Bob Kaden
Getting Below the Surface to Discover Consumer Needs: Article Revisited
There was a strong response from customerthink readers to my article Get Below the Surface to Understand Consumer Needs While I'm pleased so many read the article and took the time to comment, the message here is timely. In this perfect storm of consumer...
Top Ten Reasons To Skip Research and Buy a Porsche
You got me. I'll admit it. There are many reasons to spend dollars that might go to marketing research on a new Porsche. Here are my top ten: 1. If you make the wrong decision it won't cost you a dime. 2. You won't...
Get Below the Surface to Understand Consumer Needs
Focus groups and other forms of qualitative research are intended to surface consumer motivations and attitudes. Armed with this insight, companies can then create more insightful marketing programs and new products. Or so the story goes. The problem is that consumers usually don't provide breakthrough...
Budgeting for Marketing Research–Seven Approaches
I've been getting a number of inquiries about how companies should determine an effective marketing research budget. At the outset, know there are many factors involved in this imprecise exercise with not the least being company tolerance for risk. Some smaller companies with $10...
Real Research Versus the “Microwave Kind”
There are two most common reasons that marketing research doesn't play a more prominent role in companies are TIME and MONEY. For the most part, small and mid-size companies don't budget the time necessary to insure research is part of their decision making process. ...
Guidelines for Writing an Effective Questionnaire–Second Installment
In my initial blog on this topic, I touched on four areas. Specifically: 1. The differences that exist when writing a questionnaire that respondents will fill out themselves as opposed to one in which a professional interviewer administers the questionnaire to the respondent. 2. Knowing…
Guidelines for Writing an Effective Questionnaire
Writing an effective questionnaire is not a task for novices. At the very least it requires an understanding of four basics. These are: 1. Considering the differences that exist when writing a questionnaire that respondent's will fill out themselves as opposed to when...
Linking Your Database to Attitude Research
Much that is written by the various www.customerthink.com bloggers is about understanding your customers from a transactional point of view. For example, what they bought, when they bought, how much they bought, what particular promotion generated incremental sales, etc. In other words,...
Is There Still Validity in Conducting Focus Groups?
Many companies, particularly, small and mid-size ones, conduct focus groups because they find them thought-provoking, interesting and an economical way obtaining attitudes of customers and prospects. But they often take findings from focus groups as gospel and make unwise investments as a result. In...
On Being a Business Person First, a Marketing Researcher Second
Attending a conference for CFO's and other financial types, I felt like duck out of water. But only for a few minutes. As a career researcher, I felt it would be a waste of time to sit through four hours of presentations on being...
Researchers Can Make Their Way to the Boardroom
I just wonder when we're going to be ready? Quoting Jack Neff in his 9/25 Ad Age article. "Few researchers ever move beyond their staff function into top marketing or management roles at marketers, agencies or even leading research companies." He goes on, "Researchers...
Can You Prove Your ROI on Marketing Research Spending?
Marketing research has always been considered an expense. The prevailing feeling is that the return on monies invested in research cannot be measured. Therefore, it's easy to write off conducting research in favor of allocating funds to areas where measuring results are...
How To Save Money on Marketing Research
Many small and mid-size companies fail to conduct marketing research because they feel they can't afford it. Indeed, if you go to a full-service research supplier for say a much needed customer satisfaction study, and deal with them in the traditional manner, you...
The Future for Marketing Research
In four previous articles, I've discussed that for attitude research to be meaningful and effective, it should follow a distinct path. Foremost is to determine which basic customer and prospect NEEDS must be addressed for companies and brands to even have a chance...
Discovering Desires–The Fourth Challenge for Research
Identifying and satisfying NEEDS, WANTS and WISHES are the first three challenges for marketing research. From the get-go research can and should determine if you're adequately satisfying basic needs that consumers demand when buying your products and services. From there you can...
Discovering Wishes–The Third Challenge for Research
If you ask consumers in the right way what they WISH you would do to make their lives easier, better, more fun, more interesting or even more worthwhile they'll talk your head off. The problem is not an abundance of ideas but where...
Your Call Center Employees Can Help You Minimize the Cost of Research Without Sacrificing...
I've never liked using a company's employees as market research interviewers, and for good reason, I could argue. In a perfect world, my preference would be to utilize unbiased professionals without an axe to grind. But the world is not perfect, and the fact...
Discovering Wants–The Second Challenge for Research
The continuum that drives consumer purchase behavior dictates first satisfying NEEDS that consumers have when purchasing from you. Successfully addressing the basics means that you can begin focusing on the consumer WANTS that is key to building long-term loyalty. WANTS are differentiated from NEEDS...
Discovering Needs: The First Challenge for Research
There is clear continuum that consumer research must address in order to be effective. Consumers buy products because they need them, e.g., an inexpensive Chevy simply to go back and forth. Because they want them, e.g., a Ford Mini-Van for the space...
What Research Needs Is a Process!
Toni Louw's recent article in Advertising Age, "A Core Research Competence Must Ground Leadership" is on the mark for identifying a problem but falls short of putting forth fresh solutions. Marketing Research fails to be integral to strategic planning because the process of planning research...