an introduction

table of contents

about protean strategies 3

we help the solution to find you 5
we are obsessed with difference 7
our approach is collaborative and interactive 8
approach to branding 9
philosophy: what we believe about: 13
ƒ differentiation 14
ƒ experiential brands 15
ƒ market research 16
experiential branding 17
ƒ protean CUSTOMER ODYSSEY MODEL© 20
protean research 21
protean p
p prediction collective wisdom engine
g 24
inner directives psychoanalytics 38
recent clients we have helped 41
Contact us 43

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about protean strategies
protean strategies

• founded in 1998 as the bay charles consulting company/bc3

• morphed into protean in 2009
• headquartered in toronto
• largest client – general motors (research management and brand
positioning)
• smallest client – the yorkville club (health club)

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we help the solution to find you

Rain-ma-ker (rAn'mA"kur)
A person, who causes it to rain, not by making it rain, but by bringing
g
together the environmental, human and spiritual
p components
p that together
g
make the perfect conditions for the rain to fall.

Strategic Rainmaking™
Creating an environment of knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment that
y
crystallizes strategic
g solutions and brings
g them to the forefront.

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how we guide the solution to you

Page 6
we are obsessed with difference

different ways of looking at 
challenges

different questions to ask 
diff
different people
t l

different interpretations and 
different interpretations and
different insights

differentiated brands, 
communication, companies

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our approach is collaborative and interactive

we make the conditions right so it 
wants to rain.
and we rely on the wisdom of the 
crowd*

nobody  the 
frequent  fluid and  everybody 
close  knows what  marketplace 
workshops  organic  contributes 
partnership they don’t  reigns 
and updates approach equally
know supreme

*Reference to “The Wisdom of Crowds” by James Surowiecki, Anchor Books, 2004

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protean approach
research | brand | operationalize
research | brand | operationalize

research
understand the
business, category
and consumer

accelerate
return on
brand
investments
operationalize brand
align business describe relevant,
process to value differentiated,
proposition experiential brand

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protean approach
| research
esea c | | brand
ba d|
brand audits Understand the
experience

psychological
Customer archetype
experience audit studies brand and
new product
describe product
understand the development
relevant, positioning
company,
differentiated,
category and
experiential
consumer
brand
qualitative and anthropological
quantitative ethnographic
research observations portfolio experiential
management branding

semiotics strategies architecture

analysis
customer
od sse model
odyssey

| operationalize |

align business
brand impact Brand spikes
process to
evaluation and impact
value
systems points
proposition

h
human capital
it l
development
programs

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success measurement

qualitative
on-site
evaluation

stakeholder tracking
response studies
track and
measure the
outcome
t

brand touch point

valuation audits

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philosophy

we believe that what we believe,

makes us different
what we believe: about differentiation

1. there are two predictors of brand success: relevance and differentiation

2. features, attributes and benefits can no longer sustain brands
3. there are very few products that somebody cannot copy exactly and sell for a
little less or improve on and sell for the same price
4. creating a relevant differentiating experience (RDE©) is a means of creating
sustainable differentiation

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what we believe: about experiential brands

1 the experience is the brand and the brand is the business

1.
2. experiences are co-created. marketers define the inputs, provide clues and
deliver triggers; but the consumer engages in the experience and forms
jjudgments
g based on who he or she is at the time of contact
3. experiential branding is not experiential marketing. experiential marketing is a
communications channel that allows marketers to trigger the RDE© outside
the immediacy of the brand. experiential branding is the discipline of
t
translating
l ti features
f t andd benefits
b fit into
i t meaningful
i f l experiences,
i andd building
b ildi
businesses and brands around these relevant differentiated experiences
(RDE©)
4 experiential branding is different from branding experiences
4.

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what we believe: about market research

1. we don’t know what we don’t know

ƒ really successful projects are designed to allow completely unthought-of ideas,
opinions
i i and
d attitudes
ttit d tto emerge; nott lilimited
it d tto what
h t we allll were thi
thinking
ki b before
f
we started
2. if we ask the same questions of the same people in the same way, we’ll get
the same answers
ƒ methodologies must be innovative and different, the people who we talk to must
be able to add new dimensions
3. what we get out of it depends on what we put into it
ƒ the degree to which research findings will be head smacking and mind bending
depends entirely on the openness of our own minds as we embark on the project
and our willingness to take risks in the process
4 research doesn’t
4. doesn t make decisions,
decisions it provides learning to stimulate thinking
ƒ out of the box thinking comes from out of the box learning which comes from out
of the box research

