Brand Research: What You Gotta Have

Big Data Has a Big Hole

Big Data can inform marketers and help them understand where their brand stands with the consumers. But, at its root, it is just a collection of data points. It is missing a fundamental element — insight into who is talking.

For me, who is talking about brands in social media is at least as important as what is being said, and that part is missing. Big Data also doesn’t reveal why people feel the way they do and how that translates into shopping behavior and purchases. With Big Data you can only deduce why people say what they do. It is the ‘why’ story behind the ‘what’ that is missing.

Nothing Beats Asking the Customer Directly and Personally

This is especially true for products at the high-end, intended for affluent consumers. It’s vital to track people who can actually afford your product and might be persuaded to buy it. Focus groups can put you in the right direction.

The media would have you believe that focus groups don’t work, aren’t needed, and can’t provide valuable insights. Nonsense! When they are done right, focus groups provide a wealth of valuable consumer insight and understanding — critical for brand work. A good moderator reads people, which is one reason why I dislike online focus groups where I can’t read body language.

IDI’s (In-Depth-Interviews), In-store, In-home Ethnographic Studies: One-on-One View in Context

In order to capture consumer insights in a natural setting, IDI’s and ethnographically-inspired research can be conducted face-to-face with the results recorded on video to share within the organization. For example, if you are in the home furnishings business, going into the home for an interview and recording the results visually is the most effective. You’ll learn firsthand and be able to show everybody back at the office how the subjects decorate their homes, what pictures they hang on the walls, how they use major appliances and much more. Retailers should periodically experience their stores through shoppers’ eyes as well. Interviewing shoppers in-store is a tried-and-true method.

Exploring consumers in their home or in the store on camera allows marketers to observe behavior, delve into the reasons behind choices and share it first hand. We do qualitative research with an efficient way of synthesizing massive video files after hours of interviews. We edit key insights into effective storytelling that will concisely provide an intimate view of consumers.

At BrightMark we deploy a mix of new and tried and true methods to uncover the patterns, anomalies and insights that open up fresh solutions. The closer you get to the real person in the real context, the closer you get to the truth.

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