Cultural fieldwork and product ideation in India and Mexico
Teaming up with Canopy Insight, we performed extensive international research, insights gathering, and product ideation for Unilever’s home goods vertical
The Brief
We were commissioned by a UK insights agency to lead two cultural research projects — one in India and one in Mexico — aimed at uncovering how people live, think, and express emerging values in everyday life.
In India, the focus was on new modes of living — from home life and eating habits to cleanliness and consumption. In Mexico, we explored the lifestyles and aspirations of teenagers, capturing how a new generation is shaping identity and self-expression.
The Approach
Across both projects, we combined semiotic analysis, ethnographic fieldwork, and in-depth interviews to reveal the cultural meanings behind daily routines and lifestyle choices. In India, we conducted fieldwork in New Delhi and Mumbai; in Mexico, we spent time with teens and families in Mexico City. Our goal was to decode the hidden logics driving change — from domestic rituals and aesthetics to social belonging and future aspirations.
The Outcome
Each project culminated in an insight-driven report paired with product and brand concepts designed to inspire future innovation within consumer packaged goods. Together, they revealed how culture, class, and aspiration are reshaping everyday life across two fast-evolving markets — offering our client fresh creative and strategic direction grounded in real human experience.
“Steve is one of the most talented researchers we've worked with at Canopy — reliably gathering amazing insights, managing and conducting impressive fieldwork deep-dives across multiple global markets, and delivering reports that truly impressed our clients. Ten out of ten. We'll be working with him again as often as we can.”
Ethnographic work always loses something on the trip from a Mumbai kitchen to a deck slide. The discipline is protecting the strangeness of what you actually saw long enough for it to inform a product decision, instead of being smoothed into something a brand team already knew how to use.