WHO WE ARE

OVERVIEW WHAT IS ETHNOGRAPHY

We seek to understand what matters to today's consumer by probing the rich universe of people and communities. We map their world - including their emotional, cultural, psychological and behavioral triggers - and then translate that knowledge into viable market strategies.

PortiCo Research combines on-site observation and in-depth interviews to explore consumers in their natural environments, far from the artificial environment of focus group rooms or the detachment of quantitative surveyors. We venture out into people's homes, their hearts and their world, visiting the spaces they inhabit. We interview target consumers as well as their family and friends, sharing adventures and worries, hopes and dreams. We get to know what matters most to them - all so we can advise clients how their brand can become more meaningful.

We assign our research teams to best meet our clients’ needs, bringing together multiple perspectives from various fields of expertise. We deploy teams of professional documentary filmmakers that are skilled in capturing people's experience unobtrusively, and social scientists who design interviews and analyze results. We work together with brand strategists to draw out implications and recommendations for our clients, as well as cultural geographers and anthropologists to put findings into perspective. The resulting video report and written report deliver first-hand powerful testimonials about consumer perceptions.

We consider our research to be part of a collaborative process, and want our clients to get involved every step of the way. We aim to build upon our clients’ existing knowledge base while developing new and productive insights. We encourage our clients to join us in the field to give them a grounded understanding of their target, and give them a chance to participate in some of the on-the-spot brainstorming that occurs in the field.