Turning Recession into Opportunity

Recession can prompt unusual levels of creativity.
With constraints to deliver more impactful research
within a shorter time frame and lower budget,
qualitative researchers need to take maximum
What to expect? advantage of their creative skills by crossing the
boundaries of their discipline. The staged
innovation approach of Air France and KLM
to develop new transfer concepts illustrates
how to move beyond the barriers of time,
methods and professions.

Introduction: difficult times require
a changing mindset

Turning the threat of recession into an
opportunity

The start of the global recession is characterized by the fall of Lehman Brothers on September
15th, 2008. The on-going economic uncertainty we have been facing since, is affecting
business and public sector alike, causing both threats and opportunities. The wave of bad
economic news is eroding confidence and buying power, driving consumers to adjust their
behaviour fundamentally and perhaps permanently. Throughout the recession, consumers sought
out and were exposed to a growing array of tools, techniques, programs and emerging
technologies – from list-making and comparison sites to stepped-up loyalty and rewards
programs – to help manage spending and maximize savings. This more thoughtful approach
to buying has evolved into an appreciation for cheaper brands, new channels and formats while
consumers are even learning to do without whole categories of purchases
(PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Kantar Retail, 2010). In every recession marketeers find
themselves in poorly charted waters because no two downturns are alike. Companies need to
understand changes in consumer behaviour and fine-tune their strategies according to evolving
consumption patterns (Quelch and Jocz, 2009).

The confrontation with many uncertainties
increases the need for research, as business is
seeking every bit of data to close a deal or find
lucrative markets. In addition to the severe threats
caused by recession, opportunity also abounds, as
economic downturn can be the catalyst to make
organisations even more relevant, producing a
return for the business. Srinivasan, Rangaswamy The direct connection between uncertainty
and Lilien already introduced the construct of and the need for research is changing the
„proactive marketing‟ in the International Journal of expectations of organisations towards
Research in Marketing in 2005. Their research researchers; they need to do more with less.
indicates that firms who develop an intense The challenge of providing better results
marketing response during recession can actually
faster and at a lower price is prompting
improve both market and business performances in
comparison to firms who cut back, waiting for the unusual levels of creativity in the research
recession to pass. Brad Bortner perfectly articulates industry.
the paradox market research agencies are facing as
a result to the economic downturn in a Forrester
report written at the beginning of the recession
(Bortner, 2008):“Fewer dollars will be available for
new studies, while the business will demand new
ideas more than ever.”

Increased expectations confront researchers
with their boundaries

Although the uncertainty affects market research Reports from moderated research blogs and
as a whole, we believe qualitative researchers communities are not representative according to
the definitions of market research, but naturally
can play a central role in increasing the
cannot be ignored on account of the numbers
business impact of research, not only based alone. With constraints to deliver more impactful
on their skills, but also because the focus in research within a shorter time frame and lower
research is shifting from representative to budget, qualitative researchers need to tap
relevant (Verheggen and van Slooten, 2011). into the opportunities provided by new
The rise of Social Media generated a move technological tools and take maximum
towards the use of data which has not been
advantage of their creative skills by crossing
collected in accordance with traditional market
research methods. New tools allow researchers the boundaries of their discipline.
to connect with more consumers, over a longer
period of time, and to integrate a variety of In an innovation project to improve the transfer
techniques to generate a holistic view on the lives experience for frequent flyers of Air France and
of consumers. KLM, we challenged the following boundaries to
increase the business impact of the research:

• Boundary of time - How can we build a bridge between past research on a topic and the current
information needs? How to design the approach for impact now and in the future? How to conduct
research faster and at the same time increase the opportunity to truly connect with consumers?

• Boundary of methods - How to transcend the boundaries between qualitative and quantitative
research? A hybrid methodology allows you to approach the research question from multiple angles and
gain more knowledge from the same project.

• Boundary of professions - How to learn from other disciplines on communicating results for
maximum impact? Which techniques can we apply to really get to know our stakeholders? In the
redefinition of roles, we even broaden our scope to evaluate the role of consumers in research.

With this paper we want to trigger qualitative
researchers to move beyond time, methods and even the
boundaries of professions by sharing examples of the
approach we applied in the co-creation of transfer
concepts for Air France and KLM.

