Practice 04 · Reports

Own the number everyone cites.

Original data is the last unfakeable content. A single well-designed survey can earn citations from journalists, references in analyst briefings and placement in answer engines for years. We design the research, run the analysis, write the report and build the launch assets that make the number travel. Priced per page: white papers ₹25,000/page, research ₹17,000/page.

SurveysAnalysisWhite papersIndexesLaunch
Research report · 2026
The State of Merchant Settlement in Southeast Asia
312 merchants surveyed. Anonymised transaction data from 2.1M settlements. Method disclosed on page 4.
31%'2238%'2347%'2458%'2568%'26
Payments infrastructure · published under the client's name
Report launch · citations
Weeks 1 to 12
Media citations
41
▲ week 12
Analyst briefings
6
requested
Citations, cumulativeMedia monitoring
41
A research report and its first quarter. The finding could be challenged because the evidence was inspectable. That is why it got cited.
The belief

Press, partners and answer engines need a source, not another opinion.

Every category has a number everyone cites. Somebody published it. Usually it was a firm with worse data than yours, that bothered to field a survey and disclose the method.

The report becomes category infrastructure. Once it is the number, your competitors cite it too. That is the point.

The room it wins

The footnote. The report is cited in a trade piece, an analyst note, a partner deck and an answer-engine response, and each one carries your name as the source.

Original data is the last unfakeable content. The report earned citations for a year because the finding could be challenged and survived.
Case 08 · payments infrastructure · 8 to 184 citations
The framework · The Research Chain

Six stages, from the question to the sales call that opens with the answer.

Every stage has an owner, and the owner is named in your engagement brief. The research lead sits on report engagements only.

StageWhat it producesOwner
Research design and hypothesesThe question worth asking, and the reason the answer will be quotable.Research lead
Survey instrument and fieldingAn instrument that will survive a methodologist reading it. Panel, sample, weighting.Research lead
Data analysis and findingsOne finding strong enough to carry the whole report. Three that support it.Research lead
Report writingThe document, with the method disclosed so the finding can be challenged.Senior writer
Launch assets and press materialsThe cutdowns that let media, sales and partners reuse the number.Senior editor
Distribution strategyTiming, embargo, briefings, and the sales motion that opens with the finding.Editorial lead
The finding can be challenged because the evidence is inspectable.

That is why it gets cited. A report that hides its method earns one press mention and no second one. A report that publishes its sample, its instrument and its weighting becomes the source other people footnote for years.

Themes and audience

A benchmark, a cadence, a finding with tension, and a method page.

Four properties decide whether a number travels. Most reports have one. The ones that get cited for years have all four.

Where a category number lands · share of citations by audience, first year
184
Trade and business press · 46%
Analysts and partners · 24%
Sales conversations · 18%
Answer engines · 12%
Case 08 · payments infrastructure · 184 citations in year one
Research themes · what makes a number travel
01A benchmark nobody else can publishBecause it comes from your own data, anonymised, or from a panel you paid to field. Proprietary is the whole point.
02A cadenceAn annual index earns more in year three than year one. The same instrument, re-fielded, becomes the category's clock.
03A finding with tensionThe number that contradicts what the category assumes. Press cites what surprises them.
04A method pageThe sample, the weighting, the questions. Methodologists read it first; everyone else trusts that they did.
What we make

The report, and the six things that ship with it.

A report without launch assets is a PDF. The cutdowns are what let media, sales and partners reuse the number.

Report · method page
Method
Page 4 of 24

Sample. 312 merchants across six markets, screened for settlement volume above 500 transactions a month. Fielded 3 to 21 March 2026.

Weighting. By market and merchant size to the regional distribution in our anonymised transaction data (n = 2.1M settlements).

Limits. Self-reported settlement times were validated against transaction timestamps for 38% of respondents.

