What do customers really want

By: Michael Palmer

What is marketing?

Marketing today according to a recent ANA study is less about pushing messages at consumers and more about co-creating experiences with consumers. Okay, but what does this mean?

We need to know more about our customers than ever before.  We need to clearly understand their unarticulated needs so that we can offer them a product or a suite of products/services that will satisfy a need none of our competitors will.  Too often marketers ask their customers what they want.  They can’t tell you that.  Henry Ford aptly said that if I asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.

Finding unarticulated needs is not easy.  It takes digging through reams of data.  It takes not just talking, but living with people.  Procter & Gamble has become a master at understanding their customers–and it shows.  They now have a stable of billion dollar brands, all because they were able to offer innovations that their customers were ready for, willing and able to buy, but could not specify.  By spending time with customers, in their homes, at their place of work, or where they play is the only way to experience what they have and want to have.  Have you changed your method of extracting customer data or are you still using the antiquated focus group method? Putting people in a sterile environment and asking them what they want is no way to be on the leading edge today.

Want to learn a new approach, turn to the ANA School of Marketing.  We’ll introduce you to “Precision Research™”. Just as a doctor diagnoses patients, Precision Research™ upends the classical research process to sync better with today’s consumer in a more logical and productive process. Companies such as Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Vizio, Pep Boys, The Ritz-Carlton and others have used Precision Research™ to gain important insights to build their business.  Here’s a link to ANA School of Marketing’s Web site–check out the many ways you can get yourself ready for tomorrow’s marketing challenges today.

Comments

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