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Friday, July 31, 2009

Is your company on the same page as your consumer?

A nearly insane project and travel schedule has made it a challenge to blog about trends this month. (Perhaps that, alone, is a trend!) But the ironic thing about travel is that it sometimes gives you more time to read, study, and observe.

One article I read with great interest this month came from the Research Brief at Media Post. It cited a study which illustrated a chasm between the thinking that goes on in the C-suite, and the thinking that goes through the mind of a consumer. It was one of my favorite reads of the month, and I invite you to review it by clicking here.

Implications: There’s only one way to understand what’s going on in the mind of your consumer.

Ask.

As you walk the floor of your retail store or auto dealership… or, if you’re in packaged goods or manufacturing, as you observe people who shop where your products are sold. Talk to people. But more importantly, listen to them.

Research can mean a wide variety of things: Focus groups, primary surveys, secondary (subscription) data, telephone or online surveys, or simple intercepts. There’s an old saying…

“What you know is important. But it’s what you think you know that ain’t so that can hurt you.”

Mike Anderson

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