Campaign Types

Nine ways to understand people.

Each campaign type is a distinct configuration of the Hearkn interviewer — a different persona, methodology, and output pipeline, optimised for a specific research objective.

01

Content & Narrative

For: Marketing directors, content strategists, comms teams, PR agencies

When to use it

When you need authentic human stories, quotable voices, or real-world experiences to power editorial, thought leadership, or brand content — without the cost of a journalist or researcher.

What the interviewer does

Draws out narrative through open-ended storytelling questions. Probes for specific moments, turning points, and language that only real experience produces. Does not lead — listens.

What you receive

  • Library of attributed quotes (by role/segment, not name)
  • Identified recurring themes and tensions
  • Suggested article structures and headlines
  • Raw transcript set for editorial team
Example brief "Interview 30 small business owners about how they think about cash flow."
Sample output — Quote Library
Theme: Cash flow as an identity, not just a number
22 of 30 participants · High confidence
"I check the account every morning before I do anything else. It's the first thing. It tells me what kind of day I'm going to have."
— Operations Director, manufacturing, 12 employees
"The business looks healthy on paper. But paper doesn't pay wages on Friday."
— Founder, services, 4 employees
+ 18 further quotes in this theme · 3 suggested article structures generated
02

Research & Intelligence

For: Research managers, strategy consultants, UX researchers, product teams

When to use it

When you need to understand what a defined group of people actually think, believe, or experience — at a scale that makes the findings statistically meaningful and qualitatively rich.

What the interviewer does

Runs a structured but adaptive interview against a defined research brief. Tracks theme coverage across the campaign — ensuring all hypotheses are tested and gaps are filled before the campaign closes.

What you receive

  • Thematic synthesis across all participants
  • Coverage map: confirmed themes, open questions, contradictions
  • Hypothesis testing report
  • Full transcript set with thematic coding
Example brief "We are about to change our pricing model. Interview 50 customers about how they think about value and cost."
Sample output — Hypothesis Coverage Map
✓ Confirmed (3) ~ Open (2) ✕ Contradicted (1)
Price sensitivity varies by segment Confirmed · 41/50 participants
Customers primarily compare on features Contradicted · compare on trust first
Annual billing preferred over monthly Open · insufficient signal
03

Training & Playbook

For: L&D managers, operations directors, knowledge management teams

When to use it

When your most experienced people hold knowledge that is not written down anywhere — and you need to capture it before they leave, change roles, or simply get too busy to share it.

What the interviewer does

Asks experienced practitioners to walk through what they do, how they think, and what they have learned. Prompts for specific examples, edge cases, and "what would you tell a new person" moments.

What you receive

  • Structured playbook outline with attributed expert input
  • Common patterns and best practices identified across respondents
  • Edge cases and exception-handling knowledge captured
  • Draft training module structure
Example brief "Interview our 20 most experienced sales managers about how they handle objections."
Sample output — Best Practice Capture
Insight #4: Handling the pricing objection
Mentioned by 15 of 20 participants
Common approach Reframe from cost to consequence before addressing price
Cited mistake Discounting before understanding the real objection
"I never drop the price in the first conversation. The moment you do, they know it wasn't your real number."
This insight appears in draft Training Module 2: Negotiation Foundations
04

Process Discovery

For: Operations directors, transformation consultants, BPO teams, Lean/Six Sigma practitioners

When to use it

When you need to understand how work actually gets done — not how the process map says it should. The gap between the two is usually where the friction, the risk, and the improvement opportunity live.

What the interviewer does

Asks practitioners to walk through their day, their decisions, and their workarounds. Specifically probes for unofficial processes, friction points, and the gap between policy and practice.

What you receive

  • As-is process narrative across respondents
  • Identified friction points, workarounds, and compliance gaps
  • Contradiction report: where stated process diverges from actual practice
  • Priority areas for process redesign
Example brief "Interview 40 frontline staff about how they handle customer complaints in practice."
Sample output — Friction Point Report
Friction Point #2: Complaint escalation bypasses the CRM
Reported by 28 of 40 participants · Priority: High
"When it gets heated, I go straight to my manager on Teams. There's no time to log it first. The system catches up later — if I remember."
Stated process Log complaint, escalate via ticket system
Actual practice Direct escalation to manager, retrospective logging
Suggested intervention Streamline escalation path within CRM to reduce bypass incentive
05

People & Culture

For: HR Directors, Chief People Officers, transformation leads, culture consultants

When to use it

Before, during, or after organisational change — when you need to understand how people are really experiencing work, not what they will say in a group setting or an engagement survey.

What the interviewer does

Creates a psychologically safe space. Uses indirect questioning to surface sentiment that people would not express in a survey or focus group. Analyses the vocal register of every response — tracking emotional signals throughout each conversation. Where a participant's tone diverges from their words, that signal appears in the report alongside the transcript.

