GIM DIVE

Diving into the target group’s world

The experience world of consumers is often alien to decision-makers. They usually live in different socio-cultural circumstances to those of their target group. However, the development of an offer that is relevant to the target group requires a very high degree of empathy with one’s own consumers. Switching perspectives and putting oneself in the role of consumers is a prerequisite for long-lasting product development and successful marketing.

GIM DIVE enables decision-makers to slip into the world and role of their consumers and look at this world with their eyes.

Development of one’s own consumer-related expertise

• Decision-makers become experts in relation to consumers: regardless of the project, they learn to act from the consumers’ point of view, and thus constantly make their decisions in a targeted and consumer-oriented manner 
• Decision-makers obtain insights into the world of the consumer at a variety of levels: culture / everyday world, product category, product usage, consumption routines

Consumer immersion: personally experiencing the world of consumers

• Decision-makers obtain direct access and insights into consumers’ everyday routines, lifeworlds, and consumption worlds
• They participate in the target group’s lives by going along with them as they think, feel, and act 
• They take on roles and perspectives, and reflect upon them under the instruction of a ‘culture coach’

Long-lasting accumulation of know-how via flexible and adjustable immersion programme 

• GIM DIVE can be used flexibly, depending on one’s background experience and objectives: from purpose-oriented short visits through to several days ‘co-living’ with consumers 
• ‘Diving into’ the world of consumers is integrated into a comprehensive DIVE programme: culture and immersion training, coaching during the actual immersion experiences, plus follow-up and systematisation at company level of what has been learnt

GIM DIVE methods

• Adjustable immersion experiences: in-home visits lasting several hours, one-day ‘day in the life’ experiences, several days ‘co-living’ 
• Combination of immersion with explorative methods, such as friendship group discussions, accompanied shopping 
• Direct observations and those requiring appropriate equipment (via webcam too) 
• Training workshops about cultural understanding, exploration and immersion techniques, and structured processing and analysis of the experiences and insights 
• Debriefing workshops with participants 
• Systematisation and management of participants’ experiences