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creative_corner

When creativity becomes social: one person’s journey

Published by Creative Corner on March 22, 2012.

Written by Nikki Mazur

What do my fitness routine, recipes, wardrobe, and home décor all have in common? They’re inspired by the latest social media sensation known as Pinterest. In exploring what Pinterest is, I’ll explain how it creatively inspires me and share the results of that inspiration.

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. To start “pinning,” you must first request an invite from the folks at Pinterest. Once you’ve registered at their Web site you’ll be contacted (anywhere from one hour to one week later) and invited to begin reviewing boards and pinning your own boards.

How it works

Pinboards are organized in ways completely up to you. For instance, if you’re a foodie and enjoy a variety of recipes, you may first want to start by reviewing how other “pinners” organize their recipes on their own boards. You’d simply type the subject matter you’re referring to (recipes) into the search box and as many pins that pertain to that subject matter will pop up. The pin itself will provide only a snapshot (i.e. a picture and a brief description) of the recipe you’re looking for. For more detail click the pin, which will inevitably take you to the Web site that this recipe was originally found on. If you like the recipe enough you can “re-pin” the pin (recipe) to your own recipes board or you can go to a Web site that has your favorite recipes and pin those directly to your recipes board.

It’s relatively easy to teach yourself how to search, pin, and re-pin. In addition to sharing your pins and boards using Pinterest’s Web site, you can also sync your favorite pins to your Facebook and Twitter By using the additional social Web sites, like Pinterest, the world can begin sharing their favorite ideas, thoughts, and passions with each other.

New ways to enhance old passions

Through real-time sharing of pins on Pinterest I’ve found new ways to enhance my passions with more creativity.
One of my favorite activities is general fitness (I know – who actually likes working out?). I regularly go to a boot camp class three times a week. I’m the same as most people who find that a similar work out can often become monotonous and demotivating. After a couple days of searching different pins, I had discovered two new blogs: BodyRock.TV (http://www.bodyrock.tv/) and Blogilates (http://blogilates.com/). Each site offers a variety of 10-15 minute workouts for free. In using these free workouts I’ve been inspired to mix up my regular workout routine, which has remotivated me to continue my quest for fitness.

Every person that exercises also knows that workouts produce results only as good as what you put into your body. Being a Weight Watchers Lifetime member I’m constantly searching for new and healthy ways to cook. Pinterest is by far the most fun way to find new recipes, especially healthy ones! Through Pinterest, my kitchen has become a new canvas for food. I’ve tried new dinners and lunches, but by far the most creative recipes have been my attempts at new desserts! Whether you’re a Weight Watchers member, a vegetarian, a vegan or an overall foodie, Pinterest will inspire you to make over your kitchen and your palette.

Create new passions

My (p)interests don’t stop there. I’ve purchased material for a makeshift headboard based on a bedroom idea a pinner posted. I’m going to get my hair cut based on a style another pinner shared. Even my spring wardrobe was inspired by outfits others have recommended on their boards. Simply put, because of Pinterest my passions have been inspired to creatively give the many facets of my life a makeover.

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plannertarium

Ethnographies Today

Published by Plannertarium on February 28, 2012.

Written by Tom Groves

One of the most potent tools that have been available for years to the market researcher is the ethnography. The term (from the Greek ἔθνος ethnos = folk/people and γράφω grapho = to write) had its origins in the late 19th century as scientists sought way to interpret meanings and behaviors within cultures. By unbiased observing of ordinary activities, within naturally occurring settings, they could draw hypotheses on broad issues: religion, sex, family structure, social hierarchies, and the everyday: preparing food, building shelter, childrearing.  Margaret Mead, with her groundbreaking Coming of Age in Samoa, published in 1928, brought ethnography as a discipline of cultural anthropology into the public eye, and her methods spawned a long line of ethnographic treatises, which examine sub-cultures within societies. Recent examples include Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea and Helen Thornam’s Ethnography of the Videogame.

