Articles by Dr Nick
Contributions
Activity
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This year I'm retiring the Professional Ironman licence I've held since 2016. I've loved testing myself against world-class athletes, sometimes…
This year I'm retiring the Professional Ironman licence I've held since 2016. I've loved testing myself against world-class athletes, sometimes…
Liked by Dr Nick Coates
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The Clorox Company is a place that builds brilliant brands. Clorox Insights is the team that builds brilliant ideas. We are opening a Bay Area-based…
The Clorox Company is a place that builds brilliant brands. Clorox Insights is the team that builds brilliant ideas. We are opening a Bay Area-based…
Liked by Dr Nick Coates
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Excited to be presenting with Ed Keller next week at the Insights Association CRC event in NYC about our Market Research Institute International 2024…
Excited to be presenting with Ed Keller next week at the Insights Association CRC event in NYC about our Market Research Institute International 2024…
Liked by Dr Nick Coates
Education
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UCL
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Activities and Societies: the Caribbean
* Wrote a PhD thesis -"Gardens in the Sands" about the relationship between the contemporary francophone novel and concepts of "space" in post-war philosophy. Link here:
https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10108445
* Also translated a study of Howard Hawks' "Red River" for the BFI's Film Classics series. -
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Activities and Societies: Fencing, dance show, jazz jam, tours, band
MA in Comparative Literature
PhD in French Caribbean Literature and thought -
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Activities and Societies: Fencing. Twice BUSA champions
Licenses & Certifications
Publications
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The Alice Code: Looking-Glass Thinking for Innovators
Alice Through The Looking-Glass: A Companion (ed.Kohlt), Peter Lang (Oxford: UK)
An article that’s part of my future Alice Code book that shows how we can use the mindset and methods of Lewis Carroll to become better innovators.
Other authorsSee publication -
The role of brands in the home of the future
WARC
Musings on the 8 home archetypes brands need to consider in their journey to the most intimate places in humans’ lives
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Beatles in Wonderland
(Seeking Offers)
Beatles, Lewis Carroll, 60s, Solo, Psychedelia, Nonsense, Innovation, Sound, Poetry, Imagination, Creativity
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Dwell | Experiments in Living
C Space & Interbrand
A provocation and inspiration: report and documentary exploring how we are experimenting with new roles and relationships with our homes. In the age of the urban species.
Other authorsSee publication -
"Come back for ribs", in Co-creating brands (Ind & Schmidt)
Bloomsbury
An article looking at the value exchange for participants in co-creation. Inspired by a workshop in LA where we were invited back to Beverly Hills for dinner at a millionairess' mansion, I explore the ingredients for motivation to participate and some of the principles that apply whoever you're working with.
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The gift of co-creation
Journal of Brand Management
An exploration of online co-creation community motivation through the lens of the 'gift exchange'. Because co-creation isn't a commodity, extrinsic motivation / rewards systems are a weak actor in the value exchange. Brands sponsoring online co-creation and those managing communities need to think in a far more subtle way about how to create a richer blend of intrinsic motivations to get the most out of these tools.
Other authorsSee publication -
Customer Inside: a practioner's guide to online insight communities
C Space
A comprehensive guide to online insight communities. their potential and their pitfalls and how to get the most out of them. Published in partnership with the MRS and based on interviews with client-side practitioners.
Other authorsSee publication -
Learning from Lucas: what can cinema, drama, movies and theatre teach us about insight?
ESOMAR
This paper explores how alternative models for storytelling can be deployed to help organisations more effectively engage with and act on consumer insight. We show how lessons from narrative theory, cinema and theatre, can take the place of traditional, scientific-derived narratives. And we share examples of applications in a modern insight function at one the world’s most diverse retailers: Walgreens Boots Alliance.
