LAYING FOUNDATIONS
Theories
THEORY #1
Dramatic arc
Freytag (1900) classic dramatic arc is widely known as the basis for storytelling. For all content related to research itself (methods, meaning, impact etc.), the narrative should follow a more diverse storyarc than the pyramid model suggests. (see below). Research is rarely that simple and quo PEOPLE should reflect this in their publications.
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Dramatic arc, own representation based on Sara J. Elshafie, 2018
The schematic figure illustrates the dramatic arc of a story about a research study. The key is that in this figure the classic peak of rising action and falling action is divided into several peaks of increasing tension. Multiple actions may be required, and there are most likely multiple obstacles in the course of research and a story.
THEORY #2
The ♥ – side
Looking at the division on Taylor’s six-segment strategy wheel (1999), the emotional component is most suitable for the message of quo PEOPLES as a whol (see Essay 1), especially for all content related to the community aspect and the overarching importance of research and the future. Logical arguments are useful in the context of answering specific questions about the platform and incentives (hygine content).
Six-segment wheel, own representation based on Taylor, 1999.
The wheel allows individual use of each dimension, but also combinations that serve the purpose of conveying the message. Since reasarch is an abstract concept, it must be advertised with the intention of appealing to people emotionally, since few are able and willing to understand the technical details.
THEORY #3
Narrative Advertising
The use of transportation, mental simulation, empathic processing, and identification to create a successful narrative is highly important to all communication efforts. To ensure that a narrative structure contains all necessary elements, the categories of Kim, Ratneshwar, and Thorson’s into the following elements (2017) should be used as a template:
#f4f4f4
Who looks at the presence of a main protagonist.
What refers to the characters behaviour and the consequences.
When & where cover the setting and context of the ad.
Why refers to the motivations behind the happenings.
How is a portrayal of the actions involving the actors.
Chronology refers to the timeframe and sequences of the ad.
Visualize Data
Of course, many content ideas for a research panel are based on (self-conducted) survey results. The topic and further processing of the survey is an essential part of the strategy. Therefore, the amount of data in the papers must not only be interesting, but also visually appealing (and not always the same).
VISUAL CAPITALIST
Visual Capitalist is a global online publisher , focused on topics including markets, technology, energy and the global economy. The reports and infographics are visually varied and designed to be very impressive, so quo PEOPLE should try to strive for this presentation of connections in data and with other content. Visual Capitalist’s three-part approach could be adapted as it reads:
By highlighting the bigger picture through data-driven visuals, we stay true to our mission to help cut through the clutter and simplify a complex world.
INFORMATION IS BEAUTIFUL
Founded by David McCandless, author of two best-selling books on infographics, Information is Beautiful aims to help people make clearer, more informed decisions about the world. They are more on a business level, but the mission aligns with what quo PEOPLE is trying to do:
Distilling the world’s data, information and knowledge into beautiful infographics and visualizations.
Looking at the way they visualize data could serve as a solid way to present your findings in a varied and engaging way without compromising the explanatory purpose.
Create Connections
As mentioned in Essay 2 the purpose of Deutsche Handwerkskammer is to support and represent all stakeholders in the craft industry. By creating the brand Das Handwerk, they aim to promote the overarching importance of the skilled trades and appeal to the public through a more accessible image and content (compared to the B2B orientation of Deutsche Handwerksammer). In particular, the way they promote the industry as a whole can be seen as an inspiration for the content direction of quo PEOPLE. They focus on connecting and creating awareness of the overarching implications to everyday life, demonstrated by the slogen:
Das Handwerk
The economic power from next door.
When it comes to the importance of research, consequences and ways into the future, quo PEOPLE can learn from Das Handwerk to create a similar understanding of the industry and how its connected to everyone.
translates to:"Craftsmanship is in the nature of man."
TONE OF VOICE
ENLIGHTENING &
UPLIFTING
ENLIGHTENING
To establish quo PEOPLE as a credible platform for research and a trusted thought leader, an informative approach to communicating with its audience is advisable. Research is important, so are members‘ opinions and the personal information they share – so the brand should reflect this significance through clear language. Beyond the content, the reader should get a serious, trustworthy impression from consuming all content.
UPLIFTING
For quo PEOPLE, it is just as important to communicate insightfully as it is to encourage the public to make their own opinions heard and to actively participate in surveys. An encouraging brand voice is therefore crucial to bridge the gap between the professionalism that comes with the nature of the business and the inspirational spirit that quo PEOPLE aspires.
SYNTAX
Tend to use short structures (especially in explanatory contexts) but leave room for denser phrasing (allow inspirational flow)
RHETORIC
Use of metaphors and analogies to reinforce explanatory approach and affirmative language to inspire
ADDRESS
Address the collective as Du (cross-content), but in personal contact use the formal Sie and last name (Inquire individually)
CONTENT SLOGAN
sharing means shaping
THIS IS THE POWER OF RESEARCH...
…and the tagline combines the following themes & topics in its intention to inspire and emphasizes that we decide about tomorrow when we talk about today, because…
...EVERYONE CONTRIBUTES, BUT TOGETHER WE CHANGE
It’s important to be intentional and create real value for recipients. This 3H model provides a clustering for the development of meaningful content. The ratio between each „H“ is important, because it is not enough to constantly publish viral content or only to inform and connect the audience with the brand, nor should the only content be to provide them with an immediate answer or solution to a question or need. Instead, consistency and balance is crucial.
The following schematic figure visualizes the distribution and frequency of Hero, Hub, and Hygiene content:
3H Taxonomy, own representation.
