McCann employees take to the streets to discover consumer truths

In an unprecedented global research initiative, McCann Worldgroup has enlisted all of its employees around the world to leave their desks for a day and head to the streets in their local markets to meet with and interview people face-to-face to gain insights into their shopping behaviour and their relationship to cultural values. This new ‘Truth About Street’ study will involve roughly 20,000 McCann Worldgroup employees in more than 100 countries. 

Every department and level of the network has been enlisted to participate, from associates to senior management, including creative, business leadership, strategy, production and administrative teams. The questions and conversations are designed to gather additional information and insights about local cultures, brand attitudes, traditional shopping, e-commerce and emerging consumer sentiment. 

Speaking on the initiative, Luca Lindner, President, McCann Worldgroup, said, “This is the first time that we have galvanised our entire employee base to help us develop in-depth insights about local culture and its connection today to brand attitudes and shopping behaviour. In doing so, our employees will hear first-hand the cultural shifts that are affecting our clients and have a deeper understanding of how to apply these learnings to help grow our client’s brands and businesses.” 

Prasoon Joshi, Chairman of McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific and CEO of McCann Worldgroup India, commented, “Truth About Street is a testament to the effort and energy that goes into building McCann’s understanding of local culture, especially in a dynamically changing country like India. The study is proof of our unmatched sense of community and collaboration. We are committed to maintaining our edge in being the power-house of knowledge about people, cultural shifts and evolving trends and thus giving the best to our clients.” 

Jitender Dabas, Chief Strategy Officer, McCann Worldgroup India, added here, “This 24-hour global-local truth hunt is a proprietary study unlike anything ever done by any agency in India or anywhere the world. It sees each and every employee engaged in unearthing rich, meaningful insights around globally relevant and locally nuanced issues and topics to capture the essence of their city and its people.” 

The findings will be incorporated in the next wave of the company’s ‘Truth About Global Brands’ study. First conducted in 2014 by McCann Worldgroup’s global intelligence unit, McCann Truth Central, it looked in-depth at the changing dynamics affecting global brand marketing. The research entailed quantitative work with 30,000 people in 29 countries, supplemented by rich ethnographic research with consumers as well as with marketing, cultural and entertainment experts.