My Grandpa and the Method COCHICOLAIN

The COCHICOLAIN method is a way to communicate research results throughout a company. Market Intelligence describes their creative method with specific examples for implementation.

When my boss asked me to find a way to help our clients better communicate the results of our research inside their companies I thought to myself: “I’m in trouble."

I was under a lot of pressure and stress those days. I couldn’t find an answer. Once I got out of the office for a walk in a near park. Walking among the trees and benches suddenly I found the answer: I remembered my grandpa who was a talented chemist. Back then, nearly two years had passed since he died. In that same park back when I was a kid he used to tell me about the great chemistry discoveries, his own research and the ways in which he used to spread it inside the lab where he worked.

He told me that, at the beginning, they had a serious communication issue in the lab: The results of the internal research were better known by researchers from foreign universities than the staff of researchers of the own lab!

Therefore, he decided to implement a technique he called: COCHICOLAIN.

My grandpa fully recounted the first time he and his co-workers used that informative technique. That time they used it to spread the usage of a detergent derived from a cactus called “Lechuguilla” which grows in the north of México.

The first thing my grandpa did back then was to think in a creative way to spread the discovery. He took several “Lechuguillas” and placed them all along the hallway. Next to each plant, he placed soaps, detergents and NEWSLETTERS in which the discovery was generally explained.

He didn’t stop there. He printed POSTERS with images and results from the research. He ordered to hang the posters on the walls of bathrooms and many other unimaginable places.

Then he ordered individual disposable TABLECLOTHS for the worker's dining room. On them, he explained through formulas the properties of the detergent.

At the same time, he created a set of collectable STICKER-CARDS which had related phrases of research's results and the new opportunities derived from those discoveries.

Lastly, to reinforce his message, my grandpa (who was a great STORY-TELLER) expalined before a full auditory the way in which the properties of the "Lechuguilla" plant had been discovered. He conquered the audience by being amusing, making faces and telling them about humorous things that happened during the research. Like the day a little branch of the plant got stuck in his calf.

My grandpa, a very distinguished communicator of chemistry, always tried to keep himself updated. On his last years of service he also incorporated two innovations to spread scientific discoveries: E-MAILS where he included interesting findings and discoveries of research along with his firm; and SLIDESHOWS so interesting they looked like they had life of its own.

Next day, I got to the office and told my boss about the technique used by my grandpa. He thought it was an excellent idea but he suggested something else: Why don't we use the telephone calls we make everyday and include the recordings or AUDIO-INSIGHTS to reinforce the information? We could also study the state of mind of consumers that way, he said.

Nowadays, MARKET INTELLIGENCE uses COCHICOLAIN to spread the obtained results of marketing research inside our clients' compaanies. This way, we help to maximize the usage of the information obtained from marketing research. At the same time the presence in the company of the marketing research department increases in quite a positive way.

Well, that's my story and my grandpa's method story. I'm sure you're wondering the meaning of COCHICOLAIN. Let me explain it to you:

This technique owes its name to a funny, sharp and clever phrase in Spanish: COmo CHIng... COmunicamos LA INvestigacion.

In English it's something like this: What the hell!... We communicate the research.

It can be summarized in 8 POINTS:

1. Newsletters
2. Posters
3. Presence in dining room
4. Collectable stickers-cards
5. Story-tellers
6. E-mails
7. "Live" slideshows
8. Audio-insights

This is from the April-May 2008 issue of Prime Analysis. Download it in pdf form here.

This content was provided by Market Intelligence. Visit their website at www.marketintelligence.com.mx.