Advertisers and marketers quickly learned the value of ethnographic study, whether conducted in the home, the grocery store, or the office. Its value became more apparent when researchers noticed, especially in low involvement packaged goods, a huge gap between respondents “stated” and “observed” behavior.  To cite some examples from my own past, I learned that in focus groups respondents almost always underestimate the number of products they have in any particular category.  Ask a respondent how many kinds of cereal they have at home, a typical answer might be “Three – a healthy brand for my husband and me, one for the kids that’s low in sugar, and a “special treat” cereal” (Lucky Charms and Count Chocula always seemed to be in that category!).  Visit their home, and you’d invariably find six or seven boxes.  I’ve found the same holds true for salad dressing, shampoo, laundry soap and may others.  Consumers tended to “compartmentalize” and give the types of brands- low-fat, ranch, blue cheese, etc. rather than the actual number of products they have on hand.

It’s also human nature to want to appear in the best light in front of their fellow respondents.  I once did a focus group on couponing and I started off asking how often they used coupons.  The first respondent said that she rarely used coupons since money was no object when it came to buying the best for her family.  After that statement, the other respondents were unwilling to volunteer their amount of coupon use.  I was able to bring them around, but it took a bit of coaxing. To get to real truths and real behavior in many categories, a home visit or in-store observation is always in order.

In healthcare research, the danger of “compartmentalization” is ever-present.  In many conditions that we research, respondents in focus groups (and this includes both virtual on-line groups as well as in-person) tend to rationalize the effect of an illness on their lives.  You often hear, “It’s not so bad”, “I can deal with it”, “Hey, it could be worse, it’s not cancer!” While it is true that good moderators can break down natural defense mechanisms and barriers, often the real truths are revealed only when you are able to observe and interview a respondent in his or her home.  To give an example, I did a focus group several years ago with male patients with Type 2 diabetes.  There was a lot of rationalization and compartmentalization going on in the room (the fact that they were males may have had something to do with it).  I often recruit ethnographies from people I interview in focus groups, so I asked one respondent, Bill, if we could come to his house for a follow-up interview.  Mind you, Bill was very clear in the group that he was managing his diabetes and it hadn’t affected his life in any meaningful way.  When we got to Bill’s apartment, he showed us around I asked him if I could look in his fridge where he (I assumed) kept his insulin.

He replied, “Oh, I don’t keep my insulin here!”

“Well, where do you keep it?”

“At my mother’s apartment two blocks away.”

“Why is that?

“I don’t want anyone to know, especially a woman I might invite over, to have ANY idea that I have diabetes.”

Then the floodgates opened and he shared with us how devastating the diagnosis was, how it had affected his relationships, how he had gone from a slim weekend athlete to overweight, out of shape homebody.  He volunteered to take us shopping, and we watched him throw the items in the shopping cart punctuated by the statement  “Now this is what I’m forced to eat.”

Based on my experience with Bill, I now try whenever possible to convince teams of the value of in-home ethnographies.  I’ve done them for MS, psoriasis, thalassemia, OAB, osteoporosis and depression, to name a few.

As Atticus Finch said in To Kill A Mockingbird, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

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mark.stinson

What’s it like to be a PCP today–and what does it mean to our brand strategies?

Published by Mark Stinson on February 8, 2012.

Our job in Strategic Planning is to help clients gain a real-world insight into the customer’s world.  It’s easy to get too focused on our particular product category and forget how diverse, complex, and challenging today’s primary care practice has become.

To get an idea of what it is like to be a PCP today compared to 10 years ago, here’s how one physician described his daily schedule then and now:

Then:

7:00 a.m. — Meet your colleagues in the doctor’s lounge at the hospital for coffee, donuts, and conversation

7:45 a.m. — Made rounds to see patients

8:30 a.m. — Back to the lounge for more colleague interactions

9:45 a.m. — Saw patients in your office

Noon — Lunch with colleagues or a sales rep

1:45 p.m. — Back in the office to see patients

5:45 p.m. — Saw last patient

6:30 p.m. — Dinner meeting or meet up with colleagues for more interactions

Now:

7:00 a.m. —  Start seeing patients in your office

6:00 p.m. —  Conclude last patient of the day

After 6:00 p.m. —  Try to catch up with . . .

