Bureau West

The word “metaverse” has been in the news a lot over the past few months.  The term refers to a virtual world which enables people to interact with each other and with objects remotely.  People are able to do that thanks to virtual reality and augmented reality technology, typically using a virtual reality headset or goggles.

But it’s not just for science fiction.  Surgeons can use augmented reality to conduct surgery on patients halfway around the world.  Or imagine a company that needs to train employees to fix a very large or heavy piece of equipment, say a plane.  Using this technology, the employee no longer has to get to the plane in-person, they can do so remotely and easily access any part of the plane (no ladders or cranes required!).

And there are applications in the consumer world.  The technology has been around for a while to enable people to see what furniture might look like in their own homes – but it is now easier to use than ever.  For example, Pinterest is introducing a feature that will allow shoppers to virtually place items in their home and then purchase directly from the retailer. 

Snapchat has introduced Shopping Lenses, which combine product catalogs with augmented reality, so customers can easily visualize products and try them on.  Before launching the feature widely, they beta-tested it with Ulta Beauty and MAC Cosmetics, both of which saw great success. For Ulta, it generated $6 million in sales and 30 million product try-ons during a two-week period; MAC’s shopping lens, meanwhile, racked up 1.3 million try-ons and saw a 17x jump in sales among women and an increase of nine times in purchase intent.

Those results would seem to indicate that it can be risky for companies to ignore the metaverse if they want to remain competitive.  Are there ways your customers, employees or stakeholders could benefit from virtual reality or augmented reality?  Consider a design thinking process to look at how stakeholders work currently and opportunities for improvement.  Email me at info at bureauwest.com.

Sources: PHYGITAL RETAIL: the convergence of physical and digital shopping, Cassandra Daily, 2/8/2022; Introducing Catalog-Powered AR Shopping Lenses, Snapchat, 1/26/22; The metaverse is a new word for an old idea, MIT Technology Review, 2/8/22

We all know customers’ relationships with brands have changed over the course of the pandemic.  Companies need to figure out how to stay relevant, and they can’t wait for the end of the pandemic.  We are in the “new normal” now.  But ironically, executives are so busy dealing with the day-to-day changes that they frequently don’t have the bandwidth to focus on brand relevance.

A great example of a category with this challenge: McKinsey just released their analysis of what the tissue industry needs to do to accommodate new customer requirements.  Marketers in all industries can learn from the situation in the tissue category.  Some highlights:

• More than a quarter of Americans say they have switched brands since the COVID-19 pandemic began.  This comes at a time when retailers are designing future retail-store layouts, and brands must adjust to widening aisles, decluttered shelves for efficient browsing, and click-and-collect models.  How can tissue companies keep current customers and attract new ones?  While value is the main driver for switching brands, consumers are also increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of the products they buy.

• The shift to online sales has not reversed, despite the easing of the pandemic.  Tissue companies need to adapt product offerings with optimized pack sizes and ship-ready packaging.

How can you keep your brand relevant, with customer requirements changing?  My friend and colleague Simon Little has developed and tested an iterative, agile research methodology to enable companies to determine how to more effectively engage with their customers.  He uses a combination of “inside out” and “outside in” investigation including inputs from stakeholders, experts and “extreme consumers.” 

This approach enables companies to “cut to the chase” and get to the most important learning quickly.  Simon and I are partnering on this, to enable us to work more quickly without sacrificing quality.  Let’s discuss how this approach can help your brand remain relevant.  Email me at info at bureauwest.com

Sources: Beyond COVID-19: The new consumer behavior is sticking in the tissue industry, McKinsey.com, 10/26/21; Simon Little

I recently had the opportunity to moderate a roundtable discussion on behalf of Ignite 360 that included insights leaders from some of the largest companies in the U.S.: Elizabeth Oates, Sr. Director, Consumer Insights at Ulta Beauty; Humayun Rashid, Director, Microsoft 365 Research & Insights; and Marlene Straszewski, former Senior Director, Consumer Insights at General Mills; along with Rob Volpe and Lisa Osborne from Ignite 360.

It was a wide-ranging conversation, covering their thoughts on how things are changing in the insights field, as well as how research agency partners can provide value to companies like theirs and more.   

One thing that has stuck in my mind from the discussion: the desire to truly understand research participants as human beings.

• “What I would say is different today versus maybe five years ago is really shifting from thinking about a respondent or a consumer… to be talking more about people, and humans, and talking about how can we solve real human problems.” – Marlene Straszewski

• “We find that building platforms and building things where the stakeholders are forced in some ways to participate… where the distance between the respondents and the stakeholders is becoming closer and closer and closer so that they are more in tune with those consumer user needs.” – Humayun Rashid

• “Recently, someone asked me ‘what is gen pop’ – that’s a great question, what does that mean…   we’re looking at lots of different types of people… how do we understand people as they see themselves?” – Elizabeth Oates

I think that’s an important point that sometimes gets forgotten when we conduct market research.  Beyond asking participants specific questions about our product or service, we need to ensure we have a deep understanding of the context: customers’ lives and how our product or service fits in.

During our roundtable, Marlene, Elizabeth and Humayan also talked about:

• The importance of considering diversity in our target audiences, not just because it’s the right thing to do – it’s also good for business

• The value of conducting in-person research.  While they appreciate the convenience of remote research, our roundtable agreed that some of their most memorable insights came out of in-person research

• What they want from research agency partners is flexibility, the ability to bring new thinking and “learn from the past and adapt to the new and the now”

Those are just the highlights; you can watch the whole discussion here.  And let’s talk about the best ways to learn from your customers. Email me at info at bureauwest.com.