Focus groups as therapy
We’ve found ourselves recently running focus groups on health-related matters, some of which involve very personal emotions and feelings. We’ve...
Read MoreWHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO
Murmur is a dedicated qualitative research agency delivering research insight and foresight to help agencies and clients crack problems.
DEVELOPING STRATEGY & CREATIVITY
DIVING DEEPER & MOVING THINKING FORWARD
This year we have cracked communications strategy for a major FMCG brand working with Karmarama, helped Havas win the pitch for Huawei, assisted New Balance designing the retail store of the future, identified opportunities for Halifax to behave like a consumer champion and put the UK hospitality sector under the microscope, for Whitbread
ABOUT US Our experience has been profound, global and progressive. We solve problems, we do not deliver mere reportage We have a reputation for utilising innovative research and analytical methods – which means we avoid assembly line approaches and reject the process orientation of the biggest research agencies We believe that research which delivers foresight as well as insight offers brands and agencies the opportunity to squeeze much more value out of the research processPROBLEM SOLVING
APPROACH
FUTURE FOCUSED
We apply innovative research methodologies to solve marketing dilemmas and help direct long range thinking We use immersive methods such as ethnography, supported by follow up depth interviews, expert sessions and focus groups, to really get under the skin of sectors, ranging from supermarkets, via financial services, to alcohol… and even, for Durex, sex We run the best recruited and moderated interview sessions whether they be depths or focus groups, that clients such as Samsung, Mercedes and Nestle claim to have seen We formulate and refine strategies by utilising expert and savvy consumer input, to help brands and agencies uncover fresh insights about what they do and extrapolate from this to help planners and marketeers plan for the future We help agencies to win pitches from Saatchi & Direct Line and Marie Curie, to Havas & Huawei, by squeezing more value out of the pitch research process. We burrow deeper and uncover emotional insights that drive distinctive and motivating ideas We get the job done whether the timeline is 2 months, or 2 days and we do all of the above swiftly, at great ratesOUR CLIENTS
Last year (2015), we managed the biggest millennials study that’s ever been undertaken in India, for Ogilvy & Mather, uncovered fresh insight into End of Life Care for Marie Curie, built and managed an international forum among opinion forming women on the future of feminism for a major FMCG brand, assisted Debenhams in optimising their offering for women and helped Netflix in evolving their future communications strategy across Europe
PEOPLE
I have worked with Murmur research in three continents over the last twenty years. Our business gets tougher and tougher, more platforms, more segments and yet the methodology of finding the insights that feed them all have hardly changed in the last thirty years. Mark and his team are amongst the very few who look at a problem and come up with a new and interesting way of finding a deeper and more meaningful context which helps us develop a stronger and more edgy solution for our clients. Without giving away too much , we recently employed Murmur to help us go beyond the typical understanding of our targets in one of our core growth markets. The result has been a body of work that has served to better our briefs, given us a stronger and more respected opinion for our clients and has led to numerous new business meetings, I sincerely hope he does not share this methodology with any of you:-)
In short if you want some research which tells you what you already think you know and what your clients almost certainly do know, well don't hire Mark. If you want thought provoking, ideas before their time, stimulus for real creative thinking then Murmur is your team.. ...From quickly getting to grips with the brief and research objectives, recruiting the right people – demographically and attitudinally on-brief, articulate and vocal - writing discussion guides that work to unearth new consumer and or category insights, considering and implementing the best qualitative methodologies, exploring socio-cultural contexts prior to and post fieldwork, to presenting to clients, creative’s and various stakeholders with an easy aplomb and professional integrity.
