Fieldwork isn’t part of the work. Fieldwork is the work.

Welcome to the Fieldhouse

Fieldwork-first social marketing

I’m Eric Zimmett. I run Braden Social from my fieldhouse in Bellefonte, Pa.

My work doesn’t start behind a computer. It starts on the ground. I walk your floor. I sit in your space. I pay attention to how things actually move.

Every engagement begins there — understanding your world before anything gets built. Before recommendations. Before posts.

Because the social output only works if it’s rooted in something real.

I call it fieldwork. It comes from journalism, marketing, and years of watching how people actually behave.

There’s usually a Field Notes notebook in my back pocket. Bent pages. Coffee stains. It holds the small details most strategies miss — the ones that make your brand sound like itself.

Those Field Notes become the stories you see on social media and beyond.

This is where it all comes together. Welcome to the Fieldhouse.

“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

Some brands I’ve rolled up my sleeves with:

The Field Burger & Tap • Grace at Carnegie House • Toftrees Golf Resort • Shaner Hotels • Penn’s Cave & Wildlife Park • The ACRES Project • Marriott • Go Tell It In the Mountains for The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) • Zion Lutheran Church in Boalsburg • Centre County United Way • Taste of the Town • Dominos

What Fieldwork Unlocks

I do the fieldwork, then the strategy follows. I spend time on-site — watching closely, taking notes, noticing what others might miss. From there, I build a visual brand bulletin. I lay everything out and look for patterns.

This becomes a brand identity that grows out of what I’ve seen:
• Strategy grounded in what’s actually happening
• Reportage-style photography and reels pulled from real moments
• Event coverage shot documentary-style
• Copy that sounds like the place it came from

Fieldwork means being there

The details I notice on site don’t live in a spreadsheet. They end up taped to the wall at the Fieldhouse. I connect the dots and build from what’s actually happening.

Why Fieldwork Matters

“If you want to understand how animals live, you don’t go to the zoo, you go to the jungle.”
— Martin Lindstrom, Consultant, author, Small Data

You see things differently when you’re close enough to notice the details. That means real footage, real photos, real posts from hand-written notes.

I use fieldwork the same way I did as a journalist: in the thick of it, paying close attention. Observe first, find patterns, then write the story.

Fieldwork isn’t part of the work. Fieldwork is the work.

About Eric & Braden Social

“Hi, I’m Eric Braden Zimmett — founder of Braden Social. I launched Central Pa’s first fieldwork shop in 2014.

“I bring a journalist’s eye and a behavioral strategist’s mind to every project. You get real content — captured where things are actually happening, backed by insight into how people think and behave.

About “Braden”

Braden is my middle name — but it also carries a deeper meaning. When I started this practice, my first project was fieldwork on “Braden” itself. I found that Braden [Bradán] is derived from an Irish Gaelic word meaning “salmon.” In Irish folklore, Bradán feasa — the ‘Salmon of Knowledge’ — was said to grant the world’s wisdom to whoever caught it. Hear the legend in the audio player below.

Training & Certifications

I’m Certified by Cannes Lions in Storytelling and Behavioral Science for Brands, and by Ogilvy in Applied Behavioural Science and Behavioural Economics. Penn State, 2008. Dale Carnegie graduate.