The “Magical” Anthropologist
By Dwight Fletcher, CEO Spearfish

From time to time, I will come across an ad agency which has access to an “anthropologist” who typically works at a local university. I’m always amazed at how the agency just idolizes their approach. But here’s the truth of the matter from what we’ve found.

It really depends on what you’re after and what you’re comfortable with in terms of insights, but if you want to know the REAL way consumers think, converse and behave, you’ll want to work with a group which works with hundreds of consumers each year – like Spearfish. “Professional anthropologists” simple don’t get that opportunity, rarely working with more than a dozen sessions a year, and that’s being generous. I find the science of anthropology somewhat fascinating and took a couple of Anthro courses in college, but anthropologists don’t make it a point to go out in public and converse or observe real consumers in action, and they’re certainly not trained to make consumers comfortable by asking them questions they can easily understand. In fact, just the opposite (see below).

In our business, we work with real consumers almost every day of the year. And we HAVE to get real, actionable input for our clients. I often hear that a certain client likes the way a certain anthropologist asks questions. Well, what I can tell you, from interviewing experience which extends back to 2000, is that 95 times out of 100, the way anthropologists talk is NOT the way consumers communicate. As a result, consumers are confused from the beginning, so the results aren’t ever truly reflective of consumer feedback as they are of what the anthropologist “knew” going in. Another missed opportunity.

So, you can see why I’m somewhat passionate about dispelling the “myth” about their so-called expertise in the insights arena.