TOOLS OVERVIEW

Olson Zaltman is proud to offer a diverse and powerful slate of insight tools to help you shed light on your most confounding black boxes - and emerge victorious.

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ZMET

Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique

Shine a light on consumers' unconscious thoughts

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How can peanut butter
make a grown man cry?

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How can a convenience store bring out your inner artist?

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What is the one thing that strikes terror in the heart of any ER doctor?

This pioneering technique was developed over 25 years ago in the Mind of the Market Lab at Harvard Business School. It unlocks the Deep Metaphors™ rooted in universal human experiences revealing the unconscious thoughts, feelings, needs, and desires that shape the stories we tell ourselves about the world.

When you uncover what was previously unknown, you have a comprehensive blueprint to connect deeply with your consumers.

How ZMET® Works

People usually don't know why they do what they do. A ZMET interview gives consumers a safe place to explore the deeply personal feelings and beliefs that unconsciously shape their behavior. 

The interview is an intense, soul-searching jumping-off point with a trained and certified ZMET interviewer that untaps a bottomless well of unconscious beliefs, experiences, and emotions.

Our careful analysis of your consumers' metaphors reveals the unconscious mental orientations that guide their choices. We show how these high-value insights, rooted in universal Deep Metaphors™, apply directly to your strategic goals.

Metaphors get deep; and when you get deep, you can influence perceptions and behavior; and when you can influence consumers, you win.

ZMET is adaptable to your needs and may be done at a research facility, in-home, or online.


While Olson Zaltman is world-renowned for ZMET®,
we offer additional consumer insight tools, including:

Understanding how consumers interpret advertising and communication messages

ZMET® CD

Go deeper into consumers’ minds to understand what they make of your advertising

Using the Implicit Association Test to measure brand meaning and the impact for communication

IAT (Implicit Associations Test)

Quantifies hidden associations your consumers have with your brand.

An online ethnographic approach that helps us observe and interpret consumer behavior

MoBe (Mobile Ethnography)

Get a real-time look into your consumers’ everyday lives.

ZMET® In-Situ

Research your consumers in their own environments

viZual Listening

Learn how consumers are feeling about your brand via their online posts