Unlike most market research which reduces people to stark ‘demographic segments’, the ‘NOW’ research project by the Consumer Insight Agency hones in on a set of characters who collectively represent a range of classic South African ‘archetypes’.

By not detaching people from who they really are, how they feel and how they live their daily lives, the series of 12 qualitative studies is compelling and useful. Each study is presented in a video-documentary format featuring footage distilled from hundreds of hours of interviews across the social spectrum, and is supported by commentary and demographic analysis.

Much of the appeal of the NOW project is on an emotional level – we understand and relate to the archetypal characters as they are and respond to them on a more human level, rather than as climbers up or down the socio-economic ladder. The research is going down well with the marketing fraternity. “For the fi rst time I’ve encountered a project that can go to the soul of consumers and bring out what drives them in their lives, “says Kraft Marketing Manager Thuli Galelekile.