Info

Olson Zaltman Associates is a research and consulting firm that sheds light on the fundamental challenges facing organizations today. We use an exclusive research tool, ZMET (the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique), to give our clients a window to the minds of their customers and stakeholders. ZMET probes beneath the surface to reveal "what people don't know they know" - the underlying motivations that influence a person's decision to buy a product or form an opinion. Because approximately 95% of all thought occurs in the unconscious, most of these factors are missed by traditional research methods. Your challenge may be repositioning a global brand, creating a sales promotion or advertising campaign, or integrating two corporate cultures after a merger. Olson Zaltman Associates can provide a deep understanding of your audiences that inspires powerful marketing, communication, and organizational strategies. Many of the world's most admired companies - Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company, Motorola and others - use our research and strategic recommendations to gain competitive advantage in the global marketplace. Entrepreneurial firms, universities, and nonprofit organizations find our methods to be equally effective. Olson Zaltman Associates was founded by two leaders in the field of marketing, Professor Gerald Zaltman of the Harvard Business School and Professor Jerry Olson of Penn State University. Professor Zaltman has been cited in surveys of the American Marketing Association as one of the top five scholars in marketing. Professor Olson is the author of two textbooks on consumer behavior and was named as one of the top 50 academic market researchers. Both are active consultants with companies in the United States and Europe. The ZMET approach recognizes that people think and communicate in complex ways that traditional methods do not capture. That's why we use various means to elicit information from research participants, with an emphasis on visual images, metaphors and emotions. Our analysis incorporates diverse perspectives such as clinical psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and sociology. As a result, ZMET uncovers eye-opening information about your customers - and what truly motivates their decisions -that you don't get from any other research tool. Olson Zaltman Associates seeks clients to be partners in a research process that is both demanding and fascinating. Projects are customized to meet your specific needs and budget. Our recommendations are both insightful and strategic, with suggested actions you can put to work immediately to get results. Our mission is simple - to provide valuable insights about the people who are most important to you and your company and help you translate those insights into effective strategic action.