Case: My Transfer for Air France and KLM

For most travellers the „transfer between The kind of insights which can inspire ground-
connecting flights‟ is a phase in their journey breaking consumer-relevant innovation can be
timely and costly to generate. Traditional methods
they would happily skip. Transfer flights are
often require a lot of observations or face-to-face
chosen mainly because there is either no other option
time with consumers and run the risk of merely
available or travellers need to make a trade-off
giving specific answers to known questions, rather
between time and costs. It is crucial for airport than exploring peoples‟ lives looking for inspiration.
and airline companies to understand the needs,
expectations and emotions of those travellers. The backbone of this project, a Market
This is particularly relevant in developing delight- Research Online Community (MROC),
evoking moments and in adding something positive to
involves different types of frequent flyers and
moments like a transfer, which is characterised by
negative emotions. Increasing the focus on the
integrates a variety of plug-ins like a personal
Multimedia ethnography blog and an Ideation tool
customer experience is relevant for Air France and
to match the specific objectives of each stage. An
KLM, as major airlines continue to struggle in the
MROC is a relatively cost-efficient answer to more
recession. In addition to further improving this
complex research questions as it connects more
experience to increase loyalty, there might also be an
people over a longer period of time while facilitating
opportunity to develop additional business activities in
in-depth discussions. MROCs were developed as a
the transfer journey. To gain insight and to develop
research methodology to take advantage of the
and validate new concepts to optimize transfer
characteristics of modern consumers, matching
services, the Customer Insight team and the
their social media behaviour and emphasizing the
R&D Customer Ground Experience team of dialogue between brands and consumers.
Air France and KLM connected with their
frequent travellers in a staged innovation
approach.

InSites Consulting defines an MROC as “a small group (up to 150) of highly engaged people joined
together by a common passion, connected online for a longer period, who are systematically engaged
by applying various social media techniques for different business objectives, especially co-creation
or even collaboration”. By definition, MROCs are not representative, as they work best with participants who
identify with the topic and/or the brand hosting the platform (De Ruyck et al., 2010).

In the co-creation of new transfer concepts we applied the following 3 steps:

Figure 1: Overview of the staged innovation approach

1 Insightment

In a first stage, the research community was used to detect new needs and frictions from
transfer passengers. We started with Multimedia ethnography (Verhaeghe, Van den Bergh &
Colin, 2008); 39 frequent flyers reported their transfer experience on a personal blog on the
community. Through 400 observations in text and pictures we were immersed in the world of the
transfer passenger. The meaningful observations from this blogging stage were further shaped in
the discussions on the research community. The blog stories and community discussions were
analysed through info structuring and pattern detection while visual analysis principles (Pink,
2007) provided understanding in the pictures. This phase resulted in 68 insights combined into 10
insight platforms.

2 Ideation and concept development

During a 3-week ideation and concept development community, another group of 46 frequent
travellers joined forces in generating over 450 ideas and comments, resulting in 32 new transfer
concepts. The MROC environment is particularly stimulating for idea-generation
exercises; consumers receive challenges based on the detected insights and can build further on
each other‟s ideas to make them more relevant. With these creative consumer tasks, it is crucial
to provide a stimulating environment by also discussing trends and best practices . As
gamification elements have proven to increase participant engagement in MROCs (De Ruyck and
Veris, 2011), we added a countdown to the challenges, addressing the competitive nature of
people to come up with as many ideas as possible in a limited time frame. No competition without
a reward: the most popular ideas were visualized by the industrial designer in our project team.

3 Quantitative validation
During a concept selection workshop, the four consumer-generated concepts showing the
highest relevance for both travellers and Air France and KLM were integrated in a
quantitative idea screener. The results guided a workshop to re-write the concept boards and
develop the final proposition.

In every stage, we challenged the current status
quo, making this case a perfect illustration of how
qualitative research can re-invent itself.
Throughout the paper we‟ll refer to specific
elements of this case study to show how
qualitative researchers can move beyond the
boundaries of time, methods and professions to
increase the business impact of research.

