Category Archives: consumer insight

May 15, 2012 · 8:54 am

Peripheral Vision for Successful Innovation

When most companies think of innovation, they think of overhauling their current product lines.  While that may not be a bad goal, taking a myopic

approach is typically self-limiting.  Taking a step back and looking at your product in the context in which it’s used (“peripheral vision”) can lead to more, high-potential ideas.  Let me give you an example.

I recently wanted to find a gym that my company could join.  Since this was not only for myself, but also for my employees, I spent some time finding

out what their interests and needs were for this opportunity.  Good exercise equipment (treadmills, ellipticals, weight machines, etc.) was a given.  A few other offerings made our wish list, and these items were compiled as well.    With that information in hand, we began looking and comparing.  The

closest gym to our office (proximity was high on the list of “needs”) had all of the exercise equipment that we needed, but had no locker room with showers.  Since our office does not have showers, this is a must to be practical.  We ended up joining a gym further away that could provide us with both the desired equipment and the locker rooms with showers. Interestingly enough, the first gym provided everything that was needed for fitness and exercise.  In fact, much of their equipment was state of the art in terms of design and innovation.  However they did not get our business. The

second gym used a bit of peripheral vision when designing their facility and realized that showers and a changing room, while not directly tied to exercise or fitness, were important features for their customers.

How could they take this peripheral vision concept a step further?  Providing showers allows customers to leave the facility clean, but what are they

lugging out with them?  A gym bag full of nasty, sweaty clothes.  These clothes can’t be worn again in their current state, so the exerciser must now keep them contained in their car and remember to wash them.   The act of exercising has caused the need for additional time and effort.   How much  would a gym separate themselves from the pack by expanding their offering?  Why not provide members with a locker and laundry service?  Imagine putting your sweaty clothes in a bin when you were done and finding them washed, dried and in your locker upon your next visit?  This could be an optional, up-sell service.  How many customers would pay a monthly premium to not have to deal with the extra laundry or to have the ability to go to the gym

on a moment’s notice knowing they’ll have clean workout clothes waiting for them?  While a laundry service has even less to do with fitness than a shower does, this compelling offering would satisfy even more unmet needs of their customer.

What approach are you taking with your business?  Are you just keeping your core offerings competitive?  Or are you looking at the bigger picture of your consumers’ unmet needs?  The next time you embark on an innovation project, try the peripheral vision approach.  It will open up many opportunities that you would not otherwise consider.

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February 9, 2012 · 10:30 am

With a commodity, innovate big or go home!

For every “Apple” type company in America, there are  dozens (hundreds?) of companies that operate in a low-interest, commodity realm.  Many of these organizations will work hard to develop new products, but lack the ability or courage to do so in a bold way.  As a result, they are often frustrated at the lack of tangible results from their innovation efforts.  In their minds, the improvements they have brought to market are exciting and clearly meet the unmet needs of their consumers.  So why the low level of market success?

For many of these categories, the three hours the company spends brainstorming new ideas is more time than their consumers spend thinking about the same category over their entire lifetime.  As a result, the bold new improvement the company provides goes completely unnoticed by the marketplace.  Think about this for a moment.  On a given Saturday you find yourself in the midst of an unexpected home plumbing project (that does happen to people other than me, doesn’t it?).  You realize you need a Monkey Wrench.  You drive to the store, go to the plumbing department and are looking to buy right now.  You see a tag hanging from a given wrench that claims “50% better than our previous design”.  You’ve never owned a Monkey Wrench (I don’t think the things actually wear out, do they?), so you have no preconceived notions of the problems that existed before.  You can’t visually distinguish between this new “better model” and the competitor next to it on the shelf…  You can’t compare the new with the old, so that doesn’t help.   My guess is you probably make your decision based on price.  The Monkey Wrench company looks at their sales over the next two quarters and sees that they have experienced no significant increase in volume, and they decide that their innovation efforts were a wasted investment.

So the question is… Is it wrong to invest in ongoing product improvement?  No.  In most commodity situations that level of investment is required to maintain the shelf space that you currently have at retail.  But recognize it for what it is; maintenance.  If you want to drive growth, you have to innovate in a big enough way to first bring attention to your (oft-neglected) category.  You have to provide a benefit that spans well beyond what the traditional product has offered.  As an example… What if the Monkey Wrench company focused on expanding the usage of this now highly specialized tool?  What if with some reconfiguration and new design, this same product could benefit a consumer across various projects within their home?  If this became the next “must-have” tool, people would talk about it, it would appear in magazines and on cable shows and pretty soon people would come to the retail aisle in search of it.  What would the return on that innovation investment be?

