Fieldwork isn’t part of the work. Fieldwork is the work.
Welcome to the Fieldhouse
I’m Eric Zimmett, and I run my Fieldwork & Advisory practice from Bellefonte, Pa. I help organizations understand what’s really happening around their brand — and turn it into clearer direction, stronger storytelling, and better signaling.
The first question is simple: what is this business trying to say? To answer it, I spend time on-site — walking the floor, sitting in the space, watching how things actually work. If I don’t understand your business first, I’m in no position to offer marketing advice.
Once we have the answer, we find the clearest ways to express it. This is fieldwork — it draws on 20 years in journalism and marketing, and on pattern recognition.
Fieldwork is a way of seeing, taking the time to notice patterns, discover insights that are true to the brand. This method helps us develop an authentic strategy and content.
Fieldwork comes first
In my back pocket is a Field Notes notebook, worn, with bent pages and tea stains. It catches the artifacts — the small data — that most marketers might ignore. Those details are what help us uncover a brand’s true identity.
Back at the Fieldhouse, the notes get pinned to the wall. Then I look for patterns and talk through what I’ve been noticing into my recorder.
I work the same way I did as a journalist: in the thick of it, paying close attention. Observe first, find patterns, then write the story.
“If you want to understand how animals live, you don’t go to the zoo, you go to the jungle.”
— Martin Lindstrom, consultant and author of Small Data, The Tiny Clues That Uncover Huge Trends
Some brands I’ve rolled up my sleeves with:
Penn’s Cave & Wildlife Park • Shaner Corp. • Zion Lutheran Church in Boalsburg • The Field Burger & Tap • Grace at Carnegie House • Toftrees Golf Resort • Go Tell It In the Mountains with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) • Centre County United Way • Domino’s Pizza • Long Construction Co. • Penn State University • Penn State Police & Public Safety
“Your content is spot-on. It doesn’t feel like an ad, which is the best part. A lot of agencies try to do this but ultimately fall short.” — Gautam Kulkarni, Meta Marketing Pro
Fieldwork is the starting point. From there, the work takes shape.
Most clients come to me for social media, and that’s where much of my work lives: posts rooted in what is actually happening, photography grounded in real moments, coverage of events while they happen. Fieldwork is what makes that work feel different — it’s written from notes, not from content buckets.
Sometimes the fieldwork surfaces more — a clearer way to talk about the business, a story worth pitching to local press, advisory work that helps a team see itself plainly. When it does, we talk about it. Nothing gets built that the fieldwork doesn’t support.
The format changes. The source stays the same: careful observation, clear thinking, and attention to what makes your business distinct.
About Eric Braden Zimmett
For more than 20 years, I’ve worked across journalism, marketing, and fieldwork — writing, studying, and learning how to pay attention first. The output depends on the project. The method does not.
When I started this practice, my first fieldwork project was myself. Braden is my middle name, but it has a deeper origin: the Irish Gaelic Bradán, meaning “salmon”. In Irish folklore, Bradán Feasa — the Salmon of Knowledge — gave wisdom to whoever caught it. You can hear the legend below.
Braden Social became the name, and after twelve years it’s still how many clients know me. Today it remains the social arm of the practice. Eric B. Zimmett Fieldwork & Advisory is what it grew into — the thinking upstream of it all.
Training & Certifications
I’m Certified by Cannes Lions in Storytelling and Behavioral Science for Brands, and by Ogilvy in Applied Behavioral Science and Behavioral Economics. Penn State University, Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, 2008. Dale Carnegie & Associates Graduate, 2009; Dale Carnegie Graduate Assistant, 2010.
I like you
814-441-7717
eric@bradensocial.com
Website Built in the Field by Eric B. Zimmett
Eric B. Zimmett 