Ben Doepke: From goat farmer to ethnographic research pro…
Meet Ben Doepke, our new Ethnographic Research for Customer Insights instructor. Doepke has over 15 years of experience designing and conducting ethnographic research for companies including P&G, Starbucks, Pepsi, Kroger, Medtronic, and Gap. As principal of IX, a human-reverent strategy company that guides brands into uplifting the human condition, he has established a framework for organizing and activating qualitative insight. His background includes cognitive psychology and advanced study in in-depth psychology, anthropology, sociology, and design. Ben was recently interviewed by Melissa Donovan.
MD: Hi Ben, thank you for taking the time to speak with me. What led you to become interested in ethnography?
BD: From the time I was very little, I was trying to figure out what it means to be “human”—and I don’t know that I’ve made any progress. I went to school for psychology, hoping to figure some of that out. I mostly wanted to play music for a living—I wrote music, played keyboards and sang. I did this for about 7 years, but then grew tired of the lifestyle.
So, I got a “real job” at BASES, doing quantitative work. While I had to sit in a cubicle and tinker with coefficients on predictive modeling, I realized it was hard because I didn’t care about what I was doing at all. But then, through some friends, I met some guys that had a small qual company. I honestly had no idea what I was doing. They wanted me to talk to people, write down what they said, and then hand it over to the client. I couldn’t believe they would pay me to do this!
I’ve since learned that most of the qualitative market research industry is an echo chamber. This is disappointing because we have a sacred duty to not just understand, but to feel what others are going through—and to advocate for those people (especially for those who would be overlooked). Most decision-making is so focused on maximizing shareholder revenue on a quarter-by-quarter basis. I am opposed to that. My work is to advocate for the living condition of human beings on an emotional, spiritual and psychological level.
MD: What is something that surprises people about Ethnography?
BD: What surprises a lot of people about actual ethnography is the degree to which they carry away a sense of fidelity to the people who have entrusted them with sacred information. When you are doing it well, you learn things about people that they don’t themselves know. Hopefully people come away with those interactions with reverence and awe so that they can bring that back into a workplace that is desperately in need of it.
MD: What do you enjoy most about teaching?
BD: I think that teaching is a great way to learn. It’s a really powerful way to expose all my own blind spots and to confront the assumptions I have made… I enjoy growing thorough my own weaknesses.
MD: What is something interesting about you that many people may not know?
BD: I grew up on a goat farm and I got to help out with the animals. This was a privilege.
Interested in taking Ben’s Ethnographic Research for Customer Insights course? Current Backstage Pass and Certificate members can attend live or on-demand (24/7) from the Training Portal. The next real-time session is on Wednesday, Sep 30th from 11am-1pm EST. Not yet a member? Check out our options.
About this course:
Ethnographic Research for Customer Insights: Anthropology meets market research in this fast-paced, crash-course on ethnography. No previous experience required: this is a beginner-level course. Ethnography has been a niche market research methodology for decades, but with the recent increase in observational methods overall, its practice is rising. Instructor Ben Doepke will teach important concepts that will help you decide when to use ethnography (traditional or online), how to plan a project, and how to avoid some common errors.
Upon course completion, you will be able to:
- Describe important concepts of ethnography
- Decide when ethnography is the right choice for your market research goals
- Weigh the pros and cons of traditional versus online ethnography (mobile ethnography)
- Plan an ethnographic project
- Avoid common pitfalls of ethnography