Other authors -
The meanings of co-creation
European Business Review
The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the diverse strands that underpin the still
emerging concept of co-creation. The paper aims to suggest that there are alternative views rooted in
psychotherapy, critical theory, software development and design that can help provide a richer
understanding of the meaning of co-creation.Other authorsSee publication -
Brand Together (contributor)
Kogan Page
Brand Together highlights the potential in co-creation to use customer and client input and feedback to develop and encourage buyer engagement, with a view to building sales, developing brand strategy and retaining customers.
Other authorsSee publication -
Reframing NI's paywall
AQR
To outsiders, the News International's paywall is anathema, evidence of Rupert Murdoch's greed. But subscribers view it as a club with potential.
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Rulemaking or playmaking: implications of the emerging co-creation landscape
ESOMAR
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Psychology of saving fuel
AQR
Nick Coates discovers that trying to persuade people to drive more economically flies in the face of the pleasure principle
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Co-Creation: New Pathways to Value
Promise / LSE Enterprise
Our report covers the following key areas:
1. Contexts: the drivers for co-creation
2. Definitions: the co-creation space
3. Origins: the intellectual roots of co-creation
4. Benefits: the impact of co-creation
5. Success: managing co-creationOther authors -
Business models & Financial Instruments for the museums, libraries and archives sector: Review of the Literature and Survey Results
MLA
The work contained in this report describes the current state of thinking on sustainability and links it to the museums, libraries and archives sector.
Other authors -
Culture on Demand
The Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS)
A report commissioned by DCMS into ways of driving engagement in 'culture' among low attenders / participators (lower social grades, BMEs and the disabled). The report presented a model of engagement and 6 thematic areas: family, socialising, identity, place, experience and trust.
Other authors
Projects
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The Dwell Arena: Experiments in Living
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The latest in the C Space & Interbrand Arenas series, Dwell looks at how where we live enables who we are and who we want to be. Dwell is an enabler of success not the marker. We cover the rise of the urban species, fluid living and the inside-our home. Guest contributions from IKEA, Raffles & Kerakoll, with interviews and data from over 5,000 people in 7 markets worldwide.
Other creatorsSee project -
space_ace, from Kin Brands
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Coming soon to a shop near you, space_ace is a solution to not having enough space in the home. This space-creating brand from Kin Brands (part of the Wilko family) was Co-created with customers and the entire product range was inspired by JTBD / ethnographic enquiry and product and visual identity shaped iteratively with the end-user!
Other creatorsSee project -
Metro Experience: Designing for Humans
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A piece of IP for Siemens Mobility deisgned to reframe the way train designers thjnk about what they do. A desîgned thinkpiece packed with insights on human behaviour, motivation and passenger experience. And examples of needs and solutions in metro transport.
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Upp: Next Level Broadband
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Working with customers in East Anglia to inspire this new challenger brand offering superfast reliable broadband in the face of poor provision. Based on the idea of "an uninterrupted life". Brand, naming, proposition, customer experience. Coming soon to a town near you.
Other creatorsSee project -
Explora Journeys
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Explora Journeys is a new concept in the luxury travel space. The whole experience is built around the idea of the "Ocean State of Mind", a brand platform that incorporates the family’s DNA and speaks to the next generation of Discerning Luxury Travellers – marking a shift from cruising to luxury lifestyle traveling. A collaboration between C Space, Interbrand and McKinsey. Our main focus was to keep the customer at the center, which involved Expert Round Tables with global leaders, experience…
Explora Journeys is a new concept in the luxury travel space. The whole experience is built around the idea of the "Ocean State of Mind", a brand platform that incorporates the family’s DNA and speaks to the next generation of Discerning Luxury Travellers – marking a shift from cruising to luxury lifestyle traveling. A collaboration between C Space, Interbrand and McKinsey. Our main focus was to keep the customer at the center, which involved Expert Round Tables with global leaders, experience safaris in London and New York, in-depth qualitative research and digital workshops with luxury travellers across 10 markets. The work helped us not only define an aspirational brand target audience, but directly co-created the entire guest experience and signature moments with them.
