Notes

Don Draper on Focus Groups
Last week's episode of Mad Men portrayed an importance number of women to the agency's new client, Ponds Cold Cream. Peggy, the brave, bright boundary-bashing female of the bunch, features a theory that Ponds is approximately a daily ritual, something highly personal and indulgent, a time of day when women can stare at themselves within the mirror and be ok with themselves.
The focus group moderator, a sexy woman with PhD as well as a repressed crush on Don that may inevitably blossom, agrees with Peggy's premise. But when telephone surveys perth has ended, she retreats. It seems that the misogynists (i.e., every male character) were right. All women care about becomes married. Ponds should be positioned as being a product for further attractive, softer, and most importantly, man-pleasing skin to assist women realize their desires husbands and babies now.
Don, definitely not famous for his empathy for girls in the personal life, takes problem with the researcher's verbal download. Rejecting conventional wisdom, he puts forth the situation that we all must wrestle with at any time we conduct research: Consumers only understand new services and ideas within the context of their past. Their thinking is linear and rooted in past experience. How can they do know the way they will feel within the future? Can they really recognize recommended before its time?
Don argues that his creative intuition, his understanding in the human condition, is to something big. He may be wrong, but the sole method to find out is please take a risk, but a stake inside the ground and find out through action.
And I think he's right. The conclusion that many have come to, including Steve Jobs, is that that focus groups are useless. But that's completely wrong. It was really all there within the group. After observing the investigation, Don and Peggy still felt that end result is usually to feel beautiful and valued. That a woman's self-esteem transcends marital status. Everyone else simply played back the most obvious, but the superficial. Because this is the expedient, risk-free best option.
Many in the past, I developed a awesome to get a snack food client called "Quesadillys." These were thick, triangular, cheesy chips that came if a few different flavors. Focus group testing said people liked the idea, as well as every one of the right reasons - fun, flavor, texture, different things, etc. But Mexican food had not been quite in the mainstream within the Midwest, East Coast or Deep South inside early 90's. Many of our suburban Chicago and Charlotte respondents was lacking a clue such a quesadilla was. The client killed the idea.
Again, it had been all there in the discussion. And therein lies the dilemma - but additionally what I love about focus groups and marketing. Very little within our lives or our jobs are clear-cut. Rather, ambiguity and complexity abound. Research provides direction, not answers. Our job is always to think deeply and please take a stand.
I shudder to take into account what number of legendary brands could have never seen the sunlight of day were it not for visionaries, with or without the support of research, obtaining the courage of the convictions.
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