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experiential branding
protean customer odyssey model©
the discipline behind experiences

differentiated 
experiences
• consistent
• intentional
• strategic
• valuable
• relevant
• unique

predictable experiences
• consistent
• intentional

random experiences
p

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The approach

experiential branding approach

•looking at the marketplace in terms 
of the customer odyssey

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protean customer odyssey model©

revelation inspiration consideration motivation activation confirmation 

i have an itch i have a need i need what you promise i want  to buy  i am in the  the experience was 
your brand of  process of  delightful and ill tell 
product or 
p p g
experiencing  y y
everybody i know 
service the brand about it

Impact point Impact point Impact point Impact point Impact point Impact point

spike spike  spike  spike spike spike 

experience experience experience experience experience experience

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protean research
what we believe: about market research (2)

“Tip of the Iceberg”

5% of human cognition
Describes behaviour,
motivation and responses
Informed by
conscious Attitude
Behaviour
Demographics/
psychographics
h hi

unconscious

“Under the surface”

95% of human cognition
E l i behaviour,
Explains b h i
motivation and responses
Informed by
Psychology

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what we believe: about market research (3)

conscious
awareness

unconscious
i
processes

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proteanprediction
collective wisdom engine

a marketing tool for today’s changed world

briefly

leverage the wisdom

of crowds to evaluate innovations, concepts,
messaging, strategies, advertising copy and ideas

Prediction Markets are a means of aggregating the inherent

wisdom of the crowd in order to predict an outcome

Prediction Market theory applied to consumer research is a powerful, technique that

enables marketers to evaluate multiple ideas quickly, effectively
and reliably

proteanprediction Collective Wisdom Engine is a simplified,

simplified
streamlined tool based on prediction market theory

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a marketing tool for today’s changed world

allows people to participate in marketing decisions

talks to them at the speed they are used to
allows people to apply their marketing savvy
gives them a respite from complexity by offering them simple ways to
make their opinions known
credits them being consumer-kings

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the underlying premise

two simple yet profound tenets

ask what they think other people would do, not what they would do
reward them for getting it right

one
o e co
complex
pe a and
dpprofound
o ou d te
tenet
et
apply prediction market algorithm to weight the responses

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simply what you need to know

will it work?

why?

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prediction market core
If we asked 100 people like yourself
which of the two advertising
campaigns you have just seen will
be most likely to make them want to
buy BRANDX how many would say
Campaign A and how many would
say Campaign B and how many
would say Campaign C

You said
id that
h more people l
would say that [Insert:
Campaign Favourite] would
make them want to buy
BRANDX. Why y do you
y sayy
that?

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plus: tailored to the needs of every project

questions
ƒ demographic and behavioural screening questions
ƒ pre-exposure brand and competitive awareness and preference
ƒ post exposure preference
ƒ full range of diagnostic testing

sample
l
ƒ customer lists, hand raisers, brand enthusiasts
ƒ on-line panel
ƒ any other source

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prediction market difference

Traditional Quant Study proteanprediction

people
focused on what

think other people

Remove Bias Subjective personal opinions would
ld say, not their
narrow personal biases
People are better at predicting
the behaviour of others than
their own behaviour

respondents are rewarded for

Engage
Respondents rewarded for thinking about the
completing the survey, not
respondents
honesty or accuracy question and being
right!

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prediction market difference
a more nuanced outcome
Looking
L ki att th
the results
lt off thi
this
actual study, the deeper
Comparison ProteanPrediction nuance of ProteanPrediction
vs. Average Responses  can be clearly seen.
29.2%
Statement D: 33.4%
Using the average value for
29% each statement (Red) would
have lead to a conclusion
26.8% that Statement D was far and
Market Result
Statement C:
Statement C 24.0%
24 0% away the best idea.
idea
20%

Using the percentage of the

16.7% sample that selected each
Statement B: Average
13%
14.5%
statement as their “favorite,”
(Green) dampens “D” ‘s lead,
14.8%
but changes the picture for
Statement E: 16.9% Average of 
the number two position – “A”
13% "favourite "  is now equal to “C”
concepts

12.5% In the ProteanPrediction

Statement A:  13.9% (Blue) result, the difference
21%
between the lead and second
closes significantly, indicating
th t the
that th market
k t place
l has
h
‐10 0%
‐10.0% 5 0%
5.0% 20 0%
20.0% 35 0%
35.0%

very nearly as much “heart”

for “C” as they do for “D”
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simple straightforward reporting

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simple straightforward reporting

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 visual analysis of open ended question

Comments about Statement A
Total sample

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widely used

• Iowa Electronic Markets: political predictions more accurate than the

most accurate polls at least 75% of the time
• Hollywood Markets: Predict box office receipts
• Used by: Google, Hewlett Packard, Wrigley (Global); Kraft; GE;
Microsoft; Intercontinental Hotels Group; GM’ etc.

