Planning for 2025: A Research-Driven Approach

As we move into 2025, it's crucial to understand the evolving landscape of consumer behavior, technological advancements, and emerging trends. To support these efforts, consider these top research approaches as you map out 2025 research planning. 

Personas Research

Understanding your target audience is essential. Personas research involves creating detailed profiles of your ideal customers, including their demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and motivations allowing you to tailor products, services, and marketing messages that resonate with your specific target audience.

Personas research can arm your team with information that goes beyond surface-level demographics including:

Psychographics: Values, beliefs, interests, lifestyles, and personality traits

Behaviors: How do they shop, what do they buy, where do they spend their time online and offline?

Motivations: What drives their purchase decisions? What are their pain points and aspirations?

Sample Consumer and B2B Personas

Research Approaches

Curious about what research techniques the W5 team uses to create Personas? Depending on the audience and output, we pull from our toolbox and might leverage:

Digital Ethnography: Online Ethnography offers a broader understanding of consumer lifestyles, motivations, and barriers by allowing individuals to share thoughts freely and anonymously. The online medium encourages more open and unfiltered expressions of opinions, feelings, and experiences.

In-Person Ethnography: In-Person Ethnographic Interviews validates observations and enriches findings through informal, free-form discussions with consumers within their natural decision-making spaces (in home, in store, in car, in office).

Observational Ethnography: Consumers' relationships with their environments are complex and often shaped by unconscious forces. Through diligent in-context observation, W5 consultants uncover hidden psychographics and motivations which form the basis for identifying and differentiating consumer personas.

Brand Health Research

W5’s Brand Health Assessment includes evaluating consumer perception, consideration, and engagement with a brand into insights supporting market positioning. This research evaluates brand awareness, brand image, brand love, user experience, and competitive positioning.

Brand Awareness: How familiar are consumers with your brand? How often do they think about it? What comes to mind when they hear your brand name?

Brand Image: What are consumers' perceptions of your brand? Do they see it as trustworthy, innovative, dependable, or affordable?

User Experience: How satisfied are customers with your products, services, and overall experience?

Competitive Positioning: How does your brand compare to competitors in the market? Where do you excel and where do you need to improve?

Bonus: In addition to rating the stated importance of brand choice considerations and attributes, W5 conducts Key Drivers Analysis to identify the KPI’s that truly matter.

Gen Z Research

Gen Z represents a demographic that is becoming more significant in both consumer and professional spaces by the day. Understanding their values, preferences, and consumption patterns is crucial for businesses to connect with this influential generation.

When designing research for this audience, here are a few tips:

1. Be Authentic and Transparent: Gen Z values honesty and straightforwardness; set proper expectations for the research

2. Be Inclusive: Include diverse ethnic/racial backgrounds, gender identities, political leanings, or spiritual affiliations; be cognizant of sustainable and eco-friendly initiatives and similarly ethical practices

3. Gamify Research: Make research fun and rewarding by creating a game-like atmosphere and consider tools such as emojis and stickers to share attitudes and reactions

4. Meet Them Where They Live: Use social media-inspired recruiting efforts to find your target on social platforms, gaming platforms, or online chat threads

5. Mobile-Friendly: Use texting, video chat, or quick smartphone-friendly mobile surveys to tap into their lives quickly and capture their thinking

6. Video Content Creation: An extremely useful tool for quickly capturing Gen Z lifestyles and authentic opinions

7. Time it Right: Ensure time for parental approvals, limit the length of research tasks, and accommodate their daily schedules

Need Support? Borrow our Senior Partner!

Marty Molloy
Senior Partner

Not sure which of these research approaches is right for your brand? Thinking of a research idea not listed here? 

Set up a complimentary consultation with W5’s Senior Partner, Marty Molloy, to brainstorm on approaches that makes the most sense for your 2025 brand planning including allocated budgets and timelines. Schedule a time here!