Increasing impact by going back in time

There is no lack of data in the business world; in addition to research reports from the past and consumer-
generated content on social media, an increasing number of organizations is also retaining information
from their customers as a „by-product‟ of their activities. Customers do not only know that data like flight
bookings and preferences are collected, they also expect airline companies to use this knowledge; for example
by applying a personalized approach or feature recommendations. It is important to address market research as
an element of this „big data‟ reality; research studies are set up in isolation too often. At the research agency‟s
side, the challenge is to keep surprising clients with even more results and recommendations. To move from
„insight‟ to action, research should not only focus on the here and now ; it should close the gap with the
past to understand how to be successful in the present. In order to be truly impactful, results from one project
should built on existing knowledge. However, a database with all existing insights on a topic is often lacking. It is
key to link parts of unstructured information and qualitative researchers have the skills to cross this boundary.

Figure 2: Illustration of how we crossed the boundary of time

The Customer Insight team and the R&D Customer Projective techniques, typically applied to reveal emotions
Ground Experience team of Air France and KLM are of research participants, can also be applied to our clients.
conducting research in order to provide its Based on personification techniques we developed a
passengers with the best service at a continuous board game to place the Air France and KLM team
pace. Although previous research was not focussed
in their customers‟ shoes, allowing us to map all the
on the transfer process, there already was a lot of
current assumptions about their needs. The team members
knowledge available spread across different reports.
were all assigned a persona representing a typical
Therefore we organized a workshop at the
passenger. During the board game, they had to come up
beginning of the project to connect the dots with needs and problems their persona could have during
with previous research. In fact, we applied similar transfer. In order to stimulate out-of-the-box thinking, they
techniques that qualitative researchers use in info were given probing cards revealing more information about
structuring: each participant to the workshop was the persona. This could be both a more intrinsic
asked to go through the previous research and had characteristic of the persona (e.g. always being up to date
to pick the three most important transfer learnings with the latest technologies) and contextual information
from each report. For each finding, we further (e.g. returning from a 3-week long business trip and
probed to detect the insight explaining the finding. missing the family).
This exercise was wrapped up by clustering the
insights based on the findings across research
reports. It is an illusion to think that all information is
explicitly captured. Often, marketing decisions
are made based on the assumptions
marketeers have about their client. In order to
also capture this more implicit information within the
company, qualitative research can help us by
bringing marketing assumptions in the organization
to the surface. Figure 3: Board game

The workshop lead to a knowledge map summarizing all existing insights, knowledge and assumptions
present in the organisation before starting the actual insightment (phase 1). The Connecting the dots
workshop resulted in 26 insights leading to the definition of 5 consumer insight platforms. As a result,
we could focus on the blind spots in the knowledge map during the research. Given that it‟s not always
obvious to proof the ROI of such research studies, this approach also allowed us to indicate the added
value of new research by comparing the knowledge present at the start of the project with the insights
gained during the observation with frequent travellers. This observation phase helped us to discover 68
insights, 42 of which were new, which is a 61% increase. Five more insight platforms could be added.
Moreover, the research also rejected 6 of the 26 assumptions which were generated during the
workshop. It is clear that by tapping into knowledge and assumptions from past research, we
can increase our added value in the present.

Faster, better, stronger

Market Research Online Communities are typically conducted for a longer time span (3 weeks to on-going).
The asynchronous longitudinal nature of communities has several advantages:

First of all, it allows us to go Secondly, it allows us to get The transparency of the
beyond one single feedback more out of the moment. methodology allows stakeholders
moment of our customer. There is an increased opportunity to follow the conversations of the
Knowledge gained in a first stage to connect. As not only the participants and to probe on
can be applied immediately, consumers but also the Customer
important topics.
which automatically gives the Insight team and the R&D
Tools like Daily Consumer News,
discussions more depth. Customer Ground Experience
Highlight Mailing and Intermediate
Moreover, it is also a faster way team at Air France and KLM have
Update Sessions manage the
to turn around research results. access to the MROC whilst it‟s
efficiency of staying in touch with your
Based on the initial findings, live, this increases the
community. By engaging
actions can be defined and engagement within the team.
stakeholders with these tools, they
immediately also checked and are more likely to act upon the results
improved by consumers. of the study (De Ruyck et al., 2011).

