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Catriona Adam
Entrepreneur, Founder, and Consumer Insights Specialist
Catriona Adam is the Founder and CEO of The Thick Data Company, a consumer insights firm specializing in qualitative research and analytics.1 With over 15 years of experience in customer experience (CX), consumer insights, and human behavior, she has helped both small and large brands gain deeper understanding of their customers.1
Professional Background
Catriona Adam founded The Thick Data Company to redefine consumer insights analytics by combining traditional qualitative research methods with innovative approaches, including the use of AI.5 Her expertise lies in conducting engaging interviews and uncovering rich, meaningful data that goes beyond surface-level insights.2
Expertise and Approach
Qualitative Research:: Catriona specializes in qualitative research methodologies, focusing on having deeper conversations with consumers to uncover valuable insights.6 She emphasizes the importance of "thick data" – rich, contextual information that provides a more comprehensive understanding of consumer behavior and preferences.
Consumer Insights:: Her work involves helping brands connect with their customers on a deeper level, understanding not just what consumers do, but why they do it.1 This approach allows companies to make more informed decisions and develop strategies that resonate with their target audience.
AI Integration:: Catriona has embraced artificial intelligence as a tool to enhance consumer insights analytics, combining traditional qualitative methods with cutting-edge technology.5
Company Overview
The Thick Data Company, based in Penticton, BC, Canada, is a small but innovative firm in the consumer insights industry.34 Under Catriona's leadership, the company focuses on providing rich qualitative research and analytics services to help brands better understand and connect with their customers.2
Catriona Adam's approach to consumer insights reflects a belief that brands should prioritize purposeful actions over mere profitability, aligning with evolving consumer expectations for corporate responsibility and authenticity.2
Highlights
The ivory tower of market research
Has its roots in the ivory tower of academia.
But both are being dismantled brick by brick.
This perception of inaccessibility is part of the reason why businesses don’t do research and create company cultures that don’t value it, and ultimately think they don’t need their customer feedback, or do it so transactionally it hurts their business.
Gatekeeping.
Now, I’m all for research validity and soundness and I build it into every single project I work on for clients.
But there’s two things we could be doing differently:
1 - stop shaming businesses starting out and wanting to do it themselves when budget is tight and autonomy is high.
2 - stop shaming businesses for trying. That’s entrepreneurship. They started and that’s the hardest part which deserves a celebration! They value research, integrated it, and can grow into working with partners that can help them get to the next levels of insights.
#entrepreneurship #marketresearch
People will always say they want a better price.
I’m in a Facebook group for women business owners. Someone recently posted about customers often commenting that The Other Guy is cheaper, and the business owner was feeling confused, pressured to reduce, unclear what people expected of her in that moment.
My advice: Exhale. F$%& around, and find out.
Reply to those comments with curiosity and use the opportunity for some competitive spying and customer understanding.
“Oh really, that’s interesting” you can say, “I hadn’t heard that before. How else are we different?”
She might start to hear things like:
- quality
- promotions
- packaging
- convenience
- customer experience
- community events
- charitable giving
These are some examples that can start to inform why her pricing is different, and if she’s willing to compromise something to meet those prices or stand firm in the value they offer.
#customerunderstanding #entrepreneurship #smallbusinesses