The bottom line is this.  Companies that find themselves in a commodity status cannot afford the luxury of incremental innovation.  If they’re not making a big enough difference to attract attention to their category first and to their product second, their efforts will be wasted.  A design change that seems huge to the product managers in charge, may go completely unnoticed by the paying consumer.  It’s got to impact their lives in a significant way to get their attention.  Innovate big or go home!

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September 7, 2011 · 12:28 pm

Couples as consumers…

In the past few years, we have interviewed literally hundreds of consumers about a variety of products and services.  Some of my favorite interviews take place with couples.  I’m convinced you get the most “truthful” feedback when you interview two people (in relationship) as opposed to just one.  It’s not that anyone is trying to be deceitful, but people don’t always see themselves (or their own behavior) in the truest of light.  They portray themselves in an idealized manner, either consciously or not.  When we do the same interview with a consumer and their partner, discrepancies will often be called into the light.

Just yesterday we were interviewing a couple about their past purchases of a new product and it’s ongoing usage.  The outspoken husband was telling us in great detail about how he uses a given product.  I noticed his wife making some subtle reactions, but remaining quiet.  Before long, she couldn’t contain herself any longer, and jumped right into the conversation.  ”That’s not at all what you do”, she said.  Then she went on to give her perspective on his product usage.  Naturally, this led to quite a debate between the two of them.  When the discussion finally wound down, they both agreed that the actual behavior was somewhere between what either of them recalled on their own.

This illustrates two points.  First, the best path to consumer understanding is real time, in-context observation.  However, this is not always possible or practical. The second point is, people don’t always see themselves in a true light.  Having another on hand to interact with can bring you closer to reality.

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January 19, 2011 · 4:23 pm

Why Innovation Won’t Work in Your Company – Part 3 Lack of Champions

 

 

An innovative idea without a champion behind it is doomed.  I wrote in my last post about  risk aversion tendencies of middle management within most organizations.  There is an exception to that rule.  If an individual in the organization comes up with an idea himself, he might be willing to take some chances to see it through.  Call it personal pride, or tenacity… No one wants to see an idea that they think is tremendous die due to bureaucracy or company politics.  I know the guy at Delta Faucet that came up with the concept of the Touch Faucet.  He recognized that consumers need to be able to turn water on and off at the kitchen sink when their hands are really dirty (think chicken slime).  Some preliminary research showed that when people were doing certain types of food preparation, they would use their elbows or a paper towel to turn the water on/off, to prevent contamination of the faucet handle.  Obviously, this led to some very awkward movement.  So he developed a means of simply tapping the faucet with your wrist or forearm, and have the water turn on, allowing you to wash your hands without worry of spreading bacteria.  Even upon first hearing this, it sounds like a fantastic idea, doesn’t it?

But like most companies, Delta Faucet has a lengthy process to get new product concepts into the marketplace.  Along the way there are many points where various experts weigh in with their individual opinions.  Many concerns were raised… “You can’t mix electricity with a faucet!”, and “This will be way to complex of an install for anyone to be interested in”, and finally (my favorite), “That will be at a price-point beyond what consumers will pay”.  As he tells the story, this project was “killed” three different times during the course of its development.  However, he was not willing to let a good idea die.  Every time the project was killed, he would personally resurrect it and through dogged determination pushed onward.  Fast forward a couple of years and the product is on the market, and exceeding all sales expectations by several hundred percent.  Champions don’t let projects die.

Unfortunately, the case above is far too rare.  Most companies shoot down ideas like the Dilbert cartoon above.  My friend took a risk on this project.  Had it gone to market and not been successful, he could have lost his job.  Fortunately in this case, we’ll never know.  But the real question is this.  Does your company support and enable product champions?  It’s never a job title, it’s a passion.  Are people encouraged to take risks?  What is the upside and the downside for them as individuals?   No one is suggesting that you bring every wacky idea to market, but do you have an infrastructure where top ideas can have an owner?  I’ve even seen situations where concepts of open innovation have been applied, and the true champion is not even an employee – he’s an outside contractor managing a project to fruition.  However you get there, know this.  No breakthrough product will ever see the market without a champion.  Do you have yours?

