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Humans need emotion. We’re driven by values and beliefs. We’re passionate. About people, stuff and brands. We feel in ways the most meticulously programmed Siri or Alexa never will.

It’s why the market research we do here at One Minute to Midnight focuses on the human. We use it to uncover powerful, smart insight. Then, we deliver it to your company in creative, inventive ways that everyone will want to use.

With our strategic insights, global organizations bolster their brand positioning and connect with audiences in ways they never thought humanly possible.

Our work influences everything from communications strategies to product development. (We even changed the narrative of one of the world’s greatest video games.)

How do we do it? By listening harder and observing deeper. We get into what your audience thinks, feels and does. It’s the how and why of connection. The results become integral to your business – in a multitude of ways.

So, why One Minute to Midnight? Well, plot the history of the world on a 24-hour clock and 11.59pm is precisely when humans came along.

Interested? Let’s talk

Once you know your audience’s human truths, you understand how they navigate the world. And once you understand that, you can connect with your audience in the most powerful, authentic ways.

Work with us and incredible things will happen – whether that’s strategy, brand positioning, product development, communication optimisation or something entirely new.

We identify, analyze and unpack your audience’s actions, emotions, thoughts and – crucially – their values. It’s the understanding gathered from these factors that make up human truths.

Distraction sickness. Attention wars. These things don’t just affect consumers. They also affect stakeholders and employees. To engage busy professionals, we’ve got to be strategic – and present meaningful research in creative formats. Whatever we do, from planning to research to presentation, it’s got to be useful.

First, we get our stakeholders excited from the start, through engaging workshops and meetings designed to fire participants up.

Then, we uncover evidence-based, unambiguous insight that becomes part of a company’s language, ages like a classic red, and is used by everyone.

Finally, we deliver our research via smart communications that get people hooked: a magazine series written and edited by the target market; an internal social media feed; a tailored QR-code card game; or a series of films or workshops.

We have to get people playing with the data. Because when that happens, stuff happens.

We’re so committed to being useful, we carried out our own industry thought leadership market research. The result? The Usefulness Project, which delves deep into the minds of senior insight managers from global companies including Reckitt and Benckiser, Pernod Ricard, MasterCard and Unilever. With their expertise we identified what useful insight looks like, feels like, and how it manifests itself in physical, practical properties.

Want to know more? Read the report or check out founding partner Paul Laver’s one-minute musings.

We think a lot about other people’s values.
So, we are very clear about our own.
Everyone who works here has a set of specially printed values dice, which we roll every Monday. The values we roll, we live hard that week.

discipline

Not the sergeant major kind. We mean keeping clear purposes and goals in sight. Doing what we say when we say. Keeping things simple. If we do this, our business has strong foundations.

What’s simplicity got to do with discipline? Check out Picasso’s Bull. It’s a beautiful example of the detail and analysis required before you can strip something back to its original form. READ HERE

creativity

We don’t mean making things look pretty (although we love great design). We mean getting deeper analysis through pioneering approaches. Delivering original thinking in new ways so it works harder. We do smart stuff well – it’s why you’ll remember us.

We love that creativity comes from surprising places. For example, Nike’s impressive air system in their trainers was apparently inspired by co-founder Bill Bowerman’s waffle machine. READ HERE

growth

Growth isn’t results at any cost. It’s developing our clients through the power of insight and developing ourselves, professionally and personally, through a lifetime of learning and conversation.

We love this story about the growth and gumption of Gong Hainan, who overcame poverty and adversity to become one of China’s most successful internet entrepreneurs. READ HERE

bravery

We’re not arrogant, brash or dogmatic. We’re just confident in our ability to deliver work with impact. We’ve got the guts to be optimistic in a pessimistic world. We dare to do. If we make a mistake, we admit it and move on. When we think of bravery, we think of Malala, who spoke out against Taliban oppression, survived an assassination attempt and went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize and graduate from Oxford University. READ HERE

compassion

We don’t virtue signal and we’re never superficially woke. Compassion keeps us human. We treat everyone with respect, whether that’s a client, a supplier, a delivery person or a partner. We strive to have a positive effect on the world.

Positivity comes in many forms. We love how

artist Theaster Gates regenerates old buildings
in underprivileged areas of Chicago.

Check out our values and read the
One Minute to Midnight 'Guide to Being Human'.

We partner with the world’s best-known brands – in ecommerce, entertainment, travel, finance, FMCG and social media. We do awesome work, but we can’t always talk about it.

What we can say is, we uncover powerful, smart insight via intensive research. That might be through our values game, a 360 immersion program, digital means, big quant, or a unique combination. It’s always delivered in creative, inventive ways your company will want to use.

We’ve influenced everything from the strategic vision of the world’s most popular social media platform to the narrative of the world’s most sought-after computer game.

Want specifics? Ask us.

We gave an underused segmentation new life and caused a rethink of the ingoing communications platforms

"This seminal piece of research provided us with a clear understanding of who we are trying to recruit into the brand, their behaviors, passions and beliefs. It has not only helped shape our social media and content strategy, but opened up a wider discussion about how we should communicate. The whole process was managed efficiently by the team and we were especially impressed with how the work was presented, ensuring everyone in the company could easily access it.”

We have offices in New York City and London, we work all over the world, and we’re growing all the time. Things are changing fast. Keep up to date on our Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.