  • Paperwork
  • More paperwork
  • Case notes
  • Patient calls
  • Reading articles
  • Search for info on specific patient problems
  • Time with family

To understand the changes taking place, our Strategic Planning group worked with our colleagues at sister company, Campbell Alliance, to conduct an environmental scan that revealed 12 trends affecting PCPs today:

  1. The average face time for each patient is not always optimal.
  2. A generational gap among physicians leads to different treating behaviors.
  3. Sales reps are too product-focused and biased.
  4. Limited sales rep access to physician offices has a detrimental impact
    on sampling.
  5. The diabetes explosion has tremendously impacted the role of the PCP as well as their workload.
  6. The diagnosis and treatment of depression is very subjective and complicated, with a lot of trial and error.
  7. PCPs are expected to know more.
  8. There are more treatments for previously ignored conditions than ever before.
  9. Legislation will mandate the use of EMR, yet the systems are expensive and cumbersome.
  10. Public health policy and pressure to develop Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) continues to grow.
  11. Supply and demand will force PCPs to change the way they deliver patient care.
  12. Retail health clinics are encroaching on the PCP market.

To gain further insight, we conducted primary market research.  The purpose of the market research was to validate the impact (both emotionally and practically) of these current macro trends facing physicians.  We wanted to understand how their practice has changed, and also explore barriers to future change.  We uncovered their level of comfort within various therapeutic areas.  We also documented gaps and unmet needs of the “underserviced” physician.

Here are a few important observations that can be leveraged in solution development:

  • PCPs feel that less is more. They want to be better at what they do, but they don’t need more barriers to get there.
  • PCPs believe there is no single great source of credible, practical, and cutting-edge information on diagnosis and treatment they can access in a  timely manner
  • PCPs feel the primary value of sales reps is realized when a new product is introduced but could live without them. It’s the therapeutic approach they value.
  • PCPs want to do the best job they can for their patients in the limited amount of time they have to spend with them
  • PCPs are feeling more isolated than ever from their colleagues, limiting their learning from each other

photo credit: jasleen_kaur via photopin cc

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mark.stinson

Using Practice-Focused Research for New Product Conception

Published by Mark Stinson on October 10, 2011.

We all must keep up with trends – and even attempt to stay ahead – of new developments in health science, patient management, technology, evidence-based guidelines, reimbursement, and regulations.

That’s what makes the understanding of a physician’s practice such a critical component of product innovation.

With the array of information available now through journals, seminars, societies, textbooks, and online searches, it is understandably difficult to determine on your own what constitutes relevant current practice and what does not.

The first step in approaching this task may be to clarify the differences among basic research methodologies, and then to align different methodologies to answer different types of practice questions.

That said, qualitative research contributes a great deal of essential information.  With many of the techniques we use, it’s possible to explore attitudes, opinions, beliefs, perceptions, interactions, practice structure, and behaviors in various settings.

There are a variety of types or approaches to practice-focused research, here are a few types of qualitative studies I’ve found the most value from:

  • Case studies – the case study approach generally involves an in-depth examination or exploration of a single example. A case may be based on:
  1. an individual doctor’s established routine
  2. a group of physicians or researchers, who have created common protocols
  3. a hospital that uses a documented treatment algorithm or formulary
  4. a professional society which has published practice guidelines
  5. an event that exemplifies the experiences of the group

For example, we worked with a client with a treatment for a rare medical condition and reported an analysis of eight cases of practices. Specifically, we collected reports of in-office activities, interviews with generalists and specialists, patient notes, videotapes of interactions, and other materials. We gained valuable insight into the nature of diagnosis, patient communication, most important, ideas for product packaging and training before the brand launch.

  • Monitoring blogs and social media – with the emergence of blogs as a mainstream medium, it is wise to keep track of the blogosphere in your category.  You can gain real insights from the unedited comments and ideas from customers, competitors and influencers.
  • Online research – the infinite information available on the web makes it a central element of external idea sourcing. Key targets will include companies, university research, media, patent applications, and industry association events.
  • Non-customer analysis – considering their feedback as to why they do not select existing products, along with their suggested improvements, can often be more valuable than that your satisfied customers.
  • Advocate community – even though setting up an advocate community can be a major undertaking, it can allow users to interact naturally.  It offers an environment in which they can suggest valuable improvements.  And if you can’t create your own communities, look to leverage third-party sites where users congregate and interact.
  • Observational research – in this ethnographic approach, we gain a deeper understanding of the customers by watching their day-to-day process.  We can identify key drivers of both successful and sub-optimal protocols and product use.  It helps us develop a clearer picture of the future expectations and requirements for new products.  And we can explore actionable parameters for implementation. We go beyond asking the customer what they want, to seeing what they need to make life easier – and may not know they need it.

