Our real-world testing was highlighted in the Harvard Business Review
Experimentation. Hotspots. Humans.
Hi!
Happy New Year!
Thank you for reading our newsletter.When it comes to email newsletters, Spark No. 9 has a don’t-clog-the-inbox approach.
We only write when we have something to say that we think you will find useful.
Here is what is on our minds as we enter 2025. You will probably hear more from us about these topics throughout the year.
There’s nothing wrong with tactical experimentation. It’s great for optimizing things that work. But we can optimize ourselves into a corner. That’s essentially what happened to retailers like Party City, tech-driven firms like Intel and Tesla, and just about all luxury goods brands in 2024.
Companies shouldn’t just experiment to optimize; they should experiment at a strategic level, too. When all the walls are closing, it’s good to have a window to get out of.
Even with the richness of available data about humans and their tastes and behaviors, many strategists still rely primarily on demographics to describe their target customers.
Here’s the thing: when it comes to targeting, culture outperforms demographics any day of the week. Finding the culturally defined subgroups for whom our brand serves a real purpose—our ‘hotspots’—saves a ton of time and money.
Yes, AI is a big deal. But for the most part, humans are still making the buying decisions. As AI reshapes marketing and consumer decision-making becomes increasingly complex, the need for empirical validation will only intensify.
In 2025, our Spark No. 9 team will continue to push the boundaries of how companies validate strategy, using online advertising as our laboratory for rapidly testing hypotheses that traditional market research would never uncover. Our approach? Bring potential strategies to life and let actual customer behavior be the judge.
We are also looking to publish thought-pieces on platforms beyond LinkedIn and Harvard Business Review this year. We would love suggestions on platforms or publications that keep your interest!
Finally, we will host several conversations about changes in the landscape for strategy, research, and marketing. Some will be salon-style in-person events; others will be online. Let us know if you would like to join.
We hope you are feeling as energized and excited about the new year as we are. Let’s get to work!
P.S. We've rebranded and hope you like it! Here's to a trailblazing 2025!
