Abstract:

Compared to our cousins in the advertising and consultancy worlds, qualitative researchers have sometimes struggled to establish truly strategic partnerships with their clients (and for some good reasons!) the purpose of this paper is to show how such a relationship is possible, by examining how Sony Music's relationship with Promise has developed over the last two years. The presentation will do so first by identifying the key barriers to developing a strategic relationship from both a client and agency perspective before then demonstrating how these barriers can be overcome through a combination of fluid and co-creative research processes, sustained efforts to increase credibility and a revised costing model which charges for time rather than process.