The page a methodologist reads first. It is why the finding survives a hostile reading.
Press cutdown · embargoed
68% of merchants in Southeast Asia would switch providers for same-day settlement, new research finds
Embargoed to 06:00 SGT · 3 charts attached · spokesperson available

The first regional benchmark of settlement expectations, drawn from 312 merchants and 2.1 million anonymised transactions, finds that speed now outranks fees for two-thirds of respondents…

One of six launch assets. Press, partners, sales, LinkedIn, the webinar deck and the answer-engine summary.
Sales · opening with the finding
Discovery call · opening 90 seconds

“Before we talk about us: we published a benchmark last month. Two-thirds of merchants in your segment now say they would switch for same-day settlement. Where does your book sit against that?”

68% of closed deals in year one cited the report · CRM

The distribution strategy includes the sales motion. The number opens the call; the product follows.
What is in the engagement, by tier
UnitSpecWhat is includedPrice
White paper8 to 12 pages, argument-ledExpert interviews, two revision rounds, source files, launch cutdowns.₹25,000/page
Research report10 to 25 pages, survey-basedInstrument, fielding, analysis, full report with charts, launch assets, press materials. Fielding at cost.₹17,000/page
Category report or annual index30-page minimum, multi-quarter cadencePrimary data plus expert commentary, launch-ready, re-fielded on a cadence.₹17,000/page
Annual report inside Voice EnterpriseChapters every monthOne category report a year, built from the archive's own data. Fielding at cost.included
The room it wins: the footnote

Press, partners and answer engines need a source, not another opinion. The report becomes category infrastructure: the thing everyone cites when they need a number, including your competitors.

Design production

Layout, charts as final artwork and the interactive version are designed by designs.art and priced separately. We deliver the report text, the chart data and the chart specs. Bundle on request.

Research report · year one
Months 1 to 12
Media citations
184
▲ from 8 prior year
Analyst references
23
briefings and notes
Downloads
9,400
gated + ungated
Closed deals citing it
68%
CRM
Citations by monthMedia monitoring · CRM
6J14F19M17A15M18J16J14A17S15O16N17D
Quality
Authority
Influence
Pipeline
Value
Year one on a research report. Citations are the authority rung; deals citing the number are the influence rung. Both are read from named systems.
Data and measurement

Citations are the signal. Deals that cite the number are the result.

We baseline citations at onboarding, monitor media and analyst references monthly, and read the CRM for the finding appearing on calls.

What we readSourceSeen by
Downloads and read completionDownload logs, analyticsWeek two
Media citations, with and without a linkMedia monitoringWeek three onward
Analyst and partner referencesBriefing requests, notesMonth two
The finding cited on sales callsCRM, call recordingMonth three
Answer engines returning the number with your namePrompt panels, with SEO LegendaryMonth three to six
The first ninety days

Three weeks to design. Four to field and analyse. Five to write and launch.

Twelve weeks for a research report. The fielding window cannot be compressed without damaging the method page.

Weeks 1 to 3
Design
  • Research question and hypotheses
  • Instrument drafted and pre-tested
  • Panel and sample plan, weighting design
  • Your own data intake, anonymised
  • Launch date and embargo plan set
Output: an instrument that survives a methodologist
Weeks 4 to 7
Field and analyse
  • Fielding, with quotas monitored daily
  • Data cleaning and weighting
  • Analysis: one finding to carry the report, three to support it
  • Chart data and chart specs
  • Finding reviewed with you before writing
Output: the finding, agreed
Weeks 8 to 12
Write and launch
  • Report written, method page first
  • Two revision rounds
  • Six launch assets: press, partners, sales, LinkedIn, webinar, answer-engine summary
  • Embargoed briefings
  • Sales trained to open with the number
Output: the report, the citations begin
What you have at day 90

A published report with an inspectable method, the finding in the trade press, the first analyst briefings requested, a sales team opening calls with the number, and an instrument you can re-field next year to start the cadence.

Plans and pricing · switch currency in the header

Priced per page. White paper to annual index.

One number per page for each document type; the page count is agreed at the design stage. Panel costs are passed through at cost and quoted before fielding. Design production through designs.art is priced separately.

