The week of October 26th
Conversationism
Above, Lisa Feldman Barrett on relational realism. Also, Michael Kovnat on doctors who compared notes. And, Robert Hawkins on social reasoning.
Culture
Above, Iain Montgomery on cities as ritual factories. Also, Lyubov Sachkova on Feeld’s Mindf*ck 2026. And, Alexis Bloom & Tshewang Dendup on Bhutan lifting its TV ban.
Brand
Above, Mark Ritson on Coca-Cola. Also, Andrew McLuhan on the brand as medium. And, Jennifer Roebuck on discovery.
Human
Above, Bayo Akomolafe on a strange encounter. Also, Beth Bentley on Flaw Signalling Summer. And, Thomas Klaffke on embodiment.
Mutualism
Above, Savannah Kunovsky on evolving together. Also, Sinéad Bovell on the rise of systems thinking. And, Giorgia Lupi on the detour.
My name is Peter Spear
For more than 25 years, I have been helping teams communicate and innovate more effectively.
Through imaginative & ethnographic face-to-face research - which I call brand listening - I help teams see their customers in new ways.
I’d love to help you discover the deeper, more enduring forces that drive your customers.
Please, let’s find a time to get into a conversation.
THIS WEEKS CONVERSATION
My conversation this week was with Marc Hershon on Curiosity & Improvisation.
Marc Hershon is Director of Naming and Verbal Identity at Landor. Previously he was Creative Director at Lexicon Branding, where he worked on names including BlackBerry, Swiffer and Dasani; and an independent naming consultant. He co-authored *I Hate People!* (Little, Brown, 2009) with Jonathan Littman and wrote the Hallmark Channel film *Santa Jr.* (2002).
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EXPLORE THE ARCHIVE
Every week for six years, I have been sharing the 15 most wonder-full things I’ve found about who we are and what we do. You can now explore all 5k of these links in THE ARCHIVE.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT WORKING WITH US
It was an absolute pleasure working with Peter. He is professional, authentic, courteous, and kind. He is also an exceptionally skilled ethnographer! Peter's innate ability to be genuinely present and engaged with people helped us to gain insights into our current and potential consumers. Peter has a deep empathy for others that invites people to share real and meaningful feedback. His intuitive grasp of human behavior goes beyond surface-level observations, allowing him to uncover the underlying factors that drive consumer decisions. He also possesses an extraordinary ability to distill these complex motivations and mindsets into a simple and actionable framework. I highly recommend Peter to anyone looking to understand their consumers better and see where their brand fits with their consumers' needs.
Maude Manoukian, Chief Community Officer, The Forager Project
“Peter is a truly exceptional ethnographer. if you are looking for BREAKTHROUGH & DEEP CONSUMER UNDERSTANDING, not just the same ole same ole “consumers feel like a better mom when they.....”, then Peter is your man. He combines wicked intelligence with empathetic listening and a super power to get people to reflect and openly share......AND he links the consumer understanding with business insight. I will personally hire Peter for any project requiring deep consumer knowledge.”
Suzanne Sengelmann, Chief Growth Officer, Lundberg Family Farms
“Peter is scary good! The entire team was blown away by the depth of understanding of our domain he came to in just a couple of days. This is more so impressive given that we’re a deep tech product, catering to developers, founded by developers, and communicated very technically (to a fault), all the while being in the very new and dynamic blockchain space."
Andrej Bencic, Co-Founder & CEO, Tenderly
“Peter led us on a thoughtful and inspiring journey to develop The Palace Project brand for our new platform and initiative, highlighting libraries are Palaces for the People. We worked with Peter and his team over a 4 month period, and brought in a outside group of stakeholders to validate our path several times in the process. Peters leadership was steady, never wavering and always thoughtful. He was able to listen to multiple points of view, yet bring us all together on what key messages and impact we wanted for the field, which ultimately led to a great brand and logo. I would recommend him whole heartedly to lead your brand strategy.”
Michele Kimpton, Senior Global Director of The Palace Project
“It takes a special person to navigate and uncover true insights while conducting qualitative research in someone’s home and Peter was masterful at this. His sense of empathy and understated confidence allowed him to hold meaningful conversations with people while getting them to open up about their needs, desires, and behaviors. Peter was organized, very professional, and a pleasure to work with. Peter was masterful. I would work with him again in a heartbeat.”
Mitchell Murphy, VP Design & Founding Member, Leesa Sleep (at the time)
“I thoroughly enjoyed working with Peter. The first project Peter and I were engaged in was a fundamental piece of consumer work to confirm the relevance of an iconic brand positioning. It required to thoroughly understand the meaning of that positioning, its relevance to individuals as consumers but also to individuals as shoppers and then help the brand team codify the positioning and its implications on all the elements of the mix. Always putting the human truth first, Peter was able to help us to decipher hours and hours of interactions with consumers to help us structure a very strategic and fundamental piece of work.”
Philippe Harousseau, CMO GoGoSqueeZ at the time
MY THINKING
What is Brand Listening? I was invited to kick off the Concept Bureau series of Talks. I went for it, and talked about brand, myth and meaning.
“Art & Imagination in Online Qualitative Research”I collaborated with a performing arts group to adapt their digital experience into a research tool, and wrote about it for EPIC.
"The Question of Why"I wrote a short essay on why I never ask why, and what to ask instead.
MY CONVERSATION SERIES
Anthropologist Grant McCracken on Multiplicity & the Future of Culture
Inventor of the TrueMirror, John Walter on Eye Contact & Authenticity
Anthropologist, Kirsten Bell on The Anthropology & the Everyday
Brand Anthropologist, Richard Wise on The Empathy & the Power of Gossip
Namer, Anthony Shore on Linguistics & Names
Brand Mythologist, Ben Doepke on Brand & Archetypes
Brand Strategist, Zoe Scaman on Empathy & the Outsider
Brand Scientist, Ethan Decker on Brand Science & Symbols
Scholar, Jeffrey Kripal on The Humanities & The Impossible
Advisor & Teacher, Inaki Escudero on Mentors & Heroes
Founder of Synthetic Users, Hugo Alves on “Real & Synthetic Users
Philosopher & Professor, Stephen Asma on Monsters & Imagination
Researcher & Strategist, Farrah Bostic on Decisions & Change
Researchers & Analysts, Helen & Dave Edwards on AI & Complexity
Journalist Colleen Hagerty on Disasters & Listening
Founder, Noah Brier on Brand & AI
Strategist, Eliza Yvette Esquivel on Leadership & Protopia
Researcher, Gunny Scarfo on The Unknown & Unvalued
Digital Ethnographer, Alessia Clusini on People & Tribes
Mythologist, Joshua Michael Schrei on Myth & Meaning
Presentation Consultant, John Bowe on Rhetoric & Democracy
Reluctant Futurist Henry Coutinho-Mason on Optimism & Trends
Writer Joshua Tanzer on Headlines & Politics
Professor Joseph Ānanda Josephson Storm on “Myth & Metamodernism
Strategist Ed Cotton on Creativity & Chaos
Researcher Jakob Voldum on Design & Curiosity
Strategist Phil Adams on Strategy & Simplicity
Anthropologist Kate Sieck on Theory & Practice
Psychologist Michael Lipson on Astonishment & Surprise
Marketer Phil Barden on Science & Behavior
Researcher Sam Ladner PhD on Qual Data & Strategy
Theorist Anastasia Kārkliņa Gabriel on Culture & Struggle
Ethnographer Karen Faith on Love & Power
Researcher Lindsey Wehking on Truth & Feeling
Strategist Ben Dietz on Brand & Superformats
Urban Planner Mike Lydon on Change & the City
Legend Clotaire Rapaille on Quantum & Codes
Researcher Sam Peskin on Questions & Others
Civic Pioneer Peter MacLeod on Democracy & Deliberation
Civic Innovator Philip Lindsay on Crisis & Innovation
Strategist Christopher Owens on Teaching & Strategy
Evryman Lucas Krump on Men & Emotions
Strategist Lyubov Sachkova on Monogamy & Taboo
Strategist Eugene Healey on Chaos & Meaning
Researcher Maggie Garner on Listening & Culture
Namer Caitlin Barrett on on Names & Meaning
Pathfinder Jay Hasbrouck on Ethnography & Innovation
Linguist Michael Erard on Words & Ritual
Philip Lindsay on Democracy & Innovation
Reid Litman on Youth & Culture
Alkisti Stolp on Listening & Creativity
Strategist Beth Bentley on Risk & Culture
Spiritual Creative Director Eliot Aronow on Spirit & Genius
Strategist Jean-Louis Rawlence on Value & Attention
Strategist Zach Lamb on Meaning & Crisis
Professor Jason Ãnanda Josephson Storm on “Revolution & Happiness
Researcher Angie Meltsner on Patterns & Insights
Survey Designer Sam McNerney on Surveys & Story
Researcher Jesse Caeser on Connection & Insight
Strategist Carina Bhavnani on Power & Community
Writer Russell Davies on Words & Strategy
Researcher Niobe Way on Curiosity & Connection
Founder Chris Lindland on Creativity & Play
Strategist Michelle Mattar on Design & Identity
Writer Peter Trachtenberg on Art & New York City
Planner Martin Karaffa on Identity & Culture
Strategist Joe Burns on Creativity & Networks
Researcher George Nguyen on Youth & Access
Marketer Arielle Jackson on Tech & Positioning
Researcher Cyril Maury on AI & Place
Ethnographer Oliver Sweet on Confession & Surprise
Anthropologist Michael Powell on Listening & Anarchy
Strategist Natalie Black on Curiosity & Culture
Foresight Researcher Thomas Klaffke on Imagination & Reframing
Adam Talkington on Conversation & Interaction
Author Tara Isabella Burton on Language & Enchantment
Urban Planner Diana Lind on Cities & Trust
Author Andy Crysell on Meaning & Nightlife
Strategist Shannon Gallagher on Truth & Strategy
Utopian Elle Griffin on Imagination & Systems
Facilitator Linn Davis on Ownership & Empathy
Ethnographer Meg Kinney on Instinct & Emotion
Connector Sam Pressler on Place & Renewal
Anthropologist Philip McKenzie on Brooklyn & Discovery
Anthropologist Melissa Vogel PhD on Anthropology & Business
Creative Director Remi Carlioz on Luck & Contradiction
Anthropologist Grant McCracken on AI & Culture
Researcher Graham Booth on Research & Creative
Herdmeister Mark Earls on Herds & Change
Human Rights Activist Sam Gregory on Deepfakes & Human Rights
Urban Planners Tanu Kumar & Nepal Asatthawasi on Place & Wellbeing
Design Researcher Erika Hall on Fear & Ignorance
Musician Tess Posner on Creativity & Humanity
Strategist Chuck Welch on Outsiders & Bridges
Anthropologist Yuliya Grinberg PhD on Human & Machine
Strategist Darrel Rhea on Judgment & Coherence
Innovator Sam Ford on Place & Transformation
Strategist Katie Dreke on Humanity & Time
Anthropologist Lucy Neiland on Invisibility & Ethnography
Strategist Nazy Frakondeh on Identity & Antithesis
Copywriter Carissa Justice on Voice & Craft
Researcher Alexi Gunner on Signals & Culture
Anthropologist Katarina Graffman on People & Meaning
Cultural Analyst Matt Klein on Ambivalence & Mythology
Strategist Nick Liddell on Architecture & Anthropomorphism
Strategists Annie Auerback & Adam Chmielowski on Rifts & Futurelessness
Qualitative Data Scientist Indi Young on Listening & Cognition
Creative Director John Dutton on Utopia & Nowhere
Anthropologist Dr. Jonathan Taee on Rhizomes & Meaning
Bar Owner Nick Bodor on Strangers & Institutions
Data Scientist Igor Kuvychko PhD on Bateson & AI
Namer Nina Beckhardt on Systems & Words
Strategist Chris Danton on Building & Mattering
Insight Expert Amy Daroukakis on Difference & Signal
Fractional CMO Jelena Veselnović on Truth & Brokenness
Strategist Baiba Matisone on Translation & Community
Journalist Gideon Lichfield on Fairness & Storytelling
Researcher Ben Jenkins on Creativity & Play
Professor Jason Anânda Josephson Storm on Critique & Listening
Researcher Preeti Varma on Listening & Belonging
Michael Anton Dila on Conversation & Governance
Civic Organizer Richard Young on Place & Agency
Creative Mark DePace on Community & Creativity
Host Freddie Pikovsky on Hospitality & Work
Entrepreneur Reuben Steiger on Movements & Recovery
Strategist Mary Meehan on Values & Measurement
Strategist Paul Worthington on Organizations & Identity
Sociologist Josh Packard PhD on Listening & Faith
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© 2026 Peter Spear
Hudson, New York The Friendly City