 

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August 9, 2010 · 9:50 am

Where are we headed?

I considered myself a pretty social kid.  I loved to hang out with my friends and would do so at every opportunity possible.  If we had an issue that needed to be discussed, we would do so face to face.  We’d use the (land-line) phone to arrange our outings, but the joy was in being face to face.

I remember working with a corporate product team about ten years ago.  Most of the members of that group were in their mid-twenties at the time.  We had an evening at a resort hotel (where our meeting was being held) and we were all sitting around a table by the pool enjoying drinks and recapping the day.  But I distinctly remember being continually interrupted by the ringing of cell phones.  And, every time one would ring, the person would answer it.  It didn’t matter if we were in mid-conversation, suddenly the person on the other end of the phone was more important than the group that was gathered there first hand.  It’s not as if these were emergency calls, they were just “other friends” that suddenly rose to the top of the priority list.

Today that has become less of a problem.  Because I’m not sure young people even talk anymore.  Texting has completely overtaken the culture.  According to a recent

Reuters news report, one-third of US teens that have a phone text 100 times per day!  The article goes on to say “Text messaging has become so much a part of teenagers’ lives that 87 percent of those who text said that they sleep with, or next to, their phone.”  Try having a conversation with any teen and see if you can get through it without them sending or receiving texts to a third party.  It’s highly unlikely.

I’m honestly not sure if this is a natural migration of technology, or the result of cell phone pricing plans (where talking minutes have been more expensive than unlimited text plans).  But regardless of the cause, I wonder where this will take us as a society.  Face to face communication involves things like verbal and non-verbal communication.  You can tell by someone’s tone if they are being serious or sarcastic.  The tempo of their words can depict their urgency.  A pause in a conversation conveys thoughtfulness.  None of these can easily be picked up when texting.  Through my sons (in their early 20′s), I have seen several cases of misunderstandings via texting that have led to hard feelings, needless arguments and sudden anger.  I have a  friend that is a High School English teacher that complains that students have a hard time writing in full sentences anymore.  And punctuation?  Forget about it.

At my company, we observe people to discover needs and develop products to satisfy those needs.  I can’t help but think if we were to do a study on texting, we would recommend a multi-phase approach.  What if people could actually “talk” to one another instead of just reading fragmented sentence bursts?  And as a longer term approach, what if they could actually spend time together and “converse” with one another to really gain knowledge and understanding…

I just have to wonder.  Is this a situation where the technology pendulum has just swung too far?

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April 13, 2010 · 2:19 pm

Innovating marriage?

Call it a professional curse.  But everywhere I look, I see opportunities to do things differently than the way they currently are.  My oldest son is engaged and is in the midst of planning for a wedding this summer.  Okay, realistically his fiance is planning the wedding, but he’s definitely along for the ride.  Though they are looking to have a (relatively) modest ceremony, I am absolutely blown away by the number of decisions and details they are having to deal with months in advance.  Truth be told, it seems there are many hours invested for every minute of the actual wedding plus reception.  And I realize that theirs is a very simple ordeal compared to those you can see on such awe-inspiring television shows like Bridezilla.

According to the website Soundvision.com $72 billion is spent per year on weddings in the USA alone.  The average wedding budget in 2006 was over $27,000.  To me these numbers are staggering.  But think of the soundness of this investment.  According to divorcerate.org,  50% of marriages will end in divorce.  The way I calculate things, that tells me that $36 billion/year are essentially wasted on a single afternoon or evening’s entertainment that holds no long-term results…  It’s really like throwing a victory celebration before the race even begins.  And let’s be honest, in some cases the “entrants” never really get out off of the starting line.

Before I go any farther, I want to make one point clear, I am absolutely pro-marriage.  I have been happily married to my high-school sweetheart for nearly 28 years.  My parents have been married for over 65 years, and my wife’s parents enjoyed their 50th anniversary before her father passed away.  Marriage is a fine institution.  So maybe it’s weddings that I am actually questioning…

