There are several myths that float around in consumers’
minds when they think about marketers. One is that marketers are pushy, and
that they will lie and cheat to move product out the door. Another is that
consumers are no match for a wily, well-trained marketer. These myths conjure
up images of a slick-haired salesman, sitting at his desk thinking of ways he
can hustle a few unwary buyers. First, any consumer who thinks this is thinking
of the wrong profession. If marketers pushed unwanted products, they would be
out of a job, along with the CEO, Vice President, and the entire Board of
Directors; lying or cheating would simply expedite the process. Second,
consumers have all the power; their voices dictate virtually all of a company’s
actions. Companies can, and do, fail when they cut off precious communication
with the consumer. The market research profession seeks to foster this
communication, and in the process, consumers can, and do, persuade companies to
take action for better products and better services.
In order to
achieve this, market researchers have to ask questions. Because marketers need
to know the real-world problems that buyers are trying to solve, companies have
to assume that they are not in control. This is why the strongest rhetoric
comes from the consumer. Ingenious marketing is more often than not the result
of good questions and good answers. Companies spend millions for this
privilege. Domino’s, for example, recently overhauled its pizza recipe as a
result of intense focus group sessions, Twitter feeds, and one comment in
particular: “There is no love, no love in this pizza.” Never mind “the tomato
sauce tastes like ketchup” or “this crust is cardboard.” The taste-able lack of
love in the pizza set off the warning bells at Domino’s headquarters: people
don’t like our pizza.
This phenomenon of emotional
connection, however, isn’t limited to pizza. The Plastics Council, for example,
was fighting environmental groups and lawmakers for the survival of plastic
itself in the country. It released a series of ads in the 90s that fell completely
short. The reason: it made the wrong emotional connection. Their first round of
ads triggered emotional responses more akin to “I felt like I was drowning in
plastic.” After reflecting and repositioning, marketers at the Plastics Council
asked the right questions, this time looking at the personal benefits that
people gain from using plastics, and building up to a strong, positive
emotional connection. If the Plastics Council hadn’t reached out to people and
gotten meaningful feedback, its message would have been lost. More importantly,
if the marketers at the Plastics Council hadn’t asked the right questions,
there would have been no feedback at all.
Persuasion in market research,
then, comes from the people. This is what most interests me about marketing. As
a marketer, I’m not selling snakeoil, I’m building connections and solving
problems. And all I have to do is ask the right questions.
In communication, it's interesting to see who holds the real power. It must be a pain having to change to fit the market, but it's also a great advantage.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting dialogue that takes place between a market researcher and his or her client base. The way you describe it, it really is the people who hold the power. You have the right frame of mind to advance in this field-- that you are the one appealing to the public, not the other way around.
ReplyDeleteI definitely am guilty of stereotyping the marketers. I guess I felt the same way in the fact that it seemed like the business owners held the power. I guess it's true that the voice of the people would have the greatest influence on the companies, even over their CEOs.
ReplyDeleteI like your perspective. The fun part for me as a translator/localizer is that I get to take that message and evoke those some emotions in the clients from a foreign country by using different words and understanding that culture.
ReplyDelete