Who are we?

We are a qualitative research consultancy. We observe consummers and end-users from all walks of life, from professionals, producers to consumers and users. We analyse their behaviours, preferences, and how they make their way in the world, how they accept interfaces, technologies, services and economic models in their everyday life.

In so doing, we study and make sense of the structures which emerge from social imagination. That is to say, the pool of representations which trigger trust, conviction and adhesion to a brand, a service or a product.

What we do. Technologies, mobility and acts of consumption, the luxurious and the precious are the subjects of our everyday discussions.

Our job: studying the realm of imagination

We have two different approches:

• The investigation and identification of new trends and possibilities in user-based innovation. In this first type of analysis, we study the habits of users or consumers, current or potential, in order to understand they ways they live, and how they give meaning to various products, services and technologies that they use.This allows our clients to be as close as possible to the real lives and customs of their users and consumers - their audience. Doing this creates adhesion between a product, brand, technology or service and its intended audience. Carrying out this kind of study gives our clients a better sense for the market realities as experienced by their audiences. Our clients in this type of activity include industrial enterprises (Renault), Interface and software designers and publishers (Microsoft, BlueKiwi), and banks (Crédit Agricole).
• We also conduct studies to analyse the structures of social imagination and understanding of various publics, groups and communities - producers, consumers or employees and colleagues, depending on the needs of the study. It is then possible to update our clients’ understandings of the architecture of secret relations and common beliefs held by a certain group; the clandestine codes by which they share understanding and create meaning. This cartography of the social imagination is typically accompanied by another cartography, one intended to identify the position of the brand concerned on the ‘map’ of shared meanings and understandings of its market. This is branding, even if you do not like the word… Our clients in this activity include luxury brands (Louis Vuitton), Cosmetics and skincare (Lancôme, Armani, L’Oréal…), and alcohol companies (the Pernod-Ricard group).

Exploring complex phenomena, mapping unexplored markets and possibilities, and positioning your efforts there - that’s what we do best. We help business and communities to understand today’s complex markets and social environments. We reduce the the risk of innovation, by identifying potential obstacles and threats. Above all, we can help you to better understand your business and activities, in order to adapt to market realities, and face the challenges of today’s world. In so doing, we identify broad societal trends and patterns in the social imagination that allow our clients to get ahead of the curve.

What now?

• Would you like to know more about us, get to know us personally, discover our team, or have a look at our network? Please feel free to contact us, or come and join us for drink or a bite to eat.
• To see what what gets us going, drop by our little online magazine, where our clients and friends share their perplexities about the times we live in.
• We have a blog that is sort of a non-stop lifecast. Perhaps we are in the lobby of an hotel preparing for a presentation, perhaps we are monitoring the printing of a deliverable, or perhaps we’re just looking through the window.