OPINION8 November 2011

When it comes to research, the devil is in the detail

Should we really be surprised that most consumers would not care if most brands disappeared? Lyndsay Peck considers some ‘perplexing’ work on Meaningful Brands by Havas Media.

I read some interesting, if slightly perplexing, research today, which led with the fact that around 80% of brands are not regarded as beneficial to factors like health, happiness, financial security and environmental protection.

The research on Meaningful Brands, by Havas Media, was conducted among 50,000 people in 14 countries, including Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, the UK and US.

Some of the findings may have been superficially interesting but, when given thought, actually posed more questions than answers.

For example, the research was reported as saying that:

  • Most consumers “would not care” if 70% of brands were to “disappear”, while only 20% of brands were seen as having a positive impact on shoppers’ sense of wellbeing.
  • 30% of respondents in Latin America felt brands exerted a favourable role in their lives, totals falling to 8% in Europe and 5% in the US.
  • 65% of people had a “very strong attachment” to Coca-Cola, but only 35% thought it improved their quality of life.

But what does any of this actually mean?

Generally 20% of brands make up roughly 80% of any market – not only because they meet most consumer needs but because they also out-market the competition. It should therefore come as no surprise that most consumers “would not care” if 70% of brands were to “disappear”.

We have a mantra at Engage Research: “Just because we can ask something, doesn’t mean that