For decades, qualitative research was dominated by a staple of any brand wanting to understand their customers’ views and preferences: the in-person focus group.  While it is true that online qualitative had started to make inroads many years before COVID, the status quo was dramatically challenged during the pandemic, when marketers needed to replicate in-person …

Some of you might not know that the recent Tom Hanks movie, A Man Called Otto, is based on the bestselling book, A Man Called Ove, written by Swedish author Fredrik Backman.  So, in advance of seeing the movie, I decided to read the book. You might be surprised that a book about a penny-pinching, …

Creating a Super Bowl ad is a slippery slope, maybe even more slippery than the playing field was at this year’s game. A brand has committed to spending a ton of money buying the media and then has to decide how to fill that space and impart something meaningful.  Sometimes it goes well.  Sometimes it …

As sure as TBS will air “A Christmas Story” and ESPN will air a bowl game featuring two not very good college football teams, there’s a good chance you’ll see Corona’s Christmas spot this holiday season. If you’re thinking you’ve seen this spot for years, you’re right.  They have used this same commercial for 32 …

“Something old, something new, something stinky, something blue.”  So says the ancient wisdom of Cheesemongers, when deciding on which cheese varieties to put on a cheese board. If you want to build an exceptional cheese plate this holiday season to impress your loved ones, and pick up a few cheese facts along the way, I …

I get it.  Company newsletters and LinkedIn aren’t supposed to be for cute dog pictures.  The adventures of our favorite pets are typically supposed to go on, well, every other social media platform.  However, there is a work-related connection here if you’ll allow me to explain. Otis Bast was “employee #2” at Nucleus.  After 16 …

All businesses go through cycles where activity is high, and everything seems to be a priority.  Along those lines, the occasional “hot” insights project is inevitable and even expected.  However, in my previous lives before joining Nucleus, I often came across corporate cultures that almost make an art form of this, where every request is …

There were a few reasons I didn’t want titles at Nucleus.  First, my original attitude was that if you think you’re too good for something, you’re probably good for nothing.  I didn’t want titles to make people feel constricted.  This was inspired by a senior art director I worked with early in my career.  The …

Malcolm Gladwell is at it again, blending together seemingly disparate observations and phenomena from world history and much more recent events into what seems like it should be intriguing tapestry. Subtitled, “What We Should Know About People We Don’t Know,” Talking To Strangers covers a lot of ground, much of which is surprising.  Winston Churchill …

The third quarter was a busy one for Nucleus and saw a tremendous return to face-to-face insights work.  In August alone, we conducted something like 15 qualitative groups, which included a trip to Minneapolis.  In this busy month, we did some card sorting and some shelf display work that just isn’t the same in a …

Anyone who ever made a mixtape gets it. You wanted a certain energy…the right flow…a definite feeling. You deliberately assembled a blend of artists, creators and innovators that you respected. And you absolutely wanted something that would never get old. That’s exactly what we did with Mixtape Creative Coworking, a brand we soft launched this …

We love when we get to branch out from traditional qualitative and quantitative methodologies. A few recent projects have had us doing just that and one approach we wanted to highlight is what we affectionately call a “Customer Illumination” project. To give credit where credit is due, a vendor partner came up with that term …

One of the magical qualities of books is the ability to transport you to another world, another time and another place. No matter the stresses of your life, a book means you are about to enter an entirely new realm — a place of escape, of entertainment and of learning. This is why I am …

“Next-Stepper.”  I had never heard these two words used as a compound phrase to describe someone but that is what my colleague Kim Atkinson called Kristen Katzman back in 2002.  This took place at the rapidly-growing corporate marketing department of the even more rapidly-growing Cold Stone Creamery chain of restaurants. The unique description came a …

Prior to joining Nucleus Marketing Lab, I was a road warrior, or perhaps “flight path warrior” is more apt. As anyone who relentlessly travels for business can attest, you find coping mechanisms—reasons to get excited about that inevitable next trip. Perhaps it’s racking up those airline rewards or having a kid-free good night’s sleep. In …

There is a homeless mission here in my adopted city that provides meals, shelter, clothing and job placement for the homeless. I’m not looking for a Congressional medal or anything, but we’ve tried to support them when we can over the years. Side Note: If you’re looking for a rewarding team-building activity, get your crew …

Right or wrong, more than one expert has compared the COVID-19 pandemic to WWII in terms of the global scale of its impact.  So perhaps it was fitting that I took the time to finish reading Ship Of Ghosts.  It’s a fascinating and terrifying account of the USS Houston and what happened to it in 1942, …

Brands come in all shapes, sizes, colors and flavors.  Just like people.  Some are funny.  Some are wise.  Some are innovative.  Some smell good. And some are really special.  With brand stories that can be quite fascinating. If you’ve watched 2019’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks as the inimitable Fred Rogers, you’ve seen …