Using several sources (like interviews, site visits, internet postings, and case studies), you can create a rich description of practice.  And that can lead to understanding perceived strengths and weaknesses of current offerings, as well as essential components of prospective improvements.

That’s the value of practice-focused research as a start to the brand innovation process – and ultimately to brand liberation.

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bnasal

Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Quick

Published by Bob Nasal on September 29, 2011.

The title of this piece is good advice for the young lad in the nursery rhyme and likely for many organizations going through change. . You’re probably familiar with the saying, “To the victor go the spoils.” Now there’s a new twist on that message—“To the nimble go the spoils”—as explained in a recent journal article.1 It’s the authors’ contention that, in the business world, the victors will indeed be those who are nimble and who adapt.

Now, at first glance, I wasn’t sure how “new” this idea really is. Don’t you and I already know this? During the last two or three decades, there are myriad examples of nimble organizations eating the lunch of their slow-footed rivals. Think of the Japanese automakers who have grabbed large chunks of the US market from their Detroit rivals. Then think about what Netflix and Redbox have done to Blockbuster (remember them?). Corporate graveyards are home to multitudes of other companies who didn’t see the signs, who didn’t move fast enough, or who resisted change. So I’m thinking, what’s new?

The authors point to several factors that are either new or increasing in scope and/or intensity. These include: new technologies, greater transparency, globalization, huge volumes of changing information, and unpredictable environments. The result? Uncertainty—and uncertainty undermines the traditional approaches to strategy, which assume “a relatively stable and predictable world.” The authors assert that it’s no longer sufficient to try to produce competitive advantages by assembling the right competencies and resources to produce desirable customer offerings. They believe that sustainable competitive advantage, which is what we’re all pursuing, is born out of rapid adaptation.

So if adaptability is the Holy Grail, how do we acquire and practice it? The authors say we need four organizational capabilities:

  1. Ability to read and act on signals of change. The organization needs to tune in to signals from outside the organization, figure out what the signals are saying, and then act on them quickly and appropriately. Although this sounds straightforward enough, experience tells us that this is much easier said than done.
  2. Ability to experiment. To gain advantages, companies need to change the way they experiment and they need to broaden their experimentation. Technology can assist here, and the authors mention Procter & Gamble’s internal open-innovation networks that are used to solve technical design problems. They also describe the importance of dealing constructively with experimentation failures, tolerating them and even celebrating them.
  3. Ability to manage complex multi-company systems. Our own parent company (inVentiv) organization is an example of this type of system. In the authors’ view, strategies need to be created at the broad system or network level, not at the single-company level. The strategies must consider and include the full spectrum of players, whether they reside inside or outside the organization. Nokia is cited as a company that has suffered big-time because, unlike its competitors, it failed to successfully apply the systems approach to its strategies.
  4. Ability to mobilize. Organizations need to create the environments that encourage all of the factors (eg, communication flows, autonomy, flexibility, and risk taking) needed to become a successful adapter. Again, this is easier said than done—not all companies are willing or able to accomplish this. The article cites examples at Cisco, Whole Foods, and Netflix to show how companies successfully mobilize.

Maybe all of this reminds you of the stark survival imperative in the real-life world of nature, “Adapt or die.” It applies to us, too. So, returning to our nursery rhyme, if Jack isn’t nimble, he’s going to get burned. Likewise, if organizations aren’t nimble, they too run the risk  of getting burned. Makes sense to me.

Reeves M and Deimler M. Adaptability: The New Competitive Advantage. Harvard Business Review July-August, 2011; 135-141.
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smcgowan

Puppies, Melons, and Klout: Measuring Social Influence

Published by Susan McGowan on September 12, 2011.