Mark possesses a fundamental empathy for what we do and how we do it; he’s always been my partner along the strategic and creative development process rather than just a supplier. During our many creative development projects he’s demonstrated a brilliant cultural and creative literacy that both facilitates a sensitive but thorough exploration of an ideas merit and optimise its potential to engage with and get noticed by consumers... (Read full testimonial) Mark ran a global consumer insight research project for me, at Timberland. Mark was a great partner who brought tremendous passion, enthusiasm and insight to the project. He was able to anticipate and get in deep to understand and provide fresh insight. The research was critical to our consumer understanding and positioning for Timberland, bringing rich insight that continues to inform strategy and communications. I’d highly recommend Mark and the Murmur team, and hope to have the opportunity to work with them again. 4Mark is unquestionably one of the greatest researchers and thinkers in the advertising and communication business. In my 20 years of knowing and working with Mark he has made me and the business I have worked on infinitely better. Marks greatest asset is his ability to understand people and culture and knowing how to interpret that understanding in a way that not only benefits the brands he works on, but more importantly benefits the people the very insight came from. But above all else Mark is just one of those people you love spending time with. If you can get time in his incredibly busy life then you and / or your brand will be better for it. Mark and his team at Murmur have given us two of the biggest strategic breakthroughs of the last year in planning. The most notable was on our recent £60 million Dulux global account win. In a world of qual researchers that seem unwilling to get stuck into the meaty strategic stuff, Mark is total refreshment. Other researchers pale into insignificance compared to Mark. I have always felt confident introducing him to new clients as I know he will not let me down. He has a God-given talent for seeing things that others miss and because of his history with creatives and agencies his work is always useful. I have known clients to use his debrief as the holy grail for a long time after it was given as he has uncovered so much valuable insight -stuff that challenges, enlightens and facilitates creativity. I have used him for anything from creative development research through to really high end opinion former work - he has some of the best recruiters and manages to speak to your wish list. Oh and clients like him and trust him - which is always good. We don’t trust branded research tools or research companies that peddle specific templates, or formulae – they smack of assembly line approaches which are intended to make the research company’s job easierWHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING...
Poran Malani, President
Ogilvy & Mather
Damian McKeown, Planning Director
Droga 5
Tracey Stokes, Marketing Director
Timberland
Andy Bellass, Partner and CSO
Splendid Communications
Rebecca Moody, Planning Director
Mother
Farhat Zaheer, Senior Planner
Havas Worldwide
STRATEGY
Our approach has always revolved around moving thinking forward
mini heading goes here
So, for example, when we work on pitches for ad agencies we often get involved at an earlier stage in the process where we elicit the input of experts and savvy consumers to help identify motivating territory that positioning statements and strategic propositions can be rooted in
Because we have experience in ad agency planning, we understand strategy. And because we understand the pressures involved in identifying distinctive and motivating strategies, we always work closely with the people who have to come up with fresh thinking in this area
Over the course of fieldwork we will continually feed nuggets and insights into planning or marketing departments, with a view to identifying territory that gets everyone sitting forward and excited
In essence, we evolve ideas by going back and forth between consumers and agency or client, until we have identified the most resonant and distinctive strategic ideas and propositions
Let’s illustrate the above with a case study:
In 2014, we undertook the first piece of qualitative research that Channel 5 had done in 7 years, helped Microsoft, Just Eat and Direct Line hone and refine their communications and sought out hard to reach segments of the population for Lambeth Council, in order to understand how their needs might best be met
INSIGHT
We believe insight comes from a bespoke approach, rather than a research template
(click the arrows either side to scroll right or left)
We are renowned for being able to access the types of respondent who are either extremely niche, or reluctant to participate in research – whether they be high class prostitutes, people with terminal illness, individuals responsible for allocating NHS budgets, drug dealers, or Chinese migrants
Research Tools
(click the arrows either side to scroll right or left)
CASE STUDIES
We think there’s a role for research to offer something more future-focused, to revolve around consumer foresight as much as consumer insight
Murmur Films
We are committed to producing research films which go beyond the market research norm – so, for example, we followed a number of middle aged men for a number of months, on behalf of VW and the resulting film – The Middle Men – ended up winning the Best UK Documentary Award at the 2010 London Independent Film Festival Awards
We use film to bring consumers vividly to life, in a way that adds resonance and meaning to debriefs
The Middle Men from Murmur Research on Vimeo.
News
We’ve found ourselves recently running focus groups on health-related matters, some of which involve very personal emotions and feelings. We’ve...
Read MoreLamis has been awarded a scholarship for her part-time Masters in Creative Practice at Goldsmiths University. Congratulations!
Read MoreWe’ve made a record! Rude Audio Rudest EP – and it’s being played on Radio 6, as well as by...
Read MoreMurmur welcomes Alistair Ingle as our new in-house filmographer, to the team. He’s got the first film under his belt...
Read More
CONTACT US