Years ago, I sat in a meeting with a public utility client as its data team presented findings from a recent customer survey. One slide in particular caught my attention. The team had asked customers how they preferred to be contacted, and the results were clear: most preferred digital communication—email or text—over phone calls.
Based on this finding, they recommended a reduction in their customer service department. “If customers prefer digital,” they reasoned, “we should shift our focus there.” Immediately, I saw warning flags.
The question—“How do you prefer to be contacted by us?”—wasn’t inherently flawed. But it was incomplete. Of course, for routine updates or non-urgent notices, digital communication is often easier and less disruptive. But what happens when there’s an emergency or a billing error? In those moments, research has shown that customers overwhelmingly want to speak with a real person. When there's urgency, reassurance and clarity matter. And a text just doesn’t deliver that.
The data team had understood the what—that customers generally prefer digital contact—but hadn’t explored the why. And because of that, they were at risk of making a business decision that could have had serious implications for customer satisfaction and trust.
This moment underscores something we see time and again in our work at Brand Federation: understanding what people say or do is just one side of the research equation. Understanding why they say or do it is just as essential.
Quantitative research is incredibly powerful. It tells us what’s happening and gives us the scale and confidence to generalize those findings. But without qualitative research—conversations, interviews, ethnographies—we miss the human context. We miss the motivations, the emotions, the contradictions that make people complex.
Of course, qualitative research has its limitations. It’s not meant to be statistically representative. Sometimes, one person’s perspective is just that—one person’s. But when used together, qualitative and quantitative research offer a one-two punch: depth and breadth, context and scale, meaning and measurement.
That’s why we advocate for a mixed-methods approach when designing brand research. Especially when the stakes are high. Brand decisions don’t just affect logos and taglines—they ripple through experience, culture, and communications. And research is the only reliable way to guide those decisions with clarity and confidence.
If you’re planning research that will shape the future of your organization’s brand, ask not only what people are saying or doing—but also why. It’s the only way to see the full picture. And it’s the only way to ensure your brand resonates in the ways that matter most.
Rian Chandler-Dovis is Chief Product Officer at Brand Federation. She blends strong business acumen with creative thinking to uncover deep, actionable insights, and has developed strategies for dozens of the world’s best known brands, including General Motors, American Express, Samsung, PepsiCo, Colgate, Macy’s, MIT, World Wildlife Fund, and others.
