Let’s celebrate: Solutions Research marks 20 years in business

By Michelle Lloyd

Where did the last two decades go? Our landmark anniversary is a timely reminder of how ever-present change is, and how different our lives look today, compared with what feels like only a few short years ago. It’s fair to say the world looked rather different when Solutions Research was born.

Think back to a time before (gasp)TikTok and even LinkedIn. The iMac and iBook were the cool computers. Coveted by many but only owned by a few. Wikipedia had just gone online. A litre of fuel cost eighty pence. Woolworths was still on the high street. So too was C&A. While the first Harry Potter film had just been released.

Fax machines could still be found in offices. Research sessions with respondents were captured by carefully having to press ‘play’ and ‘record’ simultaneously on tape recorders (followed by many an anxious moment after, when you listened back hoping it had worked). You used your mobile phone to… make calls (plus play the occasional game of snake if you were so inclined). And Internet dial-up moved at a glacial speed,

Over the past 20 years, we’ve seen a lot of changes (and researched more).

Since we began, Millennials have now come of age, and  Gen Z are now growing from infancy to consumers. It’s been interesting to see both groups grow up against a backdrop of varied family structures, a blurring of gender roles, evolving career aspirations and changing attitudes to the world in which they live.

Whether in 2000 or 2021, living to understand your customers remains an essential part of a winning strategy. The process of getting closer to customers just looked a little different back then. Or did it?

While some of the research tools we use today may be different, the pandemic has, in other ways, seen life for us come full circle. Forced to abandon regular visits to viewing facilities and hotels, due to restrictions, technology has meant we’ve found ourselves back in people’s homes. Something that used to be commonplace when we started; whether that was interviewing respondents or running research groups at recruiters’ homes. A good reminder that context and environment really do matter, with invaluable insights often to be found when respondents are at their most comfortable.

Keen to ensure we help clients to get closer to their customers, we’ve continually used multiple techniques and methodologies over the years. Gen Z may have been ‘born seamless’ but we have continually evolved our approach as different technologies emerged. And we have never been afraid to do so.

Back in the early days in 2001, we embraced the use of photo diaries to provide a glimpse into respondents’ lives with one of our first ever projects looking at youth trend setters across 10 markets. Think of it as the forerunner to a WhatsApp diary. Only then it meant using paper-based questionnaires and disposable cameras posted back to us from around the world. In 2001 we also created our first ‘internet club’ – an early version of online panels and it wasn’t long till we piloted our first Facebook respondent groups.  Now in 2021 we are still keen users of video and imagery to bring research to life using video diaries, Zoom editing, WhatsApp and social media reporting to keep in close touch with respondents, and add colour and depth to research.

Despite all the changes over the last 20 years, one constant remains: our undeterred passion for human understanding and research expertise. And the past year has only reaffirmed to us the importance of thinking creatively when it comes to living up our values of ‘We Live To Understand’.

For some clients, that has seen over a decade of collaborative partnership. A few have even been with us since the start. But to all of you, old and new, thank you for working with us, supporting us, and shaping our future since 2001.