Daily consumer news Highlight mailing

The Air France and KLM team was kept up to date During the Ideation & Concept development, the
with the most striking and refreshing consumer involvement of the client team was vital to stimulate
stories of the day. Seeing pictures of transfers and the frequent flyers in their generation of relevant
reading the transfer stories from the minds of ideas. A communication plan was set up to evoke
consumers allowed them to better connect with curiosity and motivate the Customer Insight team
their target group. The „opportunity to engage‟ was and the R&D Customer Ground Experience team of
also extended by allowing each team member to Air France and KLM to clear some time in their
follow a passenger from packing his luggage all the busy schedules to visit the community and join the
way to his/her arrival at destination. Intermediate update sessions. This communication
plan took full advantage of the excitement
generated during live interaction moments, by
sending debrief pictures and quotes of participants,
while also sharing teasing insights.

Figure 4: Example of highlight mailing

Intermediate update sessions

To keep in touch with the ideas and discussions on the Ideation & concept development community,
InSites Consulting organized weekly update sessions, sharing top level results with Air France and
KLM, facilitating an online brainstorm to focus and probe on surprising elements. This close
connection allows us to tap into another advantage of MROCs: given the longitudinal connection, we
can adjust the conversation guide at any given moment in time based on what we are learning,
supporting an agile research design. In conclusion, qualitative researchers should embrace
longitudinal research approaches allowing you to not only conduct impactful research in a
quicker way but also to get more out of this valuable moment of consumer connect.

Crossing the boundary
of methods

The roots of marketing research lie in the US polling While differentiating between quantitative and
industry of the 1930s and George Gallup‟s conviction qualitative skills is favourable for the quality of
that one could anticipate the voting intention of millions
the research, we can‟t be limited by thinking in
of voters nationwide by asking a representative cross-
silos. Too often we think in terms of types of data
section of the public (Worcester, 1983). Qualitative
(textual, visual and numeric) and data collection
market research as we know it also originated in the
methods (surveys, discussions, observational
US under the title „motivational research‟ in the 1940s,
research), while the strength is often in a fusion of
based on psycho-analytic principles of identifying research techniques (Verhaeghe et al., 2010). But how
unconscious or repressed needs, notably through in- to make a quantitative researcher comfortable with
depth clinical-style interviews with small samples of qualitative research and vice versa? Are we - as
consumers. After emerging with promises of psycho- qualitative researcher - not too often afraid to cross the
analytic insight, it succumbed to warnings about its boundary with quantitative research? In our search for
statistical unreliability and subjectivism, before entering new innovation during the transfer process, we created
the era of love and understanding, and the time of the two hybrid research design; the one where we
creative consumer. It then expanded, but some argue analysed qualitative data with a quantitative
„dumbed down‟, until it had reached the current stage
mindset and the other where we integrated
where the multi-source, interactive, emotional, ethical
emotions, typically a goal of qualitative research,
consumer-cum-king has taken over (Cooper, 2007).
in a quantitative concept screener.

Figure 5: Illustration of how we crossed the boundary of methods

Quantitative skills in qualitative research
Although qualitative research is conducted on a non-representative sample, is it still possible to quantify the data.
For example: during the observation (blogging) stage of the research, we collected over 1000 consumer stories,
each highlighting different aspects of the transfer experience. Each of the stories was tagged according to an
analysis framework. This was not only the start of the info structuring, but a deliverable by itself. We uploaded all
the tags on post level in a Consumer story dashboard. This is an online reporting tool for visual & unstructured
information which allows the qualitative researcher to intuitively analyse qualitative data in a quantitative way. Once
the results were uploaded, we could easily compare the rich input on many dimensions like type of airport, stage in
the transfer process and type of frequent flyer traveller, without the need of any statistics. With a simple drag &
drop, the different dimensions were visualized, making a very intuitive tool for qualitative researchers to work with.
Moreover, it allowed us to quantify which need
was most prominently present in the consumer
feedback but also to compare the stories of for
example Air France vs. KLM passengers.
Analysing the results with a quantitative
mindset via this dashboard allowed us to
prioritize qualitative insights and compare
them for different target groups in a much
easier way considering our large sample of
Figure 6: Consumer story dashboard
observations and consumer stories.