All of this fed into building the brand identity for a new, unique luxury travel brand that has the potential to shape the future of the travel industry. -
Liberty Global: Relationship North Star
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Embedding a new, relationship-based, north star for Customer Experience. Based on best practice, outside-in exploration, online communities, experience driver study and concept testing plus extensive workshopping to deliver a CX model, behaviours and roadmaps for individual markets. "This is impressive stuff" - Mike Fries, CEO.
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Tesco - Valentines Proposition
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A creative project, based on social media scanning, consumer research and co-creation to help evolve and stretch the Tesco proposition from a romantic couple focus to a more modern, and inclusive "celebration of love", broadening Tesco's appeal with a direct impact on growth and perception.
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Reinventing Discovery
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The Global Hotel Alliance's Loyalty Programme - Discovery - is 10 years old. In a changing market (consolidation, new experience players, disruptive tech), we set out to reinvent the programme we'd co-created back in 2009. Working with the CEO and his team, we explored trends, worked with experts, co-created with customers current and future, generated new propositions, tested a new construct and built a business model. And then brought it to life to get the buy in of the CEOs of the…
The Global Hotel Alliance's Loyalty Programme - Discovery - is 10 years old. In a changing market (consolidation, new experience players, disruptive tech), we set out to reinvent the programme we'd co-created back in 2009. Working with the CEO and his team, we explored trends, worked with experts, co-created with customers current and future, generated new propositions, tested a new construct and built a business model. And then brought it to life to get the buy in of the CEOs of the participating brands. Before moving onto co-creating a new visual identity. A mammoth task. Super rewarding.
Other creatorsSee project -
Virgin Atlantic Happy Socks - Experience Innovation Programme
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First concrete impact of our Virgin Atlantic Innovation Programme. Inspired by a customer story about boring socks. But part of a wider set of ideas Virgin Atlantic are working on, including One Fine Stay, Clubhouse and multi-sensory experience improvements.
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Jack's (from Tesco)
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End-to-end proposition development for Tesco's discounter fighting brand Jack's. Co-creating with Tesco and Tesco customers to define experience, branding, range and messaging.
Other creatorsSee project -
The store of the future
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Rethinking the ‘big box’ experience for Tesco. Co-creating a more human, inspiring, social retail experience that’s now being trialled and rolled out across the UK. Focus on fresh, quality, better checkout, service and food inspiration.
Other creatorsSee project -
Renaming Sake No Hana
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How to rename without changing the essence. For the KSA - sidestepping alcohol connotations
Other creatorsSee project -
Hakkasan's Naughty Little Sister: LING LING
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Ling Ling is a new drinks-led bar concept from Hakkasan, that has just opened its first outlet in Mykonos, Greece. We worked with Hakkasan to define this new sub-brand - as Hakkasan's Naughty Little Siste - to allow the Hakkasan masterbrand to grow without compromise into markets where a Hakkasan restaurant wouldn't work.
Other creatorsSee project -
Hakkasan Brand Essence
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Global brand strategy project for Hakkasan that aimed to distill the magic of the brand to help connect restaurant and nightclub businesses under 1 brand story. Worked with the amazingly talented north to turn our idea - "cinematic energy" - into a brand book that was itself cinematic and story-driven.
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Colgate Future of Oral Care
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Gamechanging innovation in the oral care device space. We worked with dentists, hygienists, designers, R&D, consumers and even a sex toy designer to co-create new toothbrush and ‘beyond-toothbrush’ ideas. The first output was an Apple / Colgate smart toothbrush. But in 2020 the Plaqless Pro won awards at CES.
Other creatorsSee project -
Aviva SME innovation
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Finalist in the 2015 MRS Awards in the B2B category this project not only provided Aviva with foundational knowledge about the small business market, and in so doing changed the way they think about SMEs, it also fuelled award-winning improvements to their broker platform, Fast Trade and spawned a new self-serve product and a pipeline of innovations.
Other creatorsSee project -
Launching Virgin Mobile in Eastern Europe
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Co-creating the launch strategy for Virgin Mobile CEE, with Poland as first market, with young people, Virgin brand owners and the local teams responsible for delivery a groundbreaking new service.
