In order to sell more products great brands keep tabs on consumption habits. FILE PHOTO | NMG
The worlds geniuses have shown contempt for research and then gone ahead to build history’s most successful brands.
Unfortunately
for us, the lesser mortals, we have to go through a tedious process of
collecting comprehensive data and generating significant insight for our
activities to win any kind of recognition.
All is not
lost however because help is at hand and the major research agencies
thrive on the curiosity harboured by the board of directors and
executive committees that are responsible for keeping the lights on.
In
order to sell more products they keep tabs on consumption habits,
purchase behaviour and figuring out much people are willing to spend on
innovative product features.
Multinational companies with extensive distribution and wafer
thin margins will do anything to fatten the returns, which explains
their staple diet of expensive tracking research.
They
are all over the consumer like a cheap suit as they constantly follow
their every move, dissect their thoughts and hang on every word. It is
formal research at its best and they’ve established effective processes
to digest the data in order to improve their brand health and
performance.
Moving down the food chain you’ll find
medium-sized and younger companies that have become accustomed to large
profit margins and double-digit growth. They question the need for
research and often think that it is too expensive.
However,
because their markets are not as vast as the multinationals and the
risk is limited, they can get away with a carefree outlook and spend
less money and time processing data.
This group
insists that it is the advertising agencies that should invest in
research because it aids the ad strategies that they create,
irrespective of the fact that they’ve squeezed the retainer fees to the
extent that the agency profit margin is so slight that it resembles
surface tension.
The companies can resort to using
their staff to collect data in a relatively informal but effective
approach because the people who need the data own the process.
Over
time the team gets better at reading the market and who knows, they may
end up being some of those geniuses that conjure massively successful
products because their antennas are incredibly tuned to their market.
These
types of surveys rely on frequent interaction with customers, dealers
and other people critical to the supply chain and developing a bank of
anecdotal information that is sometimes referred to as dipstick
research.
Don’t confuse dipstick research with talking
to the tea girl about hair extensions and then incorporating only her
perspective into your communication strategy.
The
vocabulary of small and micro enterprises is devoid of the word research
because it is seen as wanton extravagance. Their opportunities to gain
insight into their market lie in experiential or collective judgement;
the first is done alone and the second with others.
It
is founded on what you think customers feel and want based on the fact
that you are one of them and have breathed the same air from the time
you were wet at both ends.
The insight generated by this method is severely limited and often leads to bad marketing strategy.
The insight generated by this method is severely limited and often leads to bad marketing strategy.
However, if you are one of those geniuses I spoke of earlier, this may just be the approach for you.
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