20 prompts to do your 4Cs research
▪️COMPANY RECIPE:
- Can you tell me the answers for the company [INSERT COMPANY] for the following questions. Cite reliable sources:
1. Tell me about the origin story of the company? How did it begin?
2. What values do the founders hold from this time?
3. What would industry experts say about the company?
4. What share of the market does the product have? What is the size of the category? Are they growing or declining?
5. What do employees love about working at the company?
▪️CATEGORY RECIPE
- Can you tell me the answers for the company [INSERT COMPANY] for the following questions. Cite reliable sources:
1. What are the cliches in advertising of the category?
2. Where does the brand sit amongst it’s peers? Could you give me a school yard analogy?
3. What doesn’t make sense about the category but they continue to do it?
4. Is it changing, growing, shrinking?
5. What are the biggest issues facing the category?
▪️CONSUMER RECIPE
- Can you tell me the answers for the company [INSERT COMPANY] for the following questions. Cite reliable sources:
1. What consumer problem does this product solve? What is the higher order consumer goal that it achieves?
2. What do the brand's current consumers look like demographically, behaviorally and/or attitudinally?
3. What consumer trait could this brand uniquely celebrate?
4. What is the current mindset of the consumer that is holding them back from purchasing?
5. What do consumers think of the brand, good and bad?
▪️CULTURE RECIPE
- Can you tell me the answers for the company [INSERT COMPANY] for the following questions. Cite reliable sources:
1. What is our audience fighting for in culture?
2. Who are the muses in culture for our audience?
3. What can we legitimately fight for on behalf of our audience?
4. Are there any subcultures that the brand is a part of? How did they get there? What are the unspoken codes or rules of this group?
5. What's going on in culture that the brand could credibly challenge?
