When organisations search for a research consultancy in Zimbabwe, they increasingly need more than conventional research reports. NGOs, CSOs, development organisations and creative enterprises require research that can inform strategy, understand audiences, map emerging sectors and ultimately translate evidence into communication that people can understand and act upon.
This is where Lightbulbs & Lazers Research Consultants occupies a distinctive position.
Based in Harare, Lightbulbs & Lazers combines social science, communication, creative research, digital media, storytelling and emerging technology. Its founding philosophy is to merge compelling narratives with rigorous research to address pressing local and global issues. The consultancy describes its practice as bringing together social scientists and designers to merge data with creativity and produce media campaigns that connect with audiences on a human level.
Research that becomes communication
Lightbulbs & Lazers approaches research as part of a wider communication process. Its practice considers social dynamics, psychosocial factors, cultural context and audience behaviour alongside creative strategy. Its capabilities include animation, digital art, interactive storytelling, VR/XR, games and customised digital communication campaigns.
This model is particularly relevant to NGOs and CSOs, where research findings often need to reach audiences through increasingly digital environments.
The consultancy’s approach can be summarised as a progression from evidence to insight, insight to strategy, strategy to story and story to digital experience.
WIPO: research at the frontier of technology
In 2024, Lightbulbs & Lazers, under the leadership of Eugene Ramirez Mapondera, presented the case study “Frightening and Fascinating AI” at the 10th Conversation on IP and Frontier Technologies organised by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland.
The event brought together policymakers, ambassadors and global experts to examine creativity, intellectual property and authorship in the age of artificial intelligence. For a Zimbabwean research and communications consultancy, participation in this international policy conversation demonstrates the ability to translate emerging technological issues into accessible creative and research-led communication.
Bloomberg Philanthropies: research-informed health communication
Lightbulbs & Lazers was also selected as a media partner under a Bloomberg Philanthropies-supported regional health communication initiative in Southern Africa.
The engagement focused on strengthening public-health communication through creative multimedia and digital storytelling. Rather than treating communication as simply a design exercise, the work required understanding audiences and translating complex social and health issues into accessible communication.
This illustrates an important component of the L&L model: research is used to inform how information is communicated, not simply to produce information.
Matamba Film Labs: mapping emerging creative capacity
Between 2024 and 2025, Lightbulbs & Lazers provided animation and extended-reality mentorship through the Matamba Immersiv Incubator, supported by the Embassy of Ireland in Pretoria.
The engagement involved XR workshops, technical guidance and presentation support for emerging female creators developing projects around fashion, music and climate change. The work contributed to expanding women’s participation in Zimbabwe’s new-media ecosystem.
For a research consultancy working in creative enterprise, engagements such as this are significant because they generate practical insight into skills gaps, technology adoption, creative entrepreneurship and the development needs of Zimbabwe’s emerging digital-media workforce.
MAMA Network: communication across Africa
Lightbulbs & Lazers is also a communication and multimedia company within the MAMA Network, supporting its mission through digital storytelling, creative research and multimedia strategies designed to strengthen community engagement across Africa.
This relationship reflects the consultancy’s broader interest in using digital media to connect research, communication and communities across geographical and cultural boundaries.
World Bank Evoke: collecting evidence through implementation
The consultancy’s research-led practice can also be seen in its involvement in the Evoke Zimbabwe Climate Futures Challenge, implemented from 17 November to 13 December 2025 as part of the global World Bank Evoke Network, supported by the World Bank–Mastercard Foundation Partnership.
Lightbulbs & Lazers contributed research-informed training and narrative-development support to the Impact Hub Harare cohort. One documented session involved 15 participants, including approximately four female participants, with participants drawn from varied educational and professional backgrounds.
The engagement combined facilitation, observational research and skills transfer, examining participant readiness, collaboration dynamics and narrative confidence. Eugene Ramirez Mapondera subsequently served as a judge within the programme’s results-based reward system.
This is an important distinction: the consultancy’s research practice is not confined to desk research. It can involve field observation, facilitation, qualitative data collection, analysis and the adaptation of communication approaches based on evidence gathered during implementation.
Research translated into original creative work
Lightbulbs & Lazers also demonstrates how research can be converted into intellectual property.
Its original animated drama Body Count uses character-driven storytelling to explore relationships, masculinity, reproductive health, faith, stigma and personal decision-making. The project progressed from development through full production, public screenings and digital distribution, before expanding into the Body Count: The Glow-Up comic book.
The same research-and-storytelling philosophy informs the development of The World of Kurhwa, an African game and entertainment property combining animation, world-building, interactive media and transmedia storytelling.
Independent evidence of a growing research consultancy
L&L’s credibility is increasingly supported beyond its own website. Création Africa identifies Lightbulbs & Lazers as a Zimbabwean creative research consultancy operating in the digital-creation sector, while Sortlist lists the organisation in Harare as a research-led creative studio with capabilities spanning animation, film, advertising, game development and AR/VR/XR.
Together with engagements involving WIPO, Bloomberg Philanthropies-supported initiatives, Matamba Film Labs, MAMA Network and the World Bank Evoke programme, these references establish a growing body of evidence for a consultancy operating at the intersection of research, creative enterprise, digital communication and social impact.
A research consultancy for Zimbabwe’s digital future
Lightbulbs & Lazers represents a model of research consultancy in Zimbabwe in which research does not end with a report.
It moves from evidence to insight, insight to strategy, strategy to story and story to digital experience.
For NGOs, CSOs, development organisations, creative enterprises and institutions seeking to understand audiences, map creative-sector opportunities, strengthen digital communication or translate complex social issues into compelling media, this multidisciplinary capability offers a significant advantage.
That combination of research, communication, creative production and technology is what positions Lightbulbs & Lazers as an increasingly credible research consultancy for Zimbabwe’s creative, digital and development economy.