So here’s my idea.  What if (as a culture) we stopped spending soooo much money on an “uncertain” event and shifted our thinking to the celebration of successful marriages?  In other words, a wedding would be a simple ceremony attended only by immediate family.  It could either be held in a religious setting or a secular setting, depending on the views of the couple.  It would still be nice to have “showers” (like baby showers) for the couple to help them get started, but the ceremony itself would be greatly downplayed.  Then, our tradition could shift to having “milestone celebrations”, thrown by the couple themselves.  As an example, after 10 years of marriage, the couple could throw a party and invite whoever they would choose.  It could include dinner, dancing and all the amenities.  It would be easier for the couple to afford such a thing (knowing for 10 years in advance, they could be saving for it), and would put less stress on the parents (who often have to fund a wedding with relatively very short notice).  The couple could throw an additional party after 25 years of marriage (probably less enthusiastic dancing, but better food and drink), again, having had an additional 15 years to save for the event.  I’m still in favor of those that make it to 50 years having a party thrown by their kids.  Two big parties thrown by a given couple should be enough!

What a shift in thought…  Instead of toasts being about two individuals coming together, they could be about highlights of the marriage as observed or enjoyed by others.  Children could see their parents celebrating and being honored for working through the tough times and seeing a very positive role model for themselves.  It would feel like a victory celebration that was well deserved.

I know this post had nothing to do with running a business or innovating a product line…  But I can’t help but think there’s a better use for the $36 billion a year spent on a passing event.

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February 11, 2010 · 3:37 pm

A taste of their own medicine (#2 of 2)

Well, the meeting went extremely well… and so did the shopping exercise.  We divided the participants into four teams and sent them out with a challenge.  Each group was sent to a local “big-box” retailer, with a specific challenge in hand.  The first team was sent to Petco to purchase cat food for a a cat with FUS (feline urinary syndrome), the second group was sent to Autozone to purchase wiper blades for a 1990 Isuzu Trooper, the third group to Hobby Lobby to buy an artist’s brush for details in oil painting and the final group to World Market to purchase a “not-sweet” wine to be served with fish.  Each group was screened to ensure they had minimal interest / knowledge of their assigned goal.

All three groups came back with products in hand, and shared their adventure with the group at large.  In each case, they spoke of the frustration of being in an unfamiliar “sea of product” with little or no direction in terms of navigation.  After much searching and questioning of sales associates, they finally found a suitable product.  But it turned out to be a great tool to create empathy for the customers of their product.  As we discussed the situation, I assured them that the respective product managers of each of the products they were looking for felt that a purchase within their category was quite simple.

As we got into the redefinition of their retail space, the exercise kept coming back into the discussion.  A simple little experiment, but it seemed to make a big impact.  In what ways do you attempt to empathize with your customers?  Is there something you can try that can provide you with a perspective different than your own?  If you could really understand the issues your customer faces, what would you do differently.

Sometimes it’s as simple as putting yourself in an unfamiliar situation and trying something new.

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January 14, 2010 · 9:40 am

Consumer research ala Columbo

There’s no doubt in my mind that the greatest television detective of all time was Columbo.  Unwary suspects would write him off as an idiot, never realizing that with each “goofy question” he was actually coming closer to collaring them as the killer.  It occurred to me recently that interviewing consumers in the context of their home or office is really not much different than the styles depicted in this classic tv show.  We will get no better results asking a person “What new product would you like to see on the market”, than the detective would get by asking “Did you kill this person”?.  While consumers are not trying to mislead us, they are just not capable of answering some questions.

Think about Columbo’s style.  He would take in his surroundings.  He would look for contradictions.  He would follow his instinct and test notions that he came up with.  Successfully getting the Voice of the Consumer should include all of these same tactics.  You won’t get a nugget of truth by following a rigid script, nor through sheer repetition from one consumer to the next.  You gain true insights by following leads wherever they take you.  That is why talking with consumers in context is so critical.  In a focus group, you can only rely on what you hear.  When in a home, you can compare what you hear with what you are seeing.  If there is conflict, it is time to probe.  It is often in the resolution of the conflict that true learning occurs.

Don’t be afraid to go Columbo the next time you are seeking information.  Who cares if the interviewee thinks you’re an idiot?  At a minimum, that will put them at ease since they won’t feel like you are judging or evaluating them in any way.  And most likely, it will surface key information that can help you develop successful new products or services.

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January 5, 2010 · 12:40 pm

I’m a customer too!

