Cymbol, which was piloted at the end of 2013 with airline Virgin Atlantic and baby food manufacturer Plum Baby, has been designed to enable brands to conduct cultural research and co-creation projects using live participation from target customers.

Project participants engage with research by uploading photos, videos and comments in response to brands questions, while going about their daily lives. The data is then analysed by Space Doctors’ semioticians and brand strategists in real time.

Gemma Jones, who leads the development of Cymbol at Space Doctors, said: “Semiotics is prized by brands for its rigorous methodology decoding communications in their cultural context and how cultures are evolving, but academic roots and a traditional focus on expert desk-research can be perceived as separate from consumer-led insight.

“The immersive and live attributes of a mobile app help bridge this divide. Across the world mobile phones have come to act as mental prosthetics – an extension of ourselves always with us, making interactions fluid and almost unconscious. This has obvious benefits for marketers seeking candid insights into consumer desires and behaviours.”