White paper, per page
One argument, evidenced. Eight-page minimum.
₹25,000/page
Typical 8 to 12 pages · ₹2,00,000 to ₹3,00,000
  • Expert interviews included
  • Argument-led structure, counterargument answered
  • Reference list and method page
  • Two revision rounds, source files yours
  • Three launch cutdowns
White paper detail
The number that travels
Research report, per page
Survey-based, launch-ready. Ten-page minimum, fielding at cost.
₹17,000/page
Typical 10 to 25 pages · ₹1,70,000 to ₹4,25,000
  • Instrument, fielding, weighting, analysis
  • Method page first
  • Chart data and chart specs on every page
  • Six launch assets and press materials
  • Distribution strategy and the sales motion
Research report detail
Category report or annual index
The category's clock, re-fielded on a cadence.
₹17,000/page
30-page minimum · from ₹5,10,000
  • Primary data plus expert commentary
  • Multi-quarter research cadence
  • Launch-ready with a briefing program
  • Year-on-year comparison from year two
  • Named research lead on the engagement
Scope it on a call
Annual report included
Voice Enterprise
Up to three executives plus the enterprise pages, every channel, with narrative architecture and an embedded strategist underneath.
₹3,99,000/mo
Enterprise pages, strategy, all channels
  • 60+ · Short-form posts
  • 4 · Long-form
  • Quarterly · Narrative architecture
  • 12 hrs / mo · Strategy
  • 20 + 1 deck / qtr · Deck slides
  • Senior writers, Senior editor, Editorial lead, Strategist, embedded, Data analyst, Research lead
As one-time units: ~₹9,88,000
The system on top is included
Book a call
What we need from you

One research sponsor for a weekly 30-minute check-in. Access to any proprietary data, anonymised at source. A spokesperson for launch briefings. Approval at three points: the instrument, the finding, the report.

What this is not

Not design production or interactive report builds; designs.art does that and we bundle it. Not paid distribution or media buying. Not a survey we would not put our own method page on.

From the case library

What an owned number moved, twice.

Case 08 · Payments infrastructureSoutheast Asia
8 → 184
Media citations a year
8 → 184
68 percent of closed deals cited the research report. The number became category infrastructure.
ReportsInbound
Read the file →
Case 10 · Venture firm, $4B AUMUnited States
84K
Outlook report downloads
84K
94 percent LP retention through a difficult fundraising year. The annual outlook became the firm's diligence surface.
VoiceEditorialReports
Read the file →
FAQ

Questions we get on the first call

What is the difference between a white paper and a research report?
A white paper argues a position with existing evidence: expert interviews, public data, your own experience. A research report creates new evidence: a survey instrument, a fielded panel, an analysis, a finding nobody else can publish. White papers earn trust. Research reports earn citations, for years.
Can you handle survey execution?
Yes, end to end: instrument design, pre-testing, panel sourcing, fielding with daily quota monitoring, cleaning and weighting. Panel costs are passed through at cost and quoted before fielding. If you hold proprietary data, we design the instrument to be validated against it, which is what makes the finding defensible.
How long does a category-defining report take?
Ten to twelve weeks from question to launch for a research report; an annual index takes a full quarter the first year and less each year after, because the instrument exists. Nothing about this can be rushed at the fielding stage without damaging the method page, which is the page that earns the citations.
Who designs the report?
designs.art designs the layout, the final chart artwork and any interactive version, priced separately and bundled on request. We deliver the text, the chart data and the chart specifications. The division is deliberate: the finding is ours to defend, the design is theirs to make travel.
What if the finding is not what we hoped?
We tell you before writing, and we write the finding we found. A report whose number was shaped to a marketing goal reads that way to every methodologist and journalist who opens it, and it costs you the next one. The report is category infrastructure only if it is trusted.
Will it be published under our name?
Yes, entirely. Your research lead is named in the engagement brief; the report carries your name and your method. We never disclose that we produced it.
Next

Bring the question your category has never had answered. We will tell you if the number is publishable.

The audit includes who currently owns the numbers your buyers cite, with screenshots, and the one benchmark only you could field.

Practice hero · a printed report open on the method page