I typically blog about consumer needs, and various insights regarding the Voice of the Customer.  In this edition, I find myself venting as an outraged customer.  I am a huge fan and season ticket holder for the Indianapolis Colts.   If you follow sports at all, you have surely read about the “controversy” surrounding sitting the starters in the third quarter against the New York Jets.  The result of this decision was a loss and the elimination of a chance to pursue a perfect season.  The cited management reason for doing this dealt with viewing the “big picture” and protecting the starters to keep them healthy for the playoffs, in hopes of pursuing another Super Bowl victory.  Much has been written about this event and people have come down on both sides of the issue.  I know this was over a week ago, but I’m still miffed and I want to deal with this from a “customer-oriented” perspective.

Why does the NFL exist at all?  It is at its core entertainment.  People (customers) are willing to pay good money to be able to watch a game.  Ultimately, if there are no paying customers, the very product (NFL) will go away.  I was at the game against the Jets.  Since the starters played into the third quarter, everyone assumed they were going to play for the win.  When they pulled the starters out and put in the second string, it was a strong slap in the face to those that had paid to be there.  Essentially it was as if management was saying “It’s not that we don’t value you (the fans here today), but we’re pulling our starters out because there is a more important event coming up where people will pay more to see them… And by the way, you probably won’t be invited to that game.  Can you imagine any other situation where you pay top dollar to see a show only to find that they have substituted the entire cast for back-ups?

I can understand the need to plan for the future and not be short sighted.  In fact, had the Colts lost a single game during the season, no one would have questioned this move at all.  But this was the chance to be a part of something legendary.  Why is that not big picture?  Few people can remember who won the 1994 Super Bowl.  But most football fans can immediately point to the 1972 Dolphins that went undefeated and won the SuperBowl.  Recent polls with NFL players that have won multiple championships showed that almost all of them would trade in one SuperBowl ring for the chance to go undefeated.  That’s how important it would be to them.  NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been inundated by complaints from fans to the point that he’s actually thinking of trying to change this situation in the future.

But for now, I’m just one customer, with just one voice.  And I know no one is really listening.  While the NFL is a behemoth today, it had better pay attention to it’s fan base.  If this is allowed to erode, it could head to a very unpleasant future…

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December 3, 2009 · 3:48 pm

How to choose the ultimate Christmas gift

Think back to the great gifts you have received in the past…   They probably weren’t something you specifically asked for.  In fact they were probably a surprise.  But the fact they were unexpected alone did not make them a memorable gift; we all have drawers and shelves filled with well-intentioned “misses” that haven’t seen the light of day since we received them.  Great gifts are not always expensive gifts, sometimes it’s quite the opposite.

So what do great gifts have in common?

  • They came from somebody close to you that knows you well
  • They satisfied a need that you have, either physical, emotional or spiritual
  • You know that the person who gave you the gift put considerable thought into the present

I asked a coworker about great gifts he had received.  He told me that several years ago his wife bought him a mantle clock.  He had mentioned to her some time before that his grandparents had a clock on their mantle when he was young.  He lived with these grandparents for a period while his parents were going through a messy divorce.  It was a trying time in his life, but he took great comfort in the love and security he received from these beloved relatives.  When he hears the chiming of a mantle clock, it immediately brings him back to that place of happiness amidst the strife that was going on around him.  It had never occurred to him that he would like a clock of his own, but his wife recognized this opportunity and sought one out.  To this day, when his clock chimes he can’t help but think of the family that loved him through a very tough time, and it warms his heart.

We’re often unaware of or unable to express the specific needs that we have.  Therefore there’s nothing like receiving something that brings us to a more positive place, that we didn’t even recognize we were longing for.  We all have wish lists that we share with those around us.  But realistically, within a few months of the holiday, how many of us can even remember the items we received that we specifically asked for.  But the gifts that were selected for us based on our observed needs… Those we  remember forever.

I’m making it a real point this year in shopping for my loved ones to take this approach.  I may get a few gifts from their list, but I’m also really trying to think about them as individuals, their lives, their specific needs.  I spend a lot of my waking time with my family, and know what brings them joy and what causes them stress.  Can I provide a gift that relieves them of a burden?  Can I (like my co-worker’s wife) take them back to a wonderful time and place?  Can I somehow make their life simpler or easier?   No, I’m not talking about buying a higher powered vacuum for my wife, but is there something that would touch her in a meaningful way?

Shopping for Christmas is really no different than developing new products and services.  It’s all about going beyond the obvious and touching on the points that matter.  What do you see that your customer really needs?  How can you make their life better?  As we approach the new year, it may be time to shift our thinking from providing only products that they ask for and think in terms of solutions that they will remember for a long time to come.

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