Other creatorsSee project -
Co-creating EE's Clone Phone
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Innovation project working with the EE team and customers to generate new ideas for better service(s). Led directly to the Clone Phone idea, named by customers, which was used to help launch the EE brand and has generated multi-£m revenue and significant uptake and brand benefits for the network.
Other creatorsSee project -
Aviva - Emotional Advertising (Holiday Packing)
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Working out how to balance emotional and rational cues (feelings and facts). Co-created advertising concepts leading to the 'magic formula' for Aviva's Holiday Packing ad which won the 2012 money marketing award for best ad
Other creatorsSee project -
Shaza Hotels
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The first 5* hotel concept inspired by the cultures of the Silk Route and catering for regional (MENA) travellers rather than Westerners. Recently won 'best new hotel concept' at the MENA World Travel Awards in Dubai, and best new 5* hotel for Al Madina.
Other creatorsSee project -
P&O Cruises - Britannia
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Innovation project for the UK's leading cruise brand. Involved week-long cruise ethnography. Culminated in the launch of P&O’s new ship, Britannia, with ‘sophisticated wows’ and other British cultural signatures.
Other creatorsSee project -
O2 Wallet
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A leading mobile payment system, incorporating money transfer and retail applications
Other creatorsSee project -
HMRC Naming Serious Tax Offenders
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Exploring practical implications of naming and shaming as a lever to increase tax compliance. Involved interviewing tax evaders
Other creatorsSee project -
Married Single Other...
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A romantic drama on ITV which we helped to evaluate and shape using psychology frameworks and narratology
Other creatorsSee project
Honors & Awards
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Insight 250
ESOMAR
Two years in a row as one of the 250 global MR pioneers
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MRS Fellow
Market Research Society (MRS)
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AQR Prosper Riley Qualitative Excellence Award 2015
AQR
http://www.aqr.org.uk/prsaward/
This Award, in its 13th year, recognises the enormous contribution made by Qualitative Research to modern marketing, strategy and societal issues. This year’s winner, Gamechanger: Using co-creation to drive SME innovation and culture change at Aviva, is a superb example of the versatility of Qualitative Research. Using co-creation, ethnography and techniques originated in psychotherapy, C Space entered the world of insurance and SME's helping Aviva…http://www.aqr.org.uk/prsaward/
This Award, in its 13th year, recognises the enormous contribution made by Qualitative Research to modern marketing, strategy and societal issues. This year’s winner, Gamechanger: Using co-creation to drive SME innovation and culture change at Aviva, is a superb example of the versatility of Qualitative Research. Using co-creation, ethnography and techniques originated in psychotherapy, C Space entered the world of insurance and SME's helping Aviva transform the way they look at themselves, their brokers and their end Customers, resulting in an award winning campaign and an uplift in quotes and sales.
The judges said:
C Space’s multi discipline approach, delivering deep insights, excellently demonstrates the power of qualitative research to transform internal culture
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Best Speaker Award, CIO Summit 2014
Chief Innovation Officers' Summit 2014, London
My talk on consumer creativity was awarded best presentation (out of c.40 speakers)
Test Scores
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BA Honours, French & German
Score: 1st Class Degree
Reputedly the best 1st class degree score in 20 years.
Languages
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English
Native or bilingual proficiency
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French
Native or bilingual proficiency
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German
Professional working proficiency
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Italian
Elementary proficiency
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Human
Native or bilingual proficiency
Organizations
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BIG, MRS, Effervescent,
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Recommendations received
14 people have recommended Dr Nick
Join now to viewMore activity by Dr Nick
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I’ve just had an incredible week enjoying the 15th World Class Bartender of the Year competition in Shanghai. Huge congrats to Canadian winner…
I’ve just had an incredible week enjoying the 15th World Class Bartender of the Year competition in Shanghai. Huge congrats to Canadian winner…
Liked by Dr Nick Coates
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