Hunch’s proven Vibe Method® is a nimble message design, idea validation, and concept building approach for business trailblazers who want to turn their new ideas into killer concepts with instinctual certainty for every go-to-market decision they make along the way. 

 … without wasting time and money winging it or on bloated research methods that leave them still foggy about what specific actions to take.

 
 

Do NOT be the one who missed something good.

There’s nothing worse than investing in a bunch of research only to miss something that could have paved the way for a smash hit.

We’ve been there - it sucks.

Sadly, most methods out there for testing ideas and optimizing concepts are designed to ignore your honed instincts in favor of complexity, vague metrics, and mediocre outcomes.

 

And that’s what the Vibe Method was built to solve.

To make sure you don’t miss the little things. Because … little things are BIG!

We’re here to sharpen your instincts for what customers really want by tapping their instincts along the way. It’s all about the Vibe.

The goal of all research we do is to gauge how well the intent of your offer jives with something your customers believe or feel. The vibe of their raw open-ended reaction is your best way to foresee what they will do in the real world.

No matter where you are on the path to launching something awesome - whether a new product offer, new brand messaging, or a new ad campaign, we’ll meet you there and help you feel so confident in your next move that you’d bet your life savings on it!

Below are tools we use along the way:

 

Hone Your Hunch

Because your honed hunch is the best “validation” you got.

A hunch is not a guess, and it’s definitely not luck. It’s a deep rooted instinct that can only be harvested from YOU - the person closest to the heart of what your customers feel and really want.

These are the tools we use to help you explore and shape your ideas in the early stage of development:

  • Most people with stake in the success of new product launch or marketing campaign aren’t looking for “proof” their core idea is strong. They’re looking for assurance about how to crush it when they launch.

    Sometimes all you need is a little boost. The Vibe Boost is an audit and brainstorming process we do with you in one 90-minute session. We’ll audit your concept or existing brand messaging based on a proven framework for spotting distractors and attractors, and you’ll walk away with fresh clarity for how to make your core offer or lead message more alluring.

  • The Vibe Check is a live and lean version of our Vibe Test survey approach where we do a round of 1:1 interviews with a small pool of potential customers to explore your lead hunch and refine your game plan.

  • The Vibe Scan exposes emotive hot spots and exploitable weaknesses in the online reviews of rival brands to help you create a killer plan of attack.

Nail An Alluring Vibe

Because nobody should settle for mediocre.

Every mediocre launch we’ve studied goes back to one thing - a concept that lacked allure. The earlier you nail an alluring vibe, the less time and money you’ll waste trying to research and refine your product, your strategy, and your message.

A vibe-led approach is how we help you see the little things that are BIG for nailing an offer people can’t resist.

  • If you are feeing stuck in the swirl and need help to flesh out the right message for your test concepts or lead copy, let’s do a Story Sprint™ to get those ideas out of your head and into the world!

    This fast, iterative and ‘do it together’ process is for passionate innovators and marketers who know they have something special, but need help to find the right words. We use our expertise in human behavior and our certification in the proven StoryBrand framework to help you imagine your product or brand from the perspective of a customer’s pain and gain story.

    After our first 90-minute session, you’ll have a starter Story Script™ in hand. We’ll then meet up again to help polish your full script and craft a killer 1-liner that will cut through the noise and straight to the heart of ideal customers.

    Story itself isn’t magical, but we guarantee the clarity you get from this process will make writing concepts, copy and pitches FEEL like magic.

  • A sample of potential customers are shown the basic gist of an early-stage idea and asked for an immediate open-ended reaction. This approach blends the rigor of quantitative ‘idea screening’ with the value of qualitative ‘customer discovery’ in a simple 3-minute survey, so you don’t miss the little things that matter most.

    The intent of a Vibe Test at this stage is twofold - 1) to gauge if a lead offer or feature is clear and alluring enough to attract future customers, and 2) to reveal primed mindsets that emerge naturally from where they go on their own.

    This format is perfect when you need to pick the best routes forward from multiple options or a hopper of new ideas.

  • In this type of Vibe Test we show potential customers a Story Script™ messaging concept which has three parts: 1) a problem we believe they really feel, 2) your high-level and empathetic solution, and 3) the success they’ll get.

    The intent is to validate an effective messaging hook based on high levels of Clarity and Alluring Vibe Traits, as well as reveal top mindsets and moments emerging in their own words.

    The Vibe Script™ format is perfect when iterating in the early stage of new product, brand message, or campaign development to shape a strong customer success story for guiding all go-to-market strategy forward.

Love What You Launch

Because if you don’t, why should they?

Let’s polish and prove not only what you launch, but how you’ll do it.

  • The Launch Lab is a mini test market where we assess the vibe of your Launch Concept™(s) and attract people to try out your prototype or initial offer so we can we make sure their expectations live up and spot tweaks worth making before you sink a bunch of money into the full launch.

 

The Vibe is Your Guide

The goal of any research we do is to help you see the clear path forward, not mislead you with faulty metrics and vague findings.

Hunch’s Vibe Method for predicting success potential, spotting fixable elements and revealing prime customer mindsets was built from studying thousands of new concepts to identify proven traits of attraction, distraction, and consumer behavior from their raw open-ended reactions.

Our Vibe Sensing AI has been trained to guide you to the full story and think with you, never for you. The Hunch library of over 50 Vibe Traits™ was built by consumer behavior experts over a decade of prototyping.


“Hunch's Vibe Method has played a key role for us at Starbucks in both the concepting and creative spaces. The beauty of their approach is balance. They've really nailed how to blend the depth of qual with the confidence of quant. Too often we are forced to make trade-offs due to time or budget, but with Hunch we know we're going to find those emotive insights that bubble under the surface while also getting the hard numbers to optimize and prioritize with confidence.”

— Erich Besmen

Nestle Starbucks
Senior Manager, Consumer & Market Insight