Influencers, idea graves and observation squads
How customer research is evolving.
We’ve seen a digital adoption fast forward and businesses forced to become more agile. And now we are seeing insight teams mirroring this new way of working, moving away from robust, lengthy research practices. This new mindset shift focuses on ‘getting what we need’ to inform ‘what we need to do’, and fast. Internal communication becomes even more important, with increased transparency in order to ensure efforts aren’t repeated and resources wasted. Each month, Fluxx Exchange brings together the brightest change-makers, industry experts and business leaders to discuss a topic. Here’s what they had to say about ways to stay close to customers.
1. Four kinds of customers have emerged.
According to a well known UK bank, there are four broad groups of customers that have emerged through the pandemic.
- Uncertain customers: There’s a fear of redundancy with this segment as many will have previously been furloughed. They don’t know what the next 6 months will hold, resulting in greater strain on both their finances and mental health.
- Curtailed customers: This group may have been furloughed, but any lifestyle adjustments are likely short term.
- Troubled customers: Unfortunately, these people immediately went into unexpected redundancy. Previously an exemplary customer, this group now find themselves in an extremely difficult situation.
- Fortuitous customers: These folks are still working. Without an expensive commute and less opportunity to socialise, there’s money left at the end of the month, prompting a true shift in behaviour towards saving.
2. It’s time to activate the Observation Squad and kick start the high street! One of the country’s largest commercial landlords wanted to find ways to improve the shopping experience in order to drive footfall, whilst keeping shoppers safe and happy. Along with vigorous 3000 participant surveys and in-depth customer interviews, they had to get creative; on the ground staff at the shopping centres (aka the Observation Squad) report back on customers’ actual behaviour. This kind of customer closeness provides richer insights to inform the next steps of building safe spaces. Want to know more about this? Chat to Fluxx Partner Paul Dawson, who’s leading this project.
3. The rise of social media and influencer-driven research. We’ve already spoken about customer closeness research techniques, specifically longitudinal studies and shadow data, but there’s a new player in the game. In the UK social media use jumped by almost a fifth during lockdown. In the US it was up by a third. That means there’s a more exciting and relevant way to engage research participants. Influencer driven research taps into existing (but potentially less accessible) audiences, with a high opt-in marketing rate.
4. Going undercover on Mumsnet. One of the easiest ways to get a feel for sentiment is by ditching the formal research environment to ‘go undercover’ — this informal method helps paint a picture of how people say they are feeling.
5. Revisit the ideas grave. With all the talk of ‘the new normal’, it’s very easy to get carried away and think we have to start from scratch. While we’ve seen huge unpredictable shifts in behaviour, our underlying, fundamental human needs haven’t drastically changed. Now’s the time to review old research — go deeper to unearth the golden nuggets of insight which will remain true even after these temporary shifts in behaviour have passed. Equally, consumers are more receptive of ‘the new’ (and wacky) right now; who would have thought that Compare the Market would have been hosting a Meerkat Music Event with Take That, a credit card would be sponsoring Zoom day raves or an old school DriveIn would make an appearance in the IKEA car park?
Jassi Porteous is a consultant at Fluxx, the UK’s leading independent Innovation Company. For the last 9 years, we’ve been supporting clients to accelerate growth and sustain change; helping big companies be purposeful, build internal innovation capability and develop new products and services at pace. Got an idea you want to get off the ground? Get in touch Jassi@Fluxx.uk.com. For more thoughts worth sharing, sign up to What the Fluxx or follow us on LinkedIn.
