OREANDA-NEWS. December 11, 2015. Ford is reimagining how to set itself apart in the marketplace by focusing on the customer experience and not just the vehicle itself.  Since 2013, the company has been working with ReD, a social-science-based strategy consultant that observes people and the way they interact with products in their natural environment versus traditional market research that relies on people answering survey questions to gather information. 

@Ford recently had an opportunity to talk with Christian Madsbjerg, the founder of ReD, about his company and the innovative work they are doing with Ford.

Tell us about ReD.  What type of work does your company do?

We help companies get one step closer to reality, by studying people as people, not as customers. Companies often make assumptions about their customers that may not match what is actually going on in the real world.  We help bridge that gap by means of observation – very advanced anthropological-inspired techniques of observing people as they go about their everyday lives.  Instead of asking them what they want and think we observe them for a fair amount of time in order to understand what goes on in their lives and how they interact with the vehicles they drive or ride in.

What is the difference between what you do and traditional market research?

With traditional market research you ask people what they want in a survey, focus groups or interviews.  Do you want this car or that car, this seat or that seat, etc.?  What we do is observe people in their natural environment and figure out what kinds of things would excite them.  What are the kinds of things that would make their lives better, easier or more fun?  What kinds of experiences would delight them?  It is more of an observational and analytical task rather than just straight up asking them a question. And we use that approach to figure out what kinds of experiences, products and business models would be helpful or delightful in their lives and surprise them in good ways in the future. So it’s a way of futuring based on very empirical and analytical ways of dealing with the world.

Read the full article here.