HELLO, WHAT DOES SQUARE HOLES DO?
SQUARE HOLES
We’re a cultural insight studio.
PERSON
What does that mean?
SQUARE HOLES
We help organisations understand how people are changing.
PERSON
In what way?
SQUARE HOLES
How they live.
What they value.
What’s shifting around them.
Not just in their category,
but in the broader context of people’s lives.
PERSON
What is cultural insight?
SQUARE HOLES
It’s understanding how culture shapes behaviour.
Not just what people say or do,
but what’s influencing them.
Their values.
Their expectations.
The social dynamics around them.
Culture shapes everything.
It influences what people buy,
how they experience brands,
how they engage with institutions,
and how places and communities evolve.
Cultural insight helps explain why behaviour is changing —
not just what’s happening.
PERSON
Is that market research?
SQUARE HOLES
Sometimes.
But market research usually focuses on specific questions.
Customer preferences. Brand performance. Product feedback.
Important questions.
But they sit inside the category.
Cultural insight looks beyond the category.
It explores the wider context shaping those decisions.
That’s where you start to see the patterns, tensions and shifts
that others miss.
PERSON
Can you give me an example?
SQUARE HOLES
Take wine.
You could ask why people are drinking less wine.
Or which brands they prefer.
That’s useful.
But if you step back, you see something bigger.
Health trends.
Changing social occasions.
Different attitudes to alcohol.
New expectations of value and experience.
Those forces sit outside the category,
but shape what happens within it.
That’s where cultural insight sits.
PERSON
So you’re connecting the dots?
SQUARE HOLES
Yes.
We’re looking for patterns.
Not just individual data points,
but how things connect.
Where tensions are building.
Where assumptions are breaking.
Where behaviour is shifting before it becomes obvious.
PERSON
Why does that matter?
SQUARE HOLES
Because organisations are often very focused.
They understand their category.
Their customers.
Their competitors.
But that can create blind spots.
You get very good at optimising what exists,
but miss what’s changing around you.
Cultural insight helps you step back.
See the bigger picture.
And make clearer, more confident decisions.
PERSON
How do you actually do that?
SQUARE HOLES
We start with people.
We talk to them.
We observe behaviour.
We explore real-life context.
We combine that with surveys and data,
and bring in expert perspectives.
Different methods,
but one goal.
To understand how people’s lives are evolving —
and what that means.
PERSON
And then?
SQUARE HOLES
We make sense of it.
We identify patterns.
We surface tensions.
We track shifts.
Then we translate that into implications.
What does this mean for strategy?
Where are the opportunities?
What needs to change?
PERSON
So it’s not just research?
SQUARE HOLES
No.
Research is part of it.
But the impact is in what you do with it.
Clarity.
Direction.
Confident decisions.
PERSON
What does that look like in practice?
SQUARE HOLES
It depends on the landscape we’re exploring.
Sometimes it’s people.
How values, identity and behaviour are evolving.
Sometimes it’s brand.
How categories are shifting.
What feels relevant — and what doesn’t.
Sometimes it’s place.
How people experience cities, precincts and communities.
What makes somewhere feel vibrant or disconnected.
And sometimes it’s government.
How people engage with policy, services and institutions.
Where trust is building or breaking down.
Across those landscapes, we’ve worked in sectors like wine,
hospitality, arts and cultural organisations, universities,
technology, cities and communities.
From understanding multicultural socialising patterns,
to audience engagement in the arts,
to behaviour change in government programs.
Different sectors, same underlying question.
How are people changing —
and what does that mean?
PERSON
Why call yourselves a studio?
SQUARE HOLES
Because we work like one.
Like a design or film studio,
we bring together the right mix of people for each project.
A core team here,
connected to a wider network of thinkers, explorers,
researchers and academics locally and globally.
Different perspectives, working together
to explore the question properly.
And guide a better way forward.
PERSON
Is there much demand for this?
SQUARE HOLES
More and more.
The world is changing quickly.
Categories are blurring.
Expectations are shifting.
People don’t make decisions in isolation.
Organisations are realising
they need a broader view.
And that’s what cultural insight provides.
PERSON
Is that local or global?
SQUARE HOLES
Both.
We’re based here in Adelaide,
but the same questions are being asked everywhere.
There’s growing demand locally and globally
for a deeper understanding of people and culture.
PERSON
What makes you different?
SQUARE HOLES
We’ve been doing this since 2004.
Over time, we’ve built cumulative cultural knowledge
across sectors and landscapes.
You start to recognise patterns earlier.
You see connections others miss.
And you can provide clearer direction.
PERSON
And what do clients actually get?
SQUARE HOLES
A crafted, engaing report, but more so …
Clarity.
What’s changing.
Why it matters.
What to do next.
PERSON
So in simple terms?
SQUARE HOLES
We help organisations understand how people and culture are changing —
and what that means for their future.