What is synthetic research?

Synthetic research uses AI-powered personas that simulate how real buyers, customers, or market segments would respond to your research questions. It produces directional signal — insights to sharpen your hypotheses — before you invest in real primary fieldwork. Gather Synthetic runs AI-moderated interviews across any audience archetype in minutes, not weeks.

How is synthetic research different from real research?

Synthetic research generates directional signal using AI personas, while real primary research collects data from actual people. Synthetic pre-research is faster (minutes vs. weeks), cheaper, and ideal for hypothesis generation and stakeholder alignment. It is not statistically valid and should be used to focus and prioritize real fieldwork, not replace it. Gather offers both synthetic pre-research and real AI-moderated interviews with actual respondents.

What types of research can Gather Synthetic run?

Gather Synthetic supports 14 study types: Brand Perception, Product Feedback, Concept Testing, Competitive Intelligence, CX/NPS Deep Dive, Messaging & Claims Testing, Win/Loss Analysis, Market Segmentation, Pricing Research, Ad & Creative Testing, Customer Journey Mapping, Feature Prioritization, Churn & Retention Analysis, and Audience Discovery.

How much does synthetic research cost?

The first 5 synthetic interviews are free. After that, B2C audience interviews cost $0.50 each and B2B audience interviews cost $5.00 each. There is no subscription required.

How accurate is synthetic research?

Synthetic research is directional, not statistically accurate. Confidence scores reflect internal AI response consistency, not statistical significance. Quantitative projections carry a ±15–20% margin of error. Treat findings as educated hypotheses to validate with real primary research, not as definitive measurements.

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Brand templates & distributed marketing · PUBLIC RESEARCH BRIEF

CanvaWill local teams use the template, or work around it?

Canva describes shared Brand Templates with lockable elements such as logos and text boxes. That raises a specific question for distributed marketing: how much local flexibility makes a template useful without undermining the central brand? This is a proposed study, not evidence that Canva customers bypass templates.

Sources checked 2026-09-20 · Simulation results not yet generated

Test a question in Gather ↗Explore fictional demo →

CHANGE ONE THING. LEARN WHAT MATTERS.

Three questions for the GTM team.

For Canva Brand Templates, which proposed template would a field marketer actually reuse: one with tightly fixed text and layout, or one with editable local copy and imagery while the logo stays fixed? Use the same event brief and assess both local usefulness and the central brand team's acceptance.

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When local details will not fit a Canva Brand Template, would a clearly explained exception process make marketers more willing to stay within the shared workflow? Compare a proposed request-to-owner process with existing instructions. Do not present the new process as an automatic Canva feature.

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For teams considering Canva, would a demonstration of one campaign adapted across regions or a broad template-library tour better earn a pilot? Ask central owners and local users separately, then identify the assets, permissions and support each needs to participate.

Set up this study →

PROPOSED AUDIENCE

Who should weigh in?

North American companies with 200 or more employees and multiple regional, field or franchise marketing teams. Recruit central brand owners, template designers and local marketers within the same accounts, including current Canva users and evaluators. Proposed roles only; no measured customer segments or adoption rates are implied.

TWO TIME HORIZONS

Trial today. A habit tomorrow?

Near term · 0–90 days

Over 0–90 days, ask local teams to adapt the same authorized event announcement for different markets. Record whether they choose the provided template, finish with accurate local details and need an exception. Have central reviewers assess brand requirements without knowing which variant was used where practical.

Longer term · 3–12 months

Over 3–12 months, follow reuse after campaign changes and staff turnover. Track whether teams find the current template, retire obsolete copies and use the exception process. More saved designs alone would not show that the shared workflow has become useful.

What would make the result actionable?

Use consented task observations, version histories and a predefined rubric for brand consistency and local factual accuracy. Count workarounds, support effort and time to a publishable asset, including central template maintenance. A commercial estimate needs observed campaign outcomes and full operating costs; simulated preference is not measured adoption.

A Gather simulation returns hypothetical customer reactions. Quantifying revenue, traffic or retention needs actual business inputs and validation against observed behavior.

Public sources

Canva Brand Templates: shared designs and locked elements ↗Current product page; checked 2026-09-20