Kelley Styring
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In Your Purse: Archaeology of the American Handbag chronicles the first-ever ‘dig’ into the physical and psychological depths of the only physical object that connects the home, where needs are created, and the store, where purchases are made that fill those needs – a woman’s purse.
It is at once a financial center, a medicine cabinet, a pharmacy, a cosmetic counter, a communications hub, a safe deposit box, and a stash for keepsakes of irreplaceable sentimental value. But, for every programmable pda or cell phone there are a hundred little scraps of paper with important phone numbers scrawled on them. For every key, there is at least one key fob or doodad, not so much connecting the keys as marking the territory. For women, who make roughly 70% of all retail purchases, the purse is a vital tool for daily living that is filled with emotional consequences.
A woman’s purse is a bag of contradiction on a string. It is the nerve center of her life – holding all manner of vital and precious things. Yet, most purses are a disorganized pit – mixing the tools of daily life – keys, wallet, phone, everything – with the detritus of living – gum wrappers, expired coupons, hair and general filth of every type. Most women who carry a purse cannot imagine how life would go on without it.
Contradiction is where the genius of innovation lies. This study is a catalyst for innovation in an almost unlimited number of categories. By studying the purse, the innovator can identify unmet and unarticulated needs by paying homage to the contradictions observed and build products to satisfy these needs. The first company to do that will win a spot in the purse and in the woman’s heart as a consumer.
Kelley Styring grew up in Florida inspired by the people and events that occurred where her dad worked - NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center. After earning a degree in industrial design from University of the Arts in Philadelphia and pursuing a career in design with NASA and Black & Decker, Kelley discovered that her design work was always enhanced by people called “market researchers.” Inspired yet again, she earned an MBA from the University of South Carolina and conducted a personal campaign to be hired by the marketing gurus at Procter & Gamble. It worked, and she spent five years there learning how people all over the world diapered their babies and watching people shower, among other things, and applying that consumer insight to developing and marketing new and improved consumer products. She then worked at Frito-Lay (part of PepsiCo) where she helped introduce the world to WOW! Olestra-based snack chips, managed the company’s $8 billion snack product portfolio, and served as Director of Consumer Strategy and Insights.
Kelley Styring founded InsightFarm in 2003. InsightFarm is a consumer strategy and market research consultancy dedicated to driving business growth through consumer insight. InsightFarm serves Fortune 100 companies that are leaders in the food, apparel, baby care, consumer electronics, medical, media, paper, communications and fitness industries. InsightFarm is based at the Styring family farm in Northern Oregon, where Kelley’s husband Steve grows grapes and makes fabulous wines. For more information, visit www.insightfarm.com.
Preface: The Meticulous Dig
Throughout history, explorers have pushed our boundaries, expanding our world from what is known into what is possible. Some, like Magellan, mapped uncharted regions of the earth. Others like John Glenn, gave us a glimpse of the heavens. Da Vinci gave us our first look at the internal workings of the human body. Freud plumbed the depths of the human mind.
Brave men, one and all, but I think they’d shudder in their boots at my meticulous dig – “In Your Purse: Archaeology of the American Handbag.” One hundred women, 2 cities, 11 days of digging into purse after purse to reveal its stomach contents down to the last snotty tissue and connecting what was found with the functions, emotions and innovation potential that lie beneath this mysterious and often inscrutable object. The purse is the ultimate depository for a woman, filled with beauty and disgust, function and emotion, pleasure, amusement, alarm and despair.
What inspired this work is hard to say, but most good ideas are a collision of things you’ve learned and things you’re curious about. True insight is often revealed when you explore natural conflicts between what people believe or say or admit and what you observe in their habits, behavior and environment. This is the essence of observational research. I’ve been a market researcher, consumer strategist, and innovator for more than 20 years (yes, I was 12 when I started). I’ve observed consumers in stores, in homes, and even in the shower. I’ve watched people diaper their babies around the world and audited the contents of their medicine cabinets. In this work, I strive to take my work to higher and higher levels of insight to help my clients create innovations that will grow their businesses and products that consumers will love – love enough to part with their hard-earned cash in exchange for things that bring function and joy to life.
In the context of this work, I’ve seen literally hundreds, probably thousands, of women open their purses, both at home where most consumer needs occur and while shopping where most transactions are made and needs fulfilled. Yet, they open this bag sparingly, revealing only what they must to get the job done. Like good burlesque, you see less than you think and you’re left with your imagination to fill in the pasties.
There’s probably something wrong with following a comment about stripping with a comment about your mom, but here goes. In terms of family taboos, nothing quite measured up to the sanctity of my mom’s purse. WE absolutely did not go in, or touch, or move this purse for any reason whatsoever. This, or course, shrouded it in delectable mystery.
Was it filled with gumdrops and kittens? Did it hold the mystery of the ages, revealed only to those worthy and willing to pay the price? Was it like Mary Poppins’ bag of magical furniture and medicine? Was it where Nixon stashed the 18 minutes of missing tape? Who knew? What we knew was that nothing would bring such swift retribution as this particular form of trespass.
So, armed with curiosity and just enough knowledge to get into some real trouble, I set out to explore, reveal insights, and ultimately solve the mystery that is a women’s purse. Now, let me introduce you to 100 fascinating women and take you on a journey through uncharted territory – filled with danger and intrigue – the territory of the American Handbag.
