LATAM 2013 Insight Innovation Competition Finalist: Gamechanger

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Focus groups were developed by sociologists and adopted as the main qualitative tool by market researchers in the 1950s and today the technique remains largely unchanged - a moderator, a discussion guide and some respondents. For those of you who are practitioners, you will appreciate that for all its benefits, there are some inherent weaknesses in the technique - dominant/weaker personalities, variable respondent participation, irrelevant discussion and limited ability to generate ideas and innovations. Gamechanger changes all of that. For the first time, someone has recognized the need to revolutionize the focus group, to realize the potential and boundless benefits that the technique still has to offer. Gamechanger works because of engagement. Superpromoters are engaged with brands and the competitive gameplay engages people and drives meaningful co-creation. Superpromoters are a special type of brand advocate, they are enthusiastic about brands and they share their enthusiasm with others - they are 'word of mouth' - representing about 10% of the population, they are very influential over the other 90%. Superpromoters are very knowledgeable about the brand in question, its category, the competitive landscape, and they are not afraid to be critical. They have views and they want to share them - ideal for focus groups. We’ve all witnessed too many Focus Groups where only one or two respondents really contribute. Imagine a focus group where everyone is enthusiastic and focused on the task in hand. It’s now possible with Gamechanger! At Gamechanger’s core is a specially developed board game, played between two teams of consumers who complete a series of tasks against the clock. If you think of the typical discussion guide divided up and reconstructed as a series of competitive team challenges, you have a good idea of how it is played. The game is played in three phases - Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation. Analysis identifies attitudes, needs and behaviors; Synthesis generates solutions, ideas and innovations; and Evaluation is a post-game reflective period for optimization. The combination is unbelievable. All participants have great fun, the researcher plays 'Gamesmaster' and the respondents are 'team players' - clients can watch or join in and without exception are bowled over by this new technique. The outputs are phenomenal; in recent projects a client commented that they had covered more ground in 2 days than would normally take 6 months! We haven't yet come across a qualitative enquiry where Gamechanger doesn't work. It’s so much more than a focus group – it’s an enlightening process for all concerned. Gamechanger - Focus Groups for the 21st Century!

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