THEY DON’T MEAN TO
Oh, they don’t mean to, but it still results in the same inaccurate insights.
I once read about how back in the 50s and 60s, women were regularly invited in to discuss what they wanted from a soap powder. They would consistently say they wanted white whites, and bright brights. And for decades soap powder brands advertised that they were the whitest and brightest of them all.
Then in the 80s, one of the big brands decided to check this was really a thing, so invited women in to ‘test some washing machines, don’t worry, we’ll provide the powder too’. And they watched what happened.
The women didn’t hold their white washing up to the light to check it was the whitest white, and they didn’t compare their coloured washing to other colours to check their brights remained bright – but they all did the same thing.
They smelt it. Because if washing SMELLS clean, it IS clean.
And that’s why now washing powder liquid (and many other house and personal cleaning products) have screw top bottles which you can open and take a big sniff before you buy.
MORE TRUTH
I once sat observing a focus group from behind 1 way glass where the assembled ten year olds described in animated detail a pizza they’d eaten at the brand I was working with, which sounded truly delicious! We didn’t sell pizza.
And for me personally, ask what my favourite supermarket is and I will tell you it’s absolutely Waitrose. It is not however where I spend most of my money.
So how can businesses get to the truth?
HOW CAN BUSINESSES GET TO THE TRUTH
- Ask the right questions. It’s not ‘what’s your favourite location’, its ‘which location do you use most often’ for example
- Stop thinking you already know your customers. Because if THEY don’t know how they really behave, I can absolutely guarantee you can’t either especially if you naturally share few of their characteristics
- Use your data. Your data is the closest you can get to your customers and their behaviour, their likes, and the mindset and motivation behind those behaviours and likes
The pressure for instant sales gratification has led us further away from our customers than ever before. If you run a people facing hospitality or retail business it’s never been easier or more crucial to put your hashtag#customerfirst
Because if YOU don’t get to know your customers in intimate detail and then use that information to drive more relevant communications and brand development, you’ll lose them to the brands who do.
BELIEVE IN CUSTOMER FIRST
If you believe in Customer First, join my new community. And if you’d like to start putting YOUR customers first, to transform the results you get from your marketing, let’s arrange a coffee.
