A whole new world…
May 25th, 2008 by kunalIt might make me less of a man, but I’m a sucker for the Disney movie “Aladdin”. Who knows, maybe it’s an indian/persian/brown-person thing. Anyway, now that you know far too much about my (lack of) movie taste, I can get to my point…
In the movie, there is song with the same title as this post (I think). I also think it is safe to say that most of us in marketing will agree to the fact that the consumer landscape has changed drastically - you might even say it’s a “whole new world” (If you want a reminder, this should do). What scares me is the fact that even though we acknowledge the landscape has changed, many marketers don’t act any differently than they did 10-15 years ago. Those of you who know me have heard me wax poetic about this for a while now (and for those of you who don’t, you will). So while this is a problem that permeates a lot of spaces in marketing, the one I’ll focus on for now is research, specifically consumer research.
Wikipedia defines consumer marketing research as “a form of applied sociology that concentrates on understanding the behaviours, whims and preferences, of consumers in a market-based economy”. So, basically consumer research is figuring out what people want, what they do, and why they do it (by the way, in a future post I may delve into why people feel the need to use bigger words than necessary to get a point across). In the “past”, marketers were forced to shell out big bucks in order to gain these insights. Giant, massive research initiatives were a regular part of the planning process - and sometimes these worked, and sometimes they didn’t.
These “old-school” research techniques had two major flaws. First, they took forever. Second, they weren’t cheap. There was also no room for tweaking your approach. Once a study went out into the field, it was what it was, even if you realized a variable had changed.
So along comes the internet, the empowered consumer, and all sorts of new possibilities. And what happens? Marketers definitely use the internet for research, but they use it in the same way they used the telephone and in-person interviews. Research is conducted infrequently, consumers are asked very pointed and specific questions, nothing is fluid, and the research world is unfortunately stuck running behind consumers “whims and preferences” trying desperately to catch up before it’s too late.
Here’s what I think marketers should be doing online for research. Simplify everything, and do it all the time. Redesigning your website? Ask consumers what they want - simple as that. And as you implement changes, ask them what they think - in real time. Don’t feel like you need to wait to gather insight. A brand that allows consumers to take part in and co-create anything (a brand story, a new website, a product) is a good brand. Allowing this open conversation between your brand and your consumers makes the process much more fluid - and you are able to make tweaks, updates and changes quicker, and with more confidence. All without spending thousands on 50 question surveys that no one likes to fill out. A win-win situation if I ever saw one.
So what do you think? Am I sorely mistaken and over-simplifying things? Am I right-on with this? Are there other ways to gain consumer insights that no one has thought of yet?
Tags: disney movies, empowered consumers, research
May 26th, 2008 at 7:29 am
You’re right (except about Aladdin). I’m writing this using the public beta of Firefox 3, which is designed to get user feedback, in real time, to make it better. Meanwhile, here’s a snippet of a post by Andrew Sullivan I read this morning that includes these compelling “insights” from focus groups - the broken crutch of advertising research. They’re not just depressing, they’re typical of the useless information focus groups generally provide. Here’s what he wrote:
“They may be the swing vote in this election, alas. From a focus group of non-voters:
For instance, here’s Dorita, opining about Obama: “I’m a little concerned. I don’t know enough about his Muslim background and their beliefs and how he views everything. I’m a little concerned. I need to check his background.”
You do that, Dorita.
Here’s Josh on Obama: “He’s representing a minority in more than one case. He is African American and he is Muslim. And in light of that…it does feel like we’re being judged or pounded down on because we want to carry a gun or we want to wear the American flag pin.”
Here’s Melinda, clearly the GOP’s dream voter: “I just really feel like he’s…not a people pleaser as in the Americans, but the other people who don’t necessarily need to be pleased, the other, the enemies if you will, I don’t know. I’m just not real positive on that.”
May 26th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
I’d say you’re mostly right. From a website redesign/improvement perspective, asking users “what they want” is a recipe for disaster.
“Users” (an awful term I try to avoid using where possible) are notoriously awful at communicating their desires when it comes to computers, websites, and technology in general.
Watching what users DO is vastly more instructive and useful than listening to what users SAY.