I am influential about puppies.

I’m not talking about how I begged and pleaded with my husband until we adopted an incredibly wrinkly Chinese Sharpei (named Bartleby, if you must know), although I am proud of my persuasive wheedling. I’m talking about Klout, the social media influence scoring system, which lists puppies as one of the ten topics about which it deems me influential.

Klout analyzes each user based on a number of data points, compiled primarily from Twitter, but also such social media sites such as LinkedIn, Foursquare, and Facebook, and assigns each user a score of 1-100. The score is based upon three factors:

  • True Reach, or the size of your active audience. Although you may have 900 Twitter followers, how many of them are dead accounts or Eastern European spammers?
  • Amplification Probability, or the likelihood your message is being heard. When you talk, do your followers respond to you? Do they retweet you to their followers?
  • Network Influence, or how influential are your followers? Who is following you and what are their Klout scores?

In addition to your score, Klout charts which of your followers you influence the most, about which topics, and the rise and fall of your influence over a period of time (hint: don’t go on vacation).

So why should one care about a made-up number that tracks something so amorphous as social media influence? The team behind Klout hopes the score will become a form of currency. In the virtual cocktail party that is Twitter, where anyone with a computer can hobnob with anyone else, Klout wants to help separate the nobodies from the VIPs.

One such venture is Klout Perks, which brings together social media super users with marketers who want to amplify their brand. Because Klout makes it easy to identify which users have influence in which topics, marketers gives those users free samples or opportunities in hopes that they will talk about it to their network, although that isn’t required. Others are jumping on board the Klout bandwagon as well, with a casino in Vegas offering special amenities to guests with a high score and certain Facebook marketers allowing only influential visitors to view their ads.

In my family, adding a score to just about anything guarantees that we will try to play to win. Since my husband discovered Klout, he’s been on a mission to up his score and load his influence list with topics of his choosing (cocktails, the TV show “So You Think You Can Dance”, and, oddly, melon). His friends award him “+K”, bonus Klout points, and he returns the favor. Of course, he’s not the only one playing the system.

Those who thinks Klout matters have found ways to improve their score, such as by following large numbers of users, then unfollowing them a few weeks later in order to improve their following-to-followed ratio. Social media blogs recommend talking about things that are currently trending, in order to be part of already amplified conversations.

Just looking at my list of supposedly influential topics suggests there’s a flaw in the algorithm. Photography? I take pictures of my kids with my camera phone. Until I told it to stop, Klout believed me to be influential about Colorado—a state I’ve visited once as a child. My nanny just moved there, and I tweeted about that, but I didn’t influence her decision, nor was I trying to encourage anyone else to do so.

While I admit that it’s fun to compare my score to actual thought leaders and social marketing rock stars, Klout means relatively little to me. My score stems more from my too-frequent tweeting and conversational style than because I’m particularly influential beyond my small circle of friends. The real movers and shakers are likely found out in the world moving and shaking, not necessarily tweeting about it.

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dmarinacci

Introducing UP:ROOT

Published by Dawn Marinacci on August 25, 2011.

Earlier this week we launched a new insights magazine called UP:ROOT, a collection of articles offering our perspectives on the trends that are changing healthcare marketing. We hope you’ll take a read and gain valuable insight and knowledge about how we can better engage with brands and customers. The content was written by some of our most talented strategists, creative directors, planners, project managers, digital and social media experts. Oh, and our president. How’s that for a diverse set of thought leaders? We’d love to hear what you think are some of the upcoming trends in our industry, so let us know some of your thoughts by commenting on this post or by visiting us on Facebook at GSW_Worldwide.

Click on the picture to read UP:ROOT

Categories: Healthcare marketing innovations and Marketing trends and best practices
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bnasal

How can more connections help us?

Published by Bob Nasal on August 22, 2011.

It’s OK, don’t panic—we won’t have to deal with any more passwords. Because I’m not talking about electronic connections. Many of us already have that base covered. We can point to e-mail, IM, texts, blogs, feeds, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Linkedin, and many others. What I’m talking about is networking with other people face to face. And I realize this might be daunting for many of us, but it helps to be open to the possibilities. Let’s trust that we really can safely detach from our electronic screens for a little while and have meaningful conversations with people who can help us and grow us.