- H1HERO
- H2HUB
- H3HYGIENE
HERO CONTENT
… is publishing impressive viral-worthy content but only one to three times a year. With a view to the topics and themes, concrete content could look as follows:
FUTURE
Animated illustrations and infographics (in the style of kurzgesagt) to show the results of a large study conducted in advance, with the intention of showing the perfect world in terms of quo PEOPLE’s panelists.
The idea is to use actual everyday situations (e.g., a trip to the supermarket) to show what could be done better and to dream of an optimal solution with all the participants, comparing it to the current plans and concepts that companies have in mind (like bonobos store that doesn’t sell or other retail strategies)
This piece of content should connect some of the information published beforehand as HUB-content and paint a bigger picture touching more than one area of life.
WE, TODAY
As elaborated on before it is crucial to make abstract matters tangible for the target audience. We plan on doing that with an online event. On a platform such as WWM quo PEOPLE will create an event where the target audience can discover how different regions of Germany stand on a diverse set of topics, all fueled by insights from the quo PEOPLE panel. Virtually divided these areas will provide background information about the topics, give the opportunity to get in contact with other interested people to voice and form one’s opinion about the trend. Furthermore, this event can incorporate moderated or podium discussions and for example touch on issues the target audience is concerned with on a product-service level. In that line of reasoning the importance of data security might be a great point to focus on, since the attendees are already a part of a virtual environment, arguably the native environment for data.
RESEARCH
Research and the waves its insights cast are deeply rooted in all aspects of our lives. To convey the importance of research quo PEOPLE can make use of storytelling and narrative transportation. As outlined in Essay 1’s content example from GitHub, quo PEOPLE will create a video highlighting the significance of doing one’s part for research, showing how sharing opinions subsequently shapes the world. This type of polished, mood-setting video format gives lets the recipients draw clear connections from their everyday life to the abstract matter of research, the virtues of being an active part of society and respectively of research.
The resulting video provides content for social media in form of snippets showing key moments as well as thematic anchor for accompanying hub content.
H1HUB CONTENT
…means regularly sharing impactful content that connects audiences and quo PEOPLE. Looking at the topics above, specific content might look like this:FUTURE
Scenarios
Presentation of different scenarios via interactive blogposts. Either a particular study (e.g. urban farming ) or experiment (e.g. mitigation of shock) is explored in depth or two routes into the future are compared through texts, images and infographics. To help the recipient form an opinion about the possible paths, there should be live feedback questions in between.
(Mega)trends
A trend or megatrend is represented by two visually powerful photographs showing then and now or now and in the future. The contrasting images are accompanied by a number or a simple infographic explaining the difference. A short explanatory text provides further information, but the focus is on the deliberately selected, striking images (population then and now, illustrated by the growth of a city).
Products
Creating a quiz that asks people to guess whether a products are real or not (e.g. Do you think there is a company that sells giant toilette paper rolls? If you said yes, you are right – they are responding to the societal trend of more and more single households and limited space). The goal is to give PEOPLE an idea about the evolution of certain items and what’s to expact in the future.
WE, TODAY
Local
Germany is a beautiful country with a rich and diverse culture – perfect for research. The results of locally optimized surveys (sampling the panelists accordingly) will be summarized in a map of Germany divided into different topics and visualize differences and similarities (to look something like this)
PEOPLES Choice
Ask the community anything: Each month PEOPLE are invited to share their own questions. Based on these questions and a short interview with the person, a questionnaire is created to find the answers. A written blog post about the motivation and the results as well as the reaction of the person who asked the question will be published.
Interviews
Who is quo PEOPLE: This format presents the PEOPLE behind the platform. Asking them about their perspective on research, hopes for the future and general motivations with several standardized questions. Since anonymity is an important value guaranteed through the company nobody has to show face or share specific the age nor occupation. Instead, they will be asked to send pictures of five items describing them to personalize their answers even further (e.g. presented like this).
There also should be a view available showing the standardized questions and all the answers to make it easier reading through them (using a layout like this).
RESEARCH
Methods
Knowledge is king. That is what we see from current trends shaping the world. In line with this statement quo PEOPLE needs to empower their audience by providing insight into what we do best: research. In a blog series we aim to establish brand authority in our domain, playing into the (soon to be) panelists need for information and their preference for text over other content types. There is a wide variety of possible topics to illuminate this way such as the difference between Social and Market research or how quantitative and qualitative data combine for insightful results.
Importance of research
As seen with Das Handwerk, focusing on the importance of craftmanship, quo PEOPLE can utilize the omnipresence of research as is spreads in every aspect of our live. To demonstrate this deeply rooted influence, in-depth explanations in tandem with interactive elements to make the effects of expressing one’s opinion through a panel tangible is needed. A interactive landing page showing future scenarios and how seemingly trivial decision may change them are a perfect persona fit as well as feasible for quo PEOPLE.
Study results
quo PEOPLE’s bread and butter and daily business is research. Not using these insights and furthermore the competence to frame current events such as the pandemic would be a major shortcoming. To double down on that we confirmed in interviews, that the target audience is explicitly interested in the results of quo PEOPLE’s research and would enjoy them being delivered by Newsletter. This can quickly be implemented as a staple for quo PEOPLE since there is no shortage of topics, plus we can fall back on the already existing infrastructure for distribution.
H2HYGIENE CONTENT
…is the most frequent content that offers help by answering product-specific questions, targeting penelists and interested parties. Since the basic questions about how the panel works and about surveys or incentives have already been answered, the most Hygiene content is to refresh this information frequently, update PERSONS who are already signed up and to remind others of the benefits and ease of use, as well as to respond to current problems and provide information about practical solutions.
RESEARCH
Basics
We explain the inner workings of the panel, provide information about the possibilities around incentivization while also being available via social media for direct interaction. All methods and research topics that can be directly applied to the panel are part of the ongoing Hygine content.
H3