Zimmerman Advertising Announces ‘Red Light Project’ SubsidiaryHeretical Research Insight Engine Helps Understand Shoppers’ Trigger Point

The brains at Zimmerman Advertising never sleep; their latest invention is the Red Light Project (RLP), an innovative research company that will make traditional research methods a thing of the past. RLP will be utilized both on behalf of Zimmerman’s current clients and companies outside the agency.

“Nobody understands the way customers shop better than we do,” says Founder and CEO Jordan Zimmerman. “We have spent more than 25 years gathering in-depth knowledge about customer shopping behavior. In doing so, we developed some very successful ways to isolate the trigger point between consumer consideration and consumer action. The combination of our retail shopping experience and new research methods led the creation of the Red Light Project.”

RLP was developed in response to clients’ need for a better way to do business. Its methodology rests upon the core belief that intention without action is not enough. It gives clients the tools to turn the corner to actual purchase. RLP’s goal is to understand consumers’ motivations and feelings about brands at the moment-of-truth.

“Red Light Project is about the end of dogmatic research; gone are the days of just hosting focus groups and interviewing people with clipboards,” explains Cliff Courtney, EVP, Chief Strategy Officer of Zimmerman and co-creator of the Red Light Project with Zimmerman. “RLP will utilize traditional research methods only as a starting point. Quantitatively, for instance, we’re creating a predictive behavioral model instead of descriptive behavior model. The consumer landscape changes too fast for anything less.”

“Cliff’s leadership and strategic genius is what made RLP into a reality,” notes Zimmerman. “Cliff analyzes established research methods, turns them upside, and comes up with more effective way to reach the end goal – driving purchases.”

RLP incorporates many tools into its portfolio of research methodologies, one of which is cult panels. The idea of brands with cult-like followings is not an entirely new concept, but understanding the power of cult brands and how to actually leverage a brand’s cult-like status to drive revenue is. RLP has completed six trend-based cult panels so far in retail segments including luxury, travel, home, fashion and financial services. The sixth panel, titled “Cravings, Cults and Culture” was recently conducted in New York on behalf of client White Castle.

The White Castle cult panel brought together a combination of trend and cult specialists for a three-hour brainstorming session. The sessions first tackled the largest issues of macro-trends affecting consumer behavior, then methodically drilled down to examine cults, cult brands, and the specific potential for White Castle.

“In a world where retailers continue to pound harder and where price wars are omnipresent, RLP’s methodology is giving clients like White Castle the opportunity to understand, grow and benefit from a stronger value equation,” adds Courtney. “So far, the results have represented nothing less than a seismic shift in the industry of research and discovery.”