Networking—we’ve heard about it, and some of us even practice it. But I think we sometimes treat it the same way we treat the fine china in our cupboards. We know it’s there, we know it’s valuable, but we store it away most of the time—for any number of reasons. Then, on special occasions, we bring it out, make it sparkle, and make good use of it. Maybe we shouldn’t confine our networking in this way, restricting it to one “big” special purpose. Such as trying to move up within the organization (or out). Want to get promoted? Networking can help. But that’s a very narrow view of its potential.

Instead, consider networking on a continuing basis with smaller goals in mind. Aim for small victories. This can be helpful to you and your company. This is true even if we’re quite content to leave the corporate ladder-climbing to someone else. How so, you ask? In an article in the July-August 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review, authors Rob Cross and Robert Thomas identify  benefits of networking relationships as follows: they can help us get personal support, gain influence, reduce bias in our decision making, broaden our expertise, learn new skills, and find purpose and balance in our lives. I don’t know about you, but these sound like some exciting and worthwhile outcomes to me. Anyone think these benefits won’t lead to happier, healthier, and more-productive people?

The article presents study findings, questions to ask ourselves, networking dos and don’ts, and a process for developing a productive network. Although the ideas are slanted toward executive networking, there’s plenty of good advice for all of us. Such as:

  • Size isn’t that important. The quality of the relationships is more important than having a large number of surface-level relationships
  • Diversity is very important. Choose people at varying levels in the organization and in different parts of the organization; also include people outside the organization
  • When you can, choose people with positive energy, people who are “enthusiastic, authentic, and generous.” Some of that good stuff is likely to rub off on you
  • Avoid choosing people primarily because they’re a lot like you and so you’re comfortable with them; you want challenging talks and exposure to different points of view
  • Choose people who have knowledge or a skill set that you lack; push yourself beyond your safety zone
  • Select people who can provide one or more of the benefits listed above. In other words, match your contacts to your needs

Connecting in person and doing it regularly can generate rewarding payoffs. So if we think it’s something we can do that might help us, we should go for it. We really don’t have to wait for a special occasion to take networking out of our cupboards.

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ggoffe

Wanted: temptation free checkout lanes!

Published by Gretchen Goffe on July 18, 2011.

Who doesn’t love a party–time to get together, to chat and to share ideas with like-minded people? But busy Moms don’t always get that chance. So what do they do? Turn to social media and host their own “GNO (Girls Night Out)” Twitter Party, gathering every Tuesday night for some honest, touching and entirely relatable online sharing.

As a healthcare marketer, having all of these women gathered in one place–a natural question comes to our mind, “Tell us about your role as a family health guardian?” or what we like to call WellGuardian. And as we expected, they were off and running.

First of all, and not surprisingly, it isn’t an easy role. When asked what character they best related to, they had several interesting examples. Some women said they would like to be Jeannie (from I Dream of Jeannie)–wishing they had “the power to blink and make her kids like veggies.” Others say they felt like the Little Engine that Could–“always running uphill.” And then there was the always-popular Roadrunner—an example that speaks for itself (beep beep). Bottom line, we’ve got a long way to go!

As the WellGuardian, she’s the family health engine, so how about that family? They can easily derail her best plans. Example: the lightning fast “cart grab” the kids manage to do when you look away for a second. Hey, how’d those cookies get in our cart? Or at the dinner table when the vegetables mysteriously find a way off the plate and into a neighboring napkin (or cup, or pocket or the dog’s mouth).

Surprisingly though, women had better ideas than just “orange coning” the family, instead they wanted to engage them in health-conscious activities. Women found that when they involved their kids in choices, they got with the program. It could be an elaborate plan or one simple change. One family adds fresh spinach to their smoothies—the greener the better!

So how does she feel brands and retailers are doing to help her in her healthy quest? Women said “How can they really be about health if they still sell junk food?” “And place it at checkout?” If she ran the industry, here are a few things she would consider. What if, instead of tempting them with unhealthy treats, the stores offered extra rewards for healthy purchases on her rewards card? Or how about offering a temptation free checkout lane? These women also suggested ways for healthy shopping to become a collaborative and fun event such as a Mom’s shopping night with the ever-important wine samples. Or perhaps a Family Wellness Night–so the whole family can be involved in making healthy shopping choices.