Qualitative skills in quantitative research

Similarly to the previous challenge, we also looked for Both the dual-task methodology as the time
ways to bring qualitative aspects into quantitative pressure measurement find their grounds in
neuropsychology. Recent evidence in this domain
research. We closed the research project for AIR
teaches us that our brain has two parts: a
France and KLM with a quantitative idea screener of the
reflective and rational route – which is involved
new concepts that were developed based on the
when we are really „thinking‟ – and an automatic
gathered insights. One of the main goals in qualitative
route – which makes very quick effortless
research is to grasp the irrational, more emotional
decisions based on past behaviour and the
customer. But what about measuring emotions in emotional evaluation of past actions (LeDoux,
quantitative research? In many cases, measuring 1996). Through quantitative research, we
emotions in quantitative research is done in a very
question the rational part whereas in order
rational way by asking people to indicate which emotion
they feel. Also, one can wonder to what extent to get a thorough emotional measure, we
consumers are aware of all their emotions and if they should connect to the emotional brain. One
are even able to answer this question directly. However, way to do so is through the dual-task methodology
in this project we experimented with three (Gilbert, 1989; Pashler, 1998; Baddeley, 2000), a
technique from cognitive psychology. While
alternative ways of measuring emotions, in order
indicating all emotions they experienced with a
to see whether we could also reach this emotional certain concept, participants were asked to
depth with quantitative research; through „dual remember a set of symbols shown prior to the
tasks‟, „indication under time pressure‟ and a „picture emotional measurement.
collage‟, benchmarked against a direct indication of
emotions.

Previous research (Kahneman, 2003) has shown that We benchmarked the tree alternative emotional
this cognitive load will put more pressure on the measurements with also the traditional quantitative
rational part of the brain and will therefore allow measurement where we asked consumer directly to
participants to answer with their emotional brain. In a indicate which emotion they felt in a predefined list.
neuropsychological technique we asked participants to Also, during the idea and concept development
indicate their emotion per concept under time community, we presented the same ideas to
pressure. Bargh (1997) and LeDoux (2000) reported
consumers and probed for emotional reactions.
that the emotional route in the brain is much faster
This allowed us also to compare the results obtained
than the rational route; by limiting the response time to
by a quantitative method with those from the
milliseconds, one can avoid giving the rational brain
qualitative method.
the time to answer.

A third technique was not based on neuropsychology,
but again on tapping into projective techniques
where participants were asked to make a collage
with pictures expressing their feeling towards a
certain idea. With this last method, we wanted to see
if we could apply a very common technique from
qualitative research on a massive scale in quantitative
research. All pictures were previously validated among
a subset of 20 coders. Per emotion, we selected
pictures that were uniquely identified as being part of
one specific emotion. By doing so, we wanted to check
if we could „quantify‟ the results at the end of the
survey to their emotions.

The results showed that measurement of emotions is definitely not only restricted to qualitative
research. Including emotional and implicit measures in quantitative testing can help us detect
emotional differences between groups and may help us complete the picture that we obtain
qualitatively. It also helps us reveal emotions that consumers may not be aware of or that consumers find
hard to admit.

In conclusion, qualitative researchers should embrace quantitative methods. Analysing qualitative
results with a quantitative mind-set can help prioritize findings and compare them between different groups.
Moreover, quantitative plug-ins can help us reveal emotional (and social desirable) differences which can be
difficult to admit in the social setting of an MROC.

Crossing the boundary
of professions

Changing role of researchers

We should leave our ivory towers as researchers by learning from related disciplines, like
strategic consultancy and advertising. Current presentations and materials produced by
researchers fall far short of the mark. As a result, research buyers are currently still
dissatisfied with the impact that research has on their business with one in ten verbal
presentations and as many as one in seven written documents evoke discontent (Langer and
Banks, 2011). Clients do not want a simple presentation of results and surface findings which
are superficial, linear and one-dimensional, but demand a much higher level of consulting which
assumes deeper analysis, non-linear and multi-dimensional assessments of the respondents
(Alioto, 2007). Davison (2011) is also acknowledging the lack of research output in driving
change and motivates researchers to know, understand and talk to their audience. “Clients are
consumers too and they are confronted daily with slick forms of information daily on the
Internet”.

