Why Listening to Customers Can Kill Your Brand
We live in a marketing world where market research is a powerful decision tool. However, it happens often that it is misused, leading to decisions which are popular and easy to accept, but not strategic.
It is widely accepted among creative types that research kills unusual ideas. I was among the few to be sorry to see Arnell’s Tropicana redesign dismissed last year. When the customer rage erupted, PepsiCo (Tropicana’s parent company) instantly forgot what it seemed to have been the design brief—making Tropicana be more competitive agains private label brands created by large retail chains. Reverting back to the old packaging was dubbed by the media as a consumer victory. But Tropicana is still facing the same market challenge.
That’s not to say I agree with rulers who ignore customers (from Henry Ford’s ‘they can have any car color, as long as it’s black’ to Mark Zuckerberg’s telling ‘companies are stupid for listening to their customers’. Yet I grew tired of focus groups which are used to make sure brands play safe and innovation gets ignored. The next two videos make fun of the process. Enjoy, and show them to your client before considering focus groups!