Keeping a Finger on the Nation’s Pulse
The Challenge
In 2020, Kokoro needed a qualitative layer to sit alongside their survey data — a way to hear the human stories behind the numbers, in people’s own words, moods and expressions. Not occasional research. Every week. Ongoing, open-ended, and alive to whatever was happening in the world.
Five years later, that community is still running. Every week. Without exception. 330 consecutive weeks and counting.
The Audience & Methodology
Building a community that would sustain genuine engagement over years — not months — required a different approach to recruitment from the start. Matching a demographic spec wasn’t enough. We introduced a video audition stage, not to judge performance, but to understand how people naturally communicate, reflect, and share. It allowed us to curate a group of individuals genuinely willing to show up honestly, week after week — people who would still be filing videos from the other side of the world five years later.
Then we stayed close. Very close.
Methodology:
Weekly selfie-video community
Respondents:
UK-wide, nationally representative
Duration:
2020–present
Services:
Recruitment / Community management / Engagement & retention / Incentive management
How Zest Delivered…and Continue to Deliver
Over five years, participants have shared some of the most meaningful moments of their lives through this community. Pregnancy announcements. First marathons. Trips to Bali, Paris, and South Africa, videos still submitted from the other side of the world. And the harder moments too: losing parents, losing partners, navigating disability, finding the words to describe a difficult week.
One participant continued contributing even after a life-changing windfall. Many original members from 2020 are still actively contributing today. Not because they have to. Because they want to.
That level of openness doesn’t come from task reminders. It comes from trust. We know when to nudge, when to encourage, and when to simply listen. We respond personally, recognise people as individuals, and make sure every participant feels seen rather than managed.
Behind the scenes, the operation runs without friction. Vox pops delivered on time, every week. Hands-on tech support, fast incentive handling, and responsive participant support that makes showing up easy…. whatever is happening in the world.
And when moments matter, we move fast. During major national events, we’ve gathered authentic, in-the-moment reactions from real participants within hours of announcements, enabling Kokoro to deliver fully voice-led content, written, edited, and in clients’ hands within 48 hours.
What This Says About Zest
Most long-term communities churn heavily. This one doesn’t. The difference isn’t the platform or the incentive structure, it’s the relationship behind it.
Kokoro isn’t just capturing opinions. They’re following real emotional journeys over time, watching how people adapt to national events, cultural shifts, personal milestones, and everyday life. That only works if participants trust the people managing the community. Building and sustaining that trust, week after week, for five years, is the job. It’s one we’ve never missed.
Zest are masters at management and collaboration. They work closely with you without ever getting in the way, they're totally by your side. Our community has run for over 5 years now, on a weekly basis, with out-of-this-world engagement. Zest have a feel for top quality and a real human touch that makes me and my respondents feel great.