Figure 7: Illustration of how we crossed the boundary of professions

Qualitative researchers tend to be better storytellers
Therefore all consumer-generated concepts were
and, critically, are better at structuring their stories than
their quantitative counterparts, perhaps because they integrated in a Deck of Idea cards, providing Air
don‟t have a wealth of statistics to fall back on and have France and KLM with a playful way to review
to put more of “themselves” into their stories, according and apply the findings. Although it may not be
to the experience of Langer and Banks (2011). feasible to implement them in the short term, the
Therefore they are the ideal partner to take the lead in Customer Insight team and the R&D Customer Ground
setting new communication standards for the market Experience team of Air France and KLM will start every
research industry. The storytelling approach is not only meeting on the project by discussing one of these
applicable to qualitative data, but can also inspire our cards, its potential and the implications on existing
quantitative counterparts to be more creative and services and communication. The Deck of Idea cards
generate more impact. In the transfer co-creation of Air embodies the afterlife of this project and is a trigger
France and KLM, we did not only focus on our role as referring to the other deliverables.
consultants by organizing internal workshops, we also
advertised the research results during the project.
Although only 4 consumer-generated concepts made it
to the final phase of Validation, the other 28 transfer
concepts also expressed answers to relevant consumer
needs.

Figure 8: Deck of Idea cards

Although the research methodology is already moving beyond the boundaries of time and the deliverables of
the research can make a lasting impression, there‟s a role for researchers to think along with clients
in translating findings into implementation in the business. As we started the project with an
intensive workshop to create a knowledge map, we also organized a workshop after each phase to move
from „insight‟ to action and define the next steps.

1 Workshop after insightment
The results of the insightment were not only highlighted in a presentation where we indicated how
our research had added to what was already known, we also took advantage of the power of
creative techniques in an Immersion and ideation workshop. All insights were presented in an Insight
museum – the walls of the workshop room were covered with insight platforms, consumer quotes
and pictures – allowing marketeers to discover the consumer stories behind a certain insight
themselves. Through various projective techniques like the Brand alphabet (Coming up with
solutions as if we were another brand, e.g. Google or IKEA) or the Crazy round (Losing all sense of
reality to come up with the perfect solution), people were probed to come up with actions and new
product ideas based on the insights.

2 Workshop after ideation & concept development
A successful concept needs to fit both the strategy and objectives of Air France and KLM and the
needs of consumers. During a Concept selection workshop the most popular consumer-generated
concepts were reviewed with these factors in mind, resulting in the composition of 4 concepts to
move forward with to the next phase.

3 Workshop after quantitative validation
To generate true impact and surprise with the results from the quantitative and emotional validation,
we didn‟t just present the results, but we organised a Concept casino, requiring all the attention of
the Customer Insight team and the R&D Customer Ground Experience team and providing them
with a positive disruption. Each member of the teams received a number of poker chips. By
presenting the scores of the different concepts for one KPI at a time, they could place their bet on
the concept scoring the highest on unprized buying intention, for example. Not only did this stimulate
a competitive, informal and creative atmosphere, it was also impactful in translating the results to a
rewrite of the final concepts.

Figure 9: Concept casino

Changing role of consumers

In challenging the boundaries of our professions, We gave up our expert status by involving
there are opportunities to reach out and also to consumers to take part in the analysis of the
redefine the role of consumers in research and research results through crowd interpretation.
innovation. Business success is contingent upon the
The crowd interpretation takes place in a game
adoption of innovations, new products, services,
embedded in the insightment community. Participants
processes and ideas. In turn this is dependent upon
are presented with the transfer stories from their
consumers‟ acceptance and perceptions of an
peers and are asked to analyse them with the
innovation. Traditionally, the consumer is treated as a
research questions in mind. For this study, we
„passive‟ player in this process, mainly because
challenged the transfer passenger to detect new
consumers are often relegated to the role of „validator‟
needs and frictions in the consumer stories of the
through traditional methods of consumer inquiry
other participants. After the analysis, the original
(Roberts et al, 2005). Following the emerging view
contributor of the post could judge the interpretation
(Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2000 & Van Belleghem,
and provide additional feedback. Previous research
2012) that organisations should extend their search
(Verhaeghe et al, 2011) has taught us that applying
for competencies by co-opting consumer competence
crowd interpretation leads to 20%-40% of additional
as a competitive strategy, our frequent flyers were
insights. In the case of this study, involving consumers
challenged to take up the role as researcher and
as research lead to an extra 21% of additional insights
innovator in this project.
from the same data.

