI tools, none of which train their models on our input data. And because our method is so unique, we're also building some of our own, proprietary, in-platform tools shaped by our methodology, not the other way around.
We follow NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) guidelines, evaluations, standards and benchmarks for measuring and evaluating AI.
We investigate every use case carefully, step by step, and only add vetted tools that maintain or improve quality.
We treat AI as a companion to our process, but it doesn't define it. If you have specific concerns about AI we're happy to come up with an option that fits your needs.
GDPR standards are applied to every project, in every country, regardless of where the participant lives. We add on top any additional local requirements that aren't already covered by GDPR, such as CPRA in California or LGPD in Brazil. At home, Thinkers confirm anyone else in the frame is happy to be included. Out of home, they're told not to capture other people's faces, and any that slip through are blurred.
Yes. We've covered personal finances, health and intimate care without a problem. No more personal information is collected than the research needs, and anything captured that isn't relevant is blurred.
In most countries, yes. Where there are restrictions, such as Germany, Thinkers shop as normal but record audio in store, photograph the aisle and film a post-shop video instead. In every case, they're told not to capture other people's faces, and any that slip through are blurred.
Watch Me Think is the qual market research agency for when you can't afford to get it wrong. Real consumers film themselves as they use your products, shop, or go about daily life. Human researchers pore over every minute, tease out the threads and do the strategic thinking. They turn what they see into a report with clear, actionable advice and creative highlight reels to land the findings, win the room and get things moving.