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 scientifically validated

These two academic papers give an interesting overview into 
some of the academic thinking behind the theory of prediction 
markets. 

Additional Links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keVL0PkCpaQ&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Econsensuspoint%2Ecom%2Fpredicti
on%2Dmarkets%2Dblog%2F&feature=player_embedded
This link connects you to a video of the CEO of Best Buy talking about their use of Prediction Markets. Given their recent
business collapse, I am not sure they are necessarily the best example
http://www.hsx.com/
This is the link to the Hollywood Stock Exchange, which is probably the most famous prediction market site – it has
become an extremely important tool for movie producers to judge the potential of their future movies before they
make them.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/0301/04.html
This is the most fun of all of them – PBS video that makes it all clear
clear.

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Inner Directives®

Understanding the subconscious relationship between

consumers and brands
Inner Directives®

• Proprietary research approach

• Proven psychoanalytic technique in combination with traditional consumer

research

• Explores and interprets subconscious level of consumer and brand

perceptions and behaviour

• O on one interviews conducted under clinical conditions by a clinical

One
psychoanalyst Meyers Briggs self complete test as a window into
understanding typology, archetypes and mythological
narrative
i
• Combined with one or more qualitative techniques
• Focus groups
groups, in-home
in home interviews,
interviews ethnographic observations,
observations in-store
in store interviews
and shop-alongs

• Helps explain attitudes and beliefs that underlie behaviour

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Inner Directives: Delivering deeper insights

What you gain

ƒ Deeper insights into attitudes and behaviours that consumers are unwilling or
unable to express
What you learn
ƒ How and why consumers buy
ƒ How consumers experience “experiences”
ƒ How consumers focus attention, acquire information, make
decisions and orient to outside world
What you get
ƒ Completely new understandings of consumer relationships with
categories and brands
ƒ More connected and relevant approaches to delivering brand
experience
ƒ Entirely new ways of thinking about positioning and
communication platforms

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clients we have helped
 Foodservice, Hospitality and 
Automotive  Financial Services
T
Travel (continued)
l ( ti d)
General Motors (all divisions)  TD Canada Trust 
Lexus  H&R Block  Metropolitan Hotels 
Mitsubishi  ING Canada  Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) 
Nissan Canada  Presidents Choice Financial  Prime Restaurants 
RBC  Travel Gay Canada 
Business to Business  Scotiabank 
Wells Fargo Bank  Government and Not for 
Government and Not for
Dell Canada  VISA  Profit 
Deloitte Consulting  Allstate Insurance  
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts  American Express   Canadian Liver Association 
Fleetcorp   Amicus  Canadian Marketing Association 
IBM  CIBC  Elections Ontario 
ING  Food Banks Canada
Objectivity Systems  Communication Agencies  George Brown College  
OIC Publications  Ontario Government  
Pattison Outdoor  BBDO  ƒ Ministry of Economics and 
Rogers Communications Inc.  Clean Sheet  Development 
Scotia McLeod  DDB Canada  ƒ Ministry of Research and 
Draftfcb   Innovation 
Consumer Package Goods
Consumer Package Goods   LA Ads
LA Ads Toronto Region Research Alliance (TRRA)
Toronto Region Research Alliance (TRRA)
Leo Burnett  Wellesley Institute 
Brita  MacLaren McCann  SOCAN 
Corby’s  Perennial 
Energizer Batteries  Ogilvy  Retail 
Knorr (Unilever)   Wonderman  
Linsey Foods  Y&R   Bell Mobility 
Mark Anthony Group (Wines and spirits)
Mark Anthony Group (Wines and spirits)  Dell Canada
Dell Canada
Mars  Foodservice and Hospitality  GM Dealer Associations 
Motts (Clamato Juice)  GM Goodwrench  
Pepsi Frito‐Lay  and Travel  Grand and Toy 
Procter and Gamble  Canadian Tourism Commission  Yorkville  Clubs 
Splenda  Delta Hotels  Holt Renfrew 
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts  Liquor Control Board of Ontario Mac’s 
Fallsview Casino Convenience Stores
Convenience Stores
KFC (US)  Rogers Communications Inc. 
Sears Canada 

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Contact us

416 967 3337

bernstein@proteanstrategies.com
www.bc3strategies.com
www.proteanstrategies.com
80 Cumberland Street
Toronto ON M5R 3V1