In this video, Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers and Blink, discusses how people are often unsure of what they want. Many times, traditional ways of conducting research (I’m looking at you focus groups) are not effective. Innovate research methods, innovative thought, and innovate application leads to innovate products and services.
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Marketing
This post is not about whether or not I prefer the briefly used new Gap logo (which I don’t). This post is to express that this kind of thing should never happen. In case you’re not aware, Gap tried to change the logo from the Gap-in-box to the sans-serif Gap. I don’t know whether the higher ups got tired, or if their design firm wanted a reason to bring in more revenue, or what else might have caused the idea that the logo should change, but this never should have happened.
With today’s discourse and literature on and practice of customer-centric business, customer relationship marketing, flattening of pyramids, social media, and empowerment of people, there is absolutely no excuse for this kind of debacle to happen at the corporate level. I’m going to keep this post brief (if you’d like to hear more of my opinion on this, just let me know), but if you are in a position to make business decisions (which you should, because everyone should be included in the process), before you make those decisions, ask those whom it will affect how it will affect them.
With tools like the telephone, Twitter, e-mail, Facebook, ethnography, etc., it would have been extremely simple for Gap to ask those who care how they react to the current logo, what comes to mind when people think of their brand, and if it was time to refresh. This complete breakdown in communication shows un incomprehensible lack of understanding of the market and customer engagement. Gap has obviously been out of touch with their consumers (and thus likely their employees).
Be a member of the people you serve. Every decision you make ultimately affects them, so it only makes sense to include their input.
Most marketing textbooks teach the 4 P’s of marketing (Product, Price, Place, Promotion). Although the promotion aspect of marketing gets the most attention the other 3 P’s are equally important in a successful business. If there’s no product worth buying, no amount of promotion will make it successful. Likewise, if the price is above what the market will allow, no units will move. Also, if you have everything else right (the price, product, and promotion are all ideal for the market) if the consumer can’t find how to obtain the product, it doesn’t do anybody any good.
However, I argue there is one more P that is the most important—people. We often use the term consumer so much we forget that everything we do as marketers and businesspeople is supposed to satisfy the needs and desires of people…real people. Today’s most successful companies are aware of this, and they incorporate people and their feedback into every component of marketing, from product design to communication. Smart companies know that people keep the bills paid. Smart companies know that people talk. Smart companies are coming up with solutions that people need and want often before people know they need and want them. Take Apple’s iPad for example.
Employees and customers must be treated with the utmost respect, as though they’re the ones making and buying the products. Oh wait, they are. Remember that.
Feedback, Feedback, Feedback. Feedback is likely the most important component in the communications loop. It’s the thing that’s necessary to gauge the impact we are making in each individual as well as the community at large. It lets us know exactly what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong. Negative feedback, when constructive, is probably the most valuable of all feedback because it gives us a chance to improve, exceed expectations, and show who how well we respond to concerns. Most people just want to know they are being listened to. Are we listening?
We need to make sure we have a system that allows and encourages easy internal and external feedback in both our work and personal lives. For some reason, the standard communication model almost completely ignores the recipient of the message. Real communication never ends when the receipient receives the message. We don’t communicate at people. We communicate with people. In business, it’s especially important to implement feedback into the research and development of services and products. With social media and new forms of communication, your customers can and will tell you exactly what they want, and quickly. This allows us to significantly streamline the development process and introduce quality products and services to market faster than ever.
We always want people to listen to us. It’s equally if not more important for us to listen to them.