#TDMR Live: Smartphone-based Ethnographies with P&G and QualVu
Live Coverage by Kristin Schwitzer, cross-posted from the New Qualitative Research blog.
Real-time coverage of the following session from IIR's 2011 Technology Driven Research Event in Chicago: 'The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth: The Remarkable Candor of Webcam and Smartphone-Based Ethnographies'
Charlie Rader, Digital Insights Tools Leader Global Products Research Capability of Procter & Gamble, and John Williamson, CEO & Founder of QualVu, shared their work together doing Smartphone-based ethnographies.
Using mobile and video, QualVu gives P&G 'more access to more consumers, in more parts of the world, more completely.' Plus, QualVu has strong back end features for data mining, clipping and reporting.
Today, there are 750 million Smartphones and 1.8 billion global Internet users projected to be 5 billion globally in 2020, with 3 in 4 Americans online.
So it is evolution, or devolution? ;)
There has been a shift from researcher driven, out of context interactions and limited engagements, to now it's all about them: it's consumer-driven, event-driven, in relevant settings, and with extended engagements.
P&G success stories using QualVu:
' Bounty: event-driven, moments in life with Flip cameras on napkin usage upfront and then sent product to try for a paired-comparison feedback
' Venus: got into previously inaccessible settings (shower) and time periods (very early morning) to open and use prototype razors in the bathroom, along with any products used before/during/after shaving experience, broke down candidness barrier
' P&G Professional floor cleaning: webcams given to supervisors and Flip cams to workers cleaning the floor for actual B2B use, such as cleaning airport floors at 2am
Looking into the future:
' New levels of consumer-driven access: geolocation, QR codes, and break boundaries of 'the project'
' Rated panels
' Data sharing (Flash transfer) and mining (searchable)