Our focus areas

Understanding

Creation

Semiotics

Trends study

Cities decoding

Understanding

why?

studying consumers, their lifestyle and values
environment and context understanding
brand and category audit
concepts and communication assessment and development

how?

qualitative research classic methods
semiotic analysis
ethnography
crowdsourcing
on-line research
observation and interest in the world as a lifestyle

Creation

why?

insights generation
development of positioning concepts and brand platforms
development of communication and product ideas
ideas for concepts and brand platforms activation
strategic support of projects

how?

strategic working sessions conducted in accordance to our own Thinking ResPublica method
co-creation sessions
many years of cooperation with branding and strategy experts

Thinking ResPublica

Thinking ResPublica is our own unique methodology to conduct strategic working sessions. For each of our projects we develop a design of the research and the working session, which is optimal for achieving the goals of the project.

Within the frames of the sessions, we combine personal and professional experience and business intuition of the participants (clients, research specialists, experts, advertising/ creative agencies) and build a structure and ideal conditions to create new ideas.

Semiotic research

Semiotic analysis is a method of analyzing and understanding culture and the changing context of life in which people and brands and services created for them exist.

why?

selection of the most accurate expressive means (codes, signs) in marketing communication and branding
adapting a brand to a changing cultural context
developing communication language of a brand
development of packaging
identification of cultural trends

how?

analysis of marketing communication in different categories (packaging, advertising...)
exploring urban spaces: streets, parks, shops, restaurants, cafes...
analysis of mass media materials: magazines, newspapers, online publications
analysis of popular and popular culture: films, TV series, music videos and songs, books, TV programs, etc.

To present the results of semiotic analysis, we use the RDE model of cultural codes, which clearly demonstrates which cultural codes are becoming obsolete (Residual codes), remain the most influential in culture (Dominant codes), are the most recent and potentially interesting for use in communication (Emergent codes).

Trends study

A trend means significant changes in the life of people. They will either become a social norm or wither away, yet leaving a noticeable trace. We do not consider technical innovations or fashion currents as trends: they could be either reasons for trends emergence or their consequences.

We do not only monitor global trends but also the way they transform in a certain category or for a certain group of consumers.

why?

strategic planning
new products creation
communication ideas creation
consumer preferences forecasting
identification of the obvious, yet invisible

how?

secondary analysis of the data obtained in the course of our regular research projects
constant communication with people and observation of people.
cooperation with experts and opinion leaders
communication and urban environment analysis
desk research
traditional and new media monitoring

We monitor trends since 2008.

Cities decoding

Decoding is the process of city understanding, revealing its identity, implications and ambitions. The code of the city is not a single image or a metaphor, it is the structure of its identity.

The reality is that people, who live in a city, are unable to formulate the code of this city. It is implicitly presented in their consciousness, spread thinly across their life practices, concealed in urban environment, history and culture. We search for, collect and restore the integral knowledge of the city. Understanding of a city code allows for implementation of the projects that can become truly high-profile and really relevant to the city residents.

We created and are currently developing "city decoding", and we have worked out a particular method to solve this task.

why?

identification of needs of the city and the city residents
understanding of the context of brands and products existence
creation and optimization of events, promo actions and advertising campaigns in the city
evolvement of ideas for further creation of urban development concepts
insights and ideas for territory branding

how?

observations
communication and urban environment semiotic analysis
talking to city residents
ethnography and netnography
desk research

Our experience of city study includes: Bereznyaki, Bishkek, Vidnoe, Voronezh, Jalal-Abad (Manas), Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Kandalaksha, Kingisepp, Krasnoyarsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Serov, Sochi, Tashkent, Tolyatti, Tyumen, Usinsk, Fergana, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk