Good narrative strategy gathers all data points available. It begins in deep research, a fascination with anthropology. Friend and indie consultant [Behzod Sirjani](https://yetanother.studio/) puts it well: it's about bringing rigor to your curiosity. Coming back to the case of NewtonX: I'm not a senior decision maker tasked with sourcing B2B research, yet these are the buyers I speak to. So what does it take to know one? Conducting customer interviews, auditing and tracking metrics, doing competitive analyses and desk research, reading industry trade publications, attending conferences and [crafting our CEO Sascha Eder's talk track](https://www.newtonx.com/article/business-insights-iiex/), observing the audience reactions afterwards. And of course, just doing the work, repetitively, earnestly. It also takes creativity. At NewtonX, I spent a few months working directly with our c-suite and soaking in their language. This sparked a new idea: [[Don't forget to measure internal brand perception]]. I surveying our own team on internal brand perception to understand how our strategic narrative trickled down to employees across functions and seniority — to uncover the opportunities in bridging and strengthening brand. What I call "voice of the employee" research, to complement "voice of the customer" takeaways. In the B2C realm, there's even more. You get direct channels to your community through social media platforms and mass media publications. In the vast content oceans - the waves of culture are endless. And yet, there's no such thing as a B2B audience; we're all B2C by virtue of being human. Some of us just happen to represent businesses. For more examples, [here's a research framework for brand](https://vickygu.com/content-research-framework) and content that stays sharp and gets weird. Brilliant friends Eugene Kan and Charis Poon do this well with their [culture podcast Making It Up](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1505007694).  Above: A quick example of sensemaking the narrative landscape of athletic culture, in a brand strategy sprint I did with [creative agency Another](https://www.onlyanother.co/).