And that‟s not all! In addition to reaching out to research participants to improve our analysis in
the first phase, we also involved consumers in taking research to the next stage by using
it as the starting point for an ideation journey. 46 frequent flyers joined a 3-week Ideation
& Concept Development community; half of them were selected based on their innovator profile
– challenging the norm and in search of what is unique and original – combining a focus on
functional benefits with social independence. The other half were influential – accepting the norm
and in search of what is relevant – being team players with a focus on social benefits. These two
target groups collaborate on concepts which are both new and relevant (Van Belleghem and De
Ruyck, 2012).

Figure 10: Ideation tool

Although gamification is already fully embedded in online research communities (De
Ruyck and Veris, 2011), we took it to the next level by addressing the participants‟
collaborative spirit. Instead of attributing rewards to a participant or community level, based
on the achievements, each and every idea initiated by one of our frequent flyers received a
status. By commenting on the idea, participants were challenged to improve it and up the its
status from mining, rough diamond, cut diamond to diamond ring! As a reward, the most feasible
ideas with the highest status were visualised by one of the industrial designers in the project
team.

Figure 11: Example of a concept board visual

The goal of our quest to cross the boundaries There are two business implications we can
of our qualitative research is to increase the already share, while other exciting innovations are
business impact of research. We moved beyond still pending. One of the final concepts which
the boundaries of time by digging into the past upon made it to the final phase, the Mobile
the start of the research project. By taking transfer application, is currently being
advantage of the longitudinal nature of research investigated by Air France and KLM based
communities we were able to create an impact not
on the insights and ideas of their frequent
only more rapidly but also in a better way. We went
travellers. Since even travellers with a lot of
beyond the boundaries of methods by experience are looking for more control on their
analysing our data with a quantitative mind- transfer process, several minor improvements will
set and by taking advantage of (new) ways of be carried out, like a new in-flight transfer video
measuring emotions implicitly. We left the anticipating the information needs of transfer
boundaries of our profession behind by using best passengers. In addition to the final propositions
practices of related disciplines like advertisement or and the 28 other consumer-generated ideas, the
journalism in the presentation of our results. formulated guidelines on how to approach the
Moreover, we welcomed consumers as co- transfer journey of frequent travellers will be the
researchers, allowing us to get more out of the starting point for many other new initiatives in the
same data. future.

In times where researchers are challenged Qualitative researchers can further develop their
to do more with less, qualitative researchers skills and apply them not only to interact with
can take full advantage of their skills by participants, but also to create more impact
crossing the boundaries of their discipline. towards clients. There is a need however to broaden
The examples provided in this paper don‟t have these skills; from advertising research results to
the ambition to provide a complete answer to the providing consulting to take research from „insight‟ to
barriers we‟re currently facing, but are designed action. We should familiarize qualitative research
to be a source of inspiration in order to trigger with quantitative techniques. On the other hand, we
other researchers to think outside the box. Every also need to let go and reach out to empowered
research project has the potential to reset the participants who are willing and able to add value to our
boundary of time, methods or professions. analysis phase. With this change in expectations, the
profession of qualitative researcher becomes an option
for people with a background as varied as industrial
design and general management. The composition of
multidisciplinary teams will not only fuel the cross
fertilization of skills, it has the power to bring projects to
the next level and do more with less.

The authors would like to thank Bas de Luij (project manager of
the Insightment phase), Renée Van Dalen (community manager of
the Ideation & concept development community), Rosa Cruells
(for analysing the Quantitative validation), Thom Rommens (for
analysing and comparing the emotional measures) and the other
InSites Consulting employees who contributed to the success of
this project. Special thanks to Mike Friedman, Assistant
Professor of Marketing at Université Catholique de Louvain for
sharing his expertise on emotional measurement and last but not
least to the complete Customer Insight team and the R&D
Customer Ground Experience team of Air France and KLM for their
enthusiasm and passion for taking this project forward.

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Research team

Tom De Ruyck Thomas Troch Annelies Verhaeghe

+32 9 269 14 07 +32 9 269 12 26 +32 9 269 14 06

tom@insites-consulting.com thomas@insites-consulting.com annelies@insites-consulting.com

@tomderuyck @thomastroch @annaliezze

http://www.linkedin.com/in/ http://www.linkedin.com/in/
tomderuyck http://www.linkedin.com/in/
thomastroch anneliesverhaeghe

Thank you!
@InSites

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