Bureau West

Over the years I’ve been conducting focus groups, I’ve been struck by how customers personify companies they do business with.  Those of us who have been behind the scenes may realize that most companies are simply made up of people trying not to get fired (or perhaps even get a promotion!), but customers attribute human-like motives to companies.

But for some reason, many companies shy away from showing any kind of personality.  The default corporate personality is “neutral.”  Perhaps that feels safe, but if a company doesn’t stake out a personality, customers will attribute personality characteristics to the company anyway… and they could be negative.  We want customers to feel the company is “on their side” rather than “out to get them!”

Here’s an example of a company that’s not afraid to show personality: I recently ordered a product from Native Deodorant, and received the following shipping notification:

Your bar of Native Deodorant was gently pulled by our team of experts and placed on a gold-trimmed pillow stuffed with the finest fibers known to man. Then, a team of six inspectors examined your deodorant under a magnifying glass, ensuring it was in perfect condition.

Once the inspection was complete, our veteran polisher (he was previously employed at the Tower of London, where he was responsible for polishing the Queen’s jewels) polished it as a quiet hush fell over the warehouse. “This package is getting shipped to Jay,” he whispered. “Take good care of it.”

Conveying personality isn’t necessarily an expensive endeavor, but it requires a decision from management and follow-through to make sure the personality is conveyed in all customers’ interactions with the brand.  In recent years, airlines have been showing safety videos with personality, but unfortunately, that personality usually does not extend to other areas of the customer experience (with some exceptions, such as Virgin and Southwest).

While cute or irreverent examples of brand personality may be most memorable, that may not be appropriate for all companies.  Nor is it necessary.  An example of brand personality that sticks in my mind: when completing a joint tax return using TurboTax (by Intuit), the interview asks if either of the spouses has died in the past year.  If you answer “yes,” the software says “We’re really sorry to hear that. Our condolences.”  That gesture didn’t cost the company anything, but really touched many of their customers.  Clearly, Intuit has focused on incorporating the brand personality into the customer experience.

Let’s discuss how brand personality can help your company.  Call me at 760-469-9266 or email info at bureauwest.com.

 

Clients don’t want data, they want solutions to their business challenges.  That point has come up repeatedly in interviews I’ve conducted with research buyers, and was mentioned again last week by a research buyer who attended my presentation in Vancouver, “How Market Research Can Take Back Customer Experience.”

In the discussion that followed the presentation, we talked about the fact that the information that can lead to answers can come from different areas in a company: website analytics from the website team, the sales people interacting with prospects and customers, data from the customer experience team and qualitative and quantitative research from the market research department, to name a few.

But those of us in the market research function (or “customer insights” or “voice of the customer”) are in the best position to take the data from all those sources and figure out how to use them most effectively.  Unfortunately, we can easily slip into the habit of just reporting the results, as in “that’s what people said,” and leave it at that.  I mean, isn’t that our job?

Maybe it used to be, but to be truly valuable to our clients (or internal clients) we have to go beyond just reporting results.  But here’s the catch: at the beginning of the project, clients frequently are focused on the logistics of collecting information; it’s only at the end that they say “OK, now what do we do with all this information?”

Here’s what we can do to make sure that both we and our clients don’t forget to focus on how the company will benefit from the information we collect:

• When starting the project, remember to ask how the resulting information will be used.
• Based on that answer, consider whether the research approach should be revised. For example, your client might be asking for focus groups and a survey, but perhaps interviews with sales people should be added.
• Ask which stakeholders and departments are involved. Do they already have relevant information?  In the research proposal, consider ways to involve those other stakeholders during the project or even before it starts.
• At the end of the project, propose a workshop with your clients and other stakeholders to figure out the best way to utilize the findings.

Of course, clients won’t always take this kind of advice.  They might say “no, we just want focus groups and a survey.”  But they’ll think more highly of you and you will have planted the seed of those ideas in their minds… and perhaps it will happen on the next project!

Let’s discuss how to best find answers to your business challenges.  Call me at 760-469-9266 or email info at bureauwest.com.

I just finished reading a great book by Nick Kolenda, Methods of Persuasion: How to Use Psychology to Influence Human Behavior.  The book synthesizes a great deal of scientific knowledge in the fields of psychology and behavioral economics, and is full of specific tactics marketers and advertisers can use to be more effective.  I recommend it!

There are too many tactics to summarize here, but I then went to his website and found this “guide to advertising psychology” where I saw a great tidbit that resonated with me and should be relevant to many of you:

When advertising a product that is very familiar, consider using emotional appeals (e.g., “all the cool kids are doing it”).  But when advertising a product that is new or innovative, use a rational appeal (e.g., “download our app because of x, y and z”).

When customers are familiar with your product, they feel they already know what they need to know, and don’t want to spend time reading your ad – that’s when we need to grab their attention with an emotional appeal.  But when customers aren’t familiar with the product, they need a rational reason to consider it.

What do your prospects need to know in order become customers?  Let’s discuss the best ways to figure that out!  Call me at 818-752-7210 or email info at bureauwest.com.

 

Sources: “Methods of Persuasion: How to Use Psychology to Influence Human Behavior,” Nick Kolenda, 2013; “An Enormous Guide to Advertising Psychology,” Nick Kolenda, 2016

 

I’m working on a presentation entitled  “Don’t Waste Your Research Dollars: Research Bloopers and How to Avoid Them.”  The presentation will include many hair-raising stories and talk about how to avoid those situations, but in order to keep things short and protect the innocent (and the not-so-innocent!), I’ll just give you the highlights here.

I collected stories about research mistakes, both from my own experience and those of colleagues, and realized most relate to two issues:

• Incorrect assumptions about the marketing question
• Designing the research without professional input

Making incorrect assumptions can be difficult to catch.  For example, imagine your customers aren’t using a new feature.  You naturally assume there’s something they don’t like or don’t understand about the feature.  You conduct focus groups to learn exactly where the problem is, and it turns out that nobody knew about the feature because of a technical glitch: the information never reached the customers!  How do you prevent this?  First, pay close attention to any assumptions included in your objectives for a study.  And second, consider options for quick pre-study research: can you do a small online survey with customers?  Or perhaps a round of phone calls with the sales reps?

Another common area for incorrect assumptions is in knowing your customer.  Marketers frequently assume their customer is similar to them and their fellow executives.  In many cases, they live very different lives and have very different values.  If you find yourself laughing at focus group participants, that’s time to pay close attention.  Could that laughter be covering up some discomfort with the gap between who you think your customer is and who they really are?

When it comes to designing the research, it’s easy to fall into the trap of “let’s do four focus groups near corporate headquarters with our best customers, just like we did last time.”  But is that the most effective way to do the research?  Depending on your research objectives, there might be better ways to conduct the research.  Your research partners can be a great resource – as long as you’re willing to use them.  Let them know your research objectives and your budget and have them recommend the best approach.  I’ve encountered situations where a company wanted to conduct focus groups with their own employees to save on recruiting costs.  In some (rare) cases, that might work.  But in others, your research partner might come up with a better solution; for example, telephone interviews with actual customers.

Want to avoid research mistakes?  Call me, and let’s have an in-depth discussion about your research objectives and how best to achieve them.  Call 818-752-7210 or email info at bureauwest.com.  And let me know if you’re interested in the full presentation: “Don’t Waste Your Research Dollars: Research Bloopers and How to Avoid Them.”

P.S.  Do you have any research “horror stories” to share?  I’d love to hear them so I can include them in my presentation.