Article: Chicago Sun Times

May 12, 2004
by lewis lazare sun-times columnist

great advertising usually begins with a thorough understanding of the consumers toward whom it is targeted. to help that happen, adam wadsworth and holly hedlund, both advertising veterans, have started dig, a chicago firm that makes mini- movies that provide a new, more revealing dimension in customer research.

focus groups, those often deadly gatherings in little rooms, have been around for a long time, and advertisers often convene them to get an early read on whether the strategy for a proposed ad campaign is right or if specific advertising executions resonate with the target demo.

but in their years working at major agencies such as fallon, deutsch, and goodby silverstein + partners, the dig principals said that kind of research never really helped them much.

"i was frustrated as a creative much of the time," explained dig director wadsworth, "because i had no way to get a feeling for the people I was marketing to."

so he and hedlund came up with dig to deliver little films that artfully probe the psyches of a select group of people who fall within a brand's target demographic. dig's principals are careful to point out their firm makes films, not videos. "a video can capture snapshot moments," explained wadsworth, “but a thoughtful and engaging film becomes entrenched in a person's memory and can forever affect a point of view."

dig starts the filmmaking process by meeting with the client -- an agency or a company or both -- to determine what kinds of insights it would like the film to deliver. then using a market research recruiting firm, dig gathers a pool of participants who fit the target demographic. wadsworth and hedlund interview each recruit to determine which candidates are the most articulate and work best in front of a camera.

hedlund typically spends as much as six hours with each person -- usually in two three-hour sessions. by the second session, the participants have grown more comfortable with the filmmaking and are more forthcoming, wadsworth said.

filming often involves asking questions that elicit stories relevant to the topic being explored. or it could mean talking with family members and close friends or roaming around the participants' homes or offices to capture on film telling details about their lives.

the last step in the process is the crucial editing of hours of footage to create a smoothly flowing final product that makes the participants and their stories come alive. it is a product wadsworth and hedlund hope adds a richer, more emotional layer of research to the traditional quantitative and qualitative insights ad agencies and companies can get elsewhere.