Reverse Your Research: Why Creative Strategists Need to Own the Process

Research without a goal is like setting off on a road trip with no destination in mind. Sure, it sounds adventurous, but how do you know when you've arrived? Worse still, how do you know you haven’t just driven in circles? In creative work, the stakes are high. Brands, campaigns, and products hinge on insights that have an impact. And here’s where the strategists – especially Creative Strategists – should play a crucial role in shaping the research from the start.

Start with the End in Mind: The Strategy First Approach

Backwards design, goal-based research – call it what you want. The core idea is simple: Begin with the end in mind. Creative Strategists live in this world. They’re trained to see the bigger picture and to align business objectives with Creative outcomes. They can’t afford to shoot in the dark or wait until research is "done" before they jump in. Instead, strategy should lead the charge.?

A creative strategist's involvement from the get-go ensures that research isn’t just filling the void. It’s about figuring out exactly what needs to be learned, defining what success looks like, and ensuring the research serves the creative and strategic goals. In short, research should be purposeful, and strategists are the ones to make sure it stays that way.

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The Backward Research Design Approach – With a Strategic Twist

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Let’s break it down. Backward research design is a systematic method, but when combined with Creative Strategy, it’s a powerhouse. The strategist takes the reins at each step of the process, ensuring that the outcome will be actionable, aligned, and most importantly, useful for creative problem-solving.

Here’s the blueprint:

Step 1: Define the Goal – Crystal Clear

Every project starts with a question. But not just any question – the right question. Ask yourself: What’s the one thing we need to know to unlock the solution? This is where strategists bring their superpowers. Their job is to frame the research with business and creative objectives in mind. You need a goal that sharpens the focus: What’s the problem we’re solving? How does this inform the brand story?

Step 2: Identify the Information Needed – Stay Relevant

Here’s where Creative Strategists bring real value. It’s not about gathering data for the sake of it. It’s about pinpointing the most relevant insights. What do we actually need to know? Creative strategists excel at this. They know what will move the needle for a brand. They’re able to filter through the noise and guide the research to uncover insights that matter – the kind that make a difference when it’s time to create. This means thinking about the methods: focus groups, ethnographies, analytics – what will get us closer to our goal?

Step 3: Develop the Research Plan – Align with the Endgame

Now, with a goal and a clear sense of direction, the research plan should practically write itself. At this stage, Creative Strategists and researchers should be collaborating closely. It’s about ensuring that the research methods chosen are directly aligned with the end goal. Strategists will push to make sure the insights collected aren’t just interesting – they need to be actionable, and they need to tie back to the creative brief.

Step 4: Execute and Analyse – Keep the Focus

When it comes time to execute the plan, Strategists don’t disappear. They stay involved, continually checking that what’s coming in is getting us closer to the goal. The insights must feed directly into the creative process. By keeping an eye on the data flow, strategists ensure that everything being collected serves the larger creative purpose.

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Why Involve Creative Strategists in Research Design?

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Because they can think ahead.

Creative Strategists are wired to envision where the research leads. They’re problem-solvers at heart, and when they’re involved from the start, the research process becomes more than just a data dump – it’s part of the creative journey. Research becomes a tool for unlocking creative solutions that are tied directly to strategic outcomes. Without the strategists, research can lose its way, become unfocused, or worse, irrelevant.

It’s not just about crunching numbers or gathering data – it’s about knowing what data to gather in the first place. Involving strategists ensures the research has direction, and more importantly, purpose.

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Case Studies – Where Strategy Met Research with Purpose

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Let’s look at a couple of examples where starting with the end in mind – and involving strategists early – paid off big time.

Case Study 1: Google’s Project Oxygen

In 2008, Google asked a simple but potent question: What makes a great manager? Notice the clarity in that goal. Instead of a vague investigation into management styles, the team zeroed in on a single outcome: identifying the traits that distinguish high-performing managers.

Creative Strategists would have loved this. With the goal locked in, Google worked backwards, collecting surveys, conducting interviews, and analysing performance data – all with the end goal in mind. The result? Eight key behaviours were identified that became the bedrock for their leadership development program. It wasn’t just data for data’s sake. It was data that was immediately actionable and had a direct impact on management culture at Google.

Case Study 2: The Human Genome Project

The Human Genome Project was one of the most ambitious research projects of the 20th century, and it had a crystal-clear goal: to map the entire human genome. Starting with that singular focus, researchers and strategists worked backwards, identifying the resources, methodologies, and collaborations needed to pull it off.

The result wasn’t just a mountain of scientific data. It was a precise, usable map of the human genome – a tool that has since revolutionized medicine and genetics. Again, starting with the end in mind ensured that every piece of research led to a clear, transformative result.

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The Takeaway for Creative Professionals

So, how do you apply this? Here’s a simple exercise:

1. Define Your Outcome: What’s the one question you need to answer? Frame it clearly.

2. Work Backwards: Identify the information or insights that will help you answer that question.

3. Plan Your Research: Outline a method that gets you the insights you need without going off course.

4. Stay Involved: As the research happens, keep checking back – does the information align with your creative goal?

Final Thoughts: Creative Strategy as the North Star

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Research and creativity aren’t separate worlds. They should feed off each other. By starting with a clear goal and involving Creative Strategists from the beginning, the research process becomes sharper, more focused, and, frankly, more useful. It’s about ensuring that every insight gathered serves the larger creative purpose. And when done right, the results can be game-changing.

So, the next time you’re about to embark on a research project, ask yourself – What’s the end goal? If you’re not sure, grab a Creative Strategist. They’ll help you find the answer, work backwards, and set your research – and your creative process – on the right track.

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Sources:

1. Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

2. Rogers, P. J. (2014). Theory of Change: Methodological Briefs – Impact Evaluation No. 2. UNICEF Office of Research.

3. Collins, J. (2001). Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don’t. HarperCollins Publishers.

4. Venter, J.C., et al. (2001). "The Sequence of the Human Genome." Science, 291(5507), 1304-1351.