What you receive

  • Culture snapshot: what people value, fear, and feel proud of
  • Change readiness assessment: themes by cohort or division
  • Sentiment heatmap by organisational segment
  • Emotional signal report: where tone diverged from language, by topic and cohort
  • Verbatim quotes (anonymised) for leadership communication
Example brief "We are 6 months into a major transformation. Interview 200 staff about how they are experiencing the change."
Sample output — Culture Sentiment Snapshot
Theme: Change fatigue — stated acceptance, different emotional signal
Engineering division · 68 participants
"Yes, I understand why the restructure happened. It makes sense strategically."
Stated tone
Accepting
Vocal signal
Anxious
Divergence between stated acceptance and emotional register detected in 41 of 68 interviews on this topic.
06

Strategy & Vision

For: CEOs, boards, management consultants, strategy advisory firms

When to use it

When you need to understand how your leadership, your clients, or your key stakeholders are thinking about the future — privately, without the politics of a boardroom or workshop.

What the interviewer does

Conducts high-stakes, peer-level conversations. Probes strategic assumptions, identifies alignment gaps between leaders, and surfaces the mental models shaping decisions.

What you receive

  • Strategic alignment report: where leaders agree and where they diverge
  • Key assumptions surfaced and stress-tested
  • Emerging themes for strategic planning
  • Verbatim perspectives from key stakeholders
Example brief "Before our strategy retreat, interview our 12 senior leaders about where they believe the business should be in five years."
Sample output — Strategic Alignment Report
Dimension: Where growth should come from
12 senior leaders interviewed
Strong alignment International expansion (10/12)
Significant divergence Product-led vs. partnership-led (6/6 split)
Unstated assumption 8 leaders assumed a price increase was already agreed
"I assumed we'd already decided to move upmarket. Have we not?"
— EVP, Sales
07

Human 360

For: Executive coaches, talent advisors, leadership development professionals

When to use it

When you need a deep, evolving understanding of a single individual — their motivations, their blind spots, how they are experienced by others — developed over multiple conversations.

What the interviewer does

Returns to the same individual across multiple sessions. Builds a longitudinal understanding. References prior conversations. Asks how things have changed. Tracks development over time.

What you receive

  • Longitudinal profile: how the individual's thinking and language evolves over time
  • Development themes identified across sessions
  • Coaching input: questions and areas for a human coach to explore
  • Session-by-session transcript and synthesis
Example brief "Conduct monthly 15-minute check-ins with our 10 high-potential leaders over a 6-month development programme."
Sample output — Longitudinal Development Profile
Participant: Leader 03 · Month 4 of 6
Development theme: Delegation and control
Month 1 "I find it hard to let go of things I know I can do faster myself."
Month 3 "I've started giving my team more room. It's uncomfortable but I can see it's working."
Month 4 "I realised this week I hadn't checked Marcus's work once. And everything was fine."
Coaching input: Explore the link between control and identity. What does it mean about them if the team succeeds without their involvement?
08

Concierge

For: Sales teams, professional service firms, agencies, anyone who wants to understand a new client before a meeting

When to use it

Before a first meeting, a pitch, or a proposal. Instead of asking a prospect to fill in a form, send them a Concierge interview link. They speak for 10 minutes. You arrive knowing exactly what they need.

What the interviewer does

Warmly explores the prospect's situation, goals, challenges, and decision-making context. Extracts the information that would take 45 minutes in a discovery call — in 10 minutes, without a human on the line.

What you receive

  • Pre-meeting briefing document: situation summary, key needs, likely objections
  • Recommended questions to ask in the human meeting
  • Full interview transcript
  • Personalised summary sent directly to the prospect's email (optional)
Example brief "Every inbound lead completes a Concierge interview before our team calls them."
Sample output — Pre-Meeting Briefing
Prospect: Operations Director, mid-market logistics firm
Interview completed · 11 minutes
Core situation Post-merger integration, two legacy systems, no unified view of customer
Primary need Speed — decision expected before end of quarter
Likely objection Previous implementation went badly; risk aversion is high
Recommended opener "Tell me about the integration — what's been hardest to unify so far?"
09

Recruitment

For: Talent Acquisition Directors, HR leaders, recruitment agencies

When to use it

When you are hiring at volume and need consistent, structured, competency-based screening — without bottlenecking at the recruiter.

What the interviewer does

Conducts STAR-method competency interviews against a defined role brief. Probes follow-up questions. Assesses quality of response, not just presence of keywords.

What you receive

  • Structured candidate assessment per competency
  • Comparative shortlist across all candidates
  • Draft personalised response for each candidate (accepted / progressed / declined)
  • Full interview transcripts for hiring manager review
Example brief "We are hiring 20 field sales representatives. Screen every applicant with a 15-minute Hearkn interview before our team sees any CV."
Sample output — Competency Assessment
Candidate #14 — Field Sales Representative
15-minute interview · STAR method
Resilience under pressure 4/5 Clear STAR example provided; outcome demonstrated persistence not just activity
Commercial acumen 3/5 Discussed pipeline management well; limited evidence of margin awareness
Stakeholder influence 2/5 Examples stayed transactional; no evidence of multi-level relationship strategy
Overall: Recommend for further screening. Strong on execution; develop commercial depth before progressing to senior role.

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