We commonly call research a listening tool, but do respondents feel listened to and cared for after participating in a survey? We believe that is not always the case. Paying attention to it matters, and can drive better results. Our submission is inspired by what happened at Coca-Cola Brazil, during the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic in Q2 2020, when a comprehensive multi-touch-point employee listening initiative contributed to extraordinary results in terms of engagement, positively impacting business results. This project goes beyond the public where we developed it, which was the internal public of the company. It is a simple project; i.e. it does not have any methodological or technological novelty. However, it serves to bring to the table a reflection?albeit not new?that must not be put aside in these times of pandemic and its aftermath. The reflection we propose is on the importance of listening with empathy: to connect from a human side with what and whom we want to investigate. This is not only in order to understand them better, but to also capitalise on the transformative power of listening, both for the researcher and for the target.
Consumer Mood came up in a context of regional economic crisis, seeking to provide Coca-Cola with local sensitivity without losing sight of its international status. Taking care of the rest of these aforementioned points was not part of the design, but a need we faced during the development of the project. We opened the âbehind the scenesâ of the âcontext methodologyâ we used in Coca-Cola South Latin America (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru? and Uruguay), the good moves and the setbacks in its implementation, to add to the debate the true meaning of operating in real time. We understand that this concern is not only part of our agenda, but of the agendas of many other companies as well.