I’m all for co-creation in certain contexts, but not if it means devolving into a design-by-mega-committee. “Users” are no better (and in some cases worse) about the principles of web design and the depth of knowledge and experience required to do it well than the “old-media” types we tend to bemoan.
Given a well-designed framework like Facebook, users can do fantastic work. But all you need to do is see the average person’s custom MySpace layout to get an idea of what the audience considers “good design.”
None of this is meant to detract from your larger (and totally spot-on) point about the need for quicker and more informal research methods. Waiting 6 weeks to field a set of participants for a usability study is onerous and leads us to forego any appreciable user research far too often.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Oh whatever Chris!
I think the reality is all sites should be made skinable / customizable by whoever wants to use them — takes you to a communistic apporach to web design I guess, but if there is a basic function solved, why not have a platform flexible enough to allow each person to do with it what they way.
Still amazed @ the Aladdin reference.
Still amazed @ the Aladdin reference.
May 27th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
To me asking is often like telling your brother-in-law you’re in the ad business. He’ll tell you how sex sells and what you really need is… He also thinks creativity is sitting around waiting for the “aha” to spring magicly. In my previous life I read a lot of research and the boiler plates asociated with them. There is bad research and great research. Unfortunately, many people can’t tell the difference. Take one subject, “Non-respondent bias” and imagine how the web deals with that. A lot of research purports to do a lot more than it ever could. Think about auto purchases. Virtually everyone you survey is not in-market nor will they be in the next six months…the ones you really want to observe.
May 27th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Casey - your idea isn’t communistic…it’s libertarian! Individuals controlling their own experience (which of course they do anyway, whatever a corporation might like to think).
Kunal - I think this is right on, although I’m a bit leery of the term co-creation. Seems to me a little like the long-tail concept. Works great for bits and bytes, not so easy for affordable cars or houses.
Other than that I’d take your idea further. You don’t need to directly interact with consumers on the web to see what they care about, what they love, hate, and couldn’t give two craps about. What people do and say on the web is the biggest focus group of them all. Don’t ask them - use an array of social media tools to watch and learn.
May 27th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I completely agree that you can take this idea further, but in my haste, I probably didn’t fully articulate what I meant. It would be foolish to let people tell you what they want and then turn around and do everything everyone says - although I am not as scared of that concept as many of you seem to be (at least in certain instances). I think consumer input would be one factor (social media monitoring/tools would be another big one among others) that would be a part of the grander solution.
At the end of the day, we (by we I’m referring to the collective marketers “we”) still have to distill the information and use our skillset to provide the best direction for our clients to move in. But I see no harm in letting people at least give their 2 cents - it is our “job” to take those factors and create the brand experience (both on- and off-line).
That being said, I struggle with the inherent “we know what’s best for the consumer because we work in marketing, and they don’t even know what they want” train of thought because it assumes a “consumer” today is the same as a “consumer” 10 years ago.
10 years ago my dad wouldn’t own a mac, post reviews on Amazon and CNet as if it’s a second job and send an email to HP on how they can improve their customer service/logistics operations (a field he happens to have a masters in). Hell, my dad’s even a boomer…
May 28th, 2008 at 5:35 am
Kunal, you didn’t go far enough in what you meant. And Chris? You went too far the other direction, based on a few usability articles that were applying a standard to everyone.
You absolutely can ask your readers what they want—and get it. I do it every year on my annual redesign. It comes down to two things:
My readers, few of whom are in the Web business, have given me outstanding suggestions ranging from “notify me of follow-up comments” to polls to avatars.
I only ignore the requests for a shower cam to be installed in my house.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:56 am
I think a lot of the comments come down to well designed, well thought out research is valuable. There is no question the web has given us another tool. Maybe the most powerful tool for many situations.
How it is used. How the research is designed and conducted. How it is intepreted. What other research/ findings/ intuition is brought to bear. What actions are taken as a result. All are important. A screw driver is a great tool but doesn’t make for a great hammer.
May 28th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Don’t lie Linabury; when I donated $500 and become a power user of davezilla.com, the shower cam button/link was un-hid.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
That was you?