Other Mom’s suggested combo displays in the supermarket like creating a display with soup, cold meds and Clorox wipes promoted together. As one Mom said, “I’m not much on soup, but cold meds next to Clorox will surely hook, line and sinker me!” Hmm, what if retailers organized circulars around health goals as opposed to just grouping similar items?

As our Twitter Party wrapped up, we were reminded how much you can learn when you listen without an agenda, even in 140 characters.

Categories: Health and wellness marketing and Marketing trends and best practices
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edavis

Artificial Intelligence

Published by Eric Davis on July 13, 2011.

When research resists reality, what’s the point?

Many years ago I was part of a team working on an osteoporosis drug for post-menopausal women.

One particular research task was a basic focus group of demographically appropriate women asked to evaluate the content and design of a waiting room poster.

A waiting room poster. You know, often found in waiting rooms.

The six women sat around a table in an interior room while the three poster designs were paraded, boxing-ring style around them before being placed on easels at the front of the room.

The moderator’s questioning asked such supposedly innocuous questions as “What, if anything, catches your eye?”, “Do you find anything appealing in these, where you might want to investigate closer?” or “Is there anything you dislike about them?”

From there, the discussion devolved into specifics … on a sub-atomic level.

We all consume advertising or communications individually, and make decisions about what we’ve seen or heard on a personalized basis. Any interpretation of messaging is a singular endeavor.  Now, we may consult one another on this stupid Super Bowl spot or that amazing immersive web experience, but we do so guided by our own prejudices and knowledge.

What this study design provided was a chance for our focus group to become a collective audience that merged opinions and ideals into a Frankenstein-like monster.

So is it any surprise the final poster was a hodgepodge of the initial three?

It’s simple: the study design was lazy. Traditional focus-groups are researchers’ path of least resistance — they get juicy, specific answers to unfortunately, the wrong questions.

Rather than design the test as the best simulation of a waiting room, in which one’s attention is a competition — between what is on the walls, what is in the three-month old magazines, what’s on Dr. Oz, and what’s on your phone, this testing scenario simply re-created the war room from Dr. Strangelove.

Rather than allow the audience to experience a traditional waiting room time (enough to absorb the world around them) followed by a transfer to an “exam” room where they were asked a consistent set of questions, they were shepherded into a large room, around a large table, given coffee and then left with open-ended queries that encouraged a solution to the “waiting room poster problem” that had suddenly developed.

This committee-ization of creative is designed to provide a safe haven for spineless brand managers — you know the type — those who lack self-esteem for any of their convictions. Those who choose a limited consensus over true, valuable feedback.

Isn’t there a better way to gauge reactions in a more realistic scenario?

The answer is quite simple: Choose a more realistic scenario.

• Research first. Why play catch-up after the fact when a better-informed strategy yields better-informed creative?

• Conversation and sharing are fantastic research tools when the problem is loosely-defined and answers can help narrow the field of creative and strategic directions … before you even begin creative process.

• Don’t present the work as a problem to be solved by your testing subjects.

• Hew to reality as much as possible. Testing a journal ad? Put it in a journal. Let it compete with other materials and diversions. If it doesn’t register at all with your subjects, that should tell you much more than a poster-sized version on an easel.

• One-on-one questioning can lead to more specific but varied results. That’s okay. Consensus building isn’t really the goal, however, if you must …

• … outliers are outliers for a reason. Just because one of 12 subjects mentions something, doesn’t mean it’s worth addressing.

• Remember you can’t read facial expressions in online vote-based testing. Oh, and anonymous subjects? They like to lie sometimes.

• Test-marketing (using the communications in a concentrated real-world setting) may tell you more than any contrived scenario.

• Remember again, it’s a focus group … not a decision group.

I often deride post-creative research as an expensive way to cover one’s ass. It doesn’t have to be that way. Smart, well-built and calculated research can yield great strategic and creative input.

Just don’t expect horribly real results from artificial intelligence.

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