By Brian Bennett, STIR, LLC, www.stirstuff.com
As a classically trained package goods marketer I am a believer in market research as a tool. And as an artist and veteran street-fighting ad-guy I rely heavily on my gut instinct that’s been proven over time. When the two conflict I tend to believe the gut – and here’s why:
Forty-five minutes into a recent lunch conversation with a new client in the transportation business I noted that the industry was commoditized, and that as marketers, they are engaged in the “confidence game.” The prospect, who himself has great instincts, noted a point of difference that supported that position. It alone held the key to brilliant, and differentiating positioning. The integrated marketing plan was being written in my head before we finished our sandwich. Subsequently, upon doing due diligence in the category I found the abstract of an enormous research study which examined the existence and relative effectiveness of value propositions by 100 companies in that industry. It took me an hour to read the abstract! Someone had toiled over this document for months only to suggest that creative thought in this direction would be fruitful. Duh!
Another laughable research study was published recently by the venerable comScore organization. They can finally prove that ad campaigns that feature strong creative executions work up to four times better than that those with just a highly targeted media campaign. Double Duh!
Intuition and gut instinct is the raw material of creativity. It provides the new direction that is necessary for innovation. It is like looking out through the windshield and reacting to race conditions / new developments in real time versus looking through the rear view mirror or examining tape.
Research has two distinct flaws. It either tells you with certainty what has already occurred, or it tells you how people may react, out of context, to something that hasn’t yet happened. Research has never come up with a good, original idea – but it certainly has killed them!
There certainly is a role for marketing research. It will, at times provide the support and insurance you need to make tough decisions. Just be careful that it doesn’t take too long or that it doesn’t dissuade you from taking chances that will set you and your company apart in a very big way. And know that if you are looking for proof that something new will work – you won’t find it.
To you client-side marketers, my advice is to look for people with strong instincts. They will take you to places that are fresh and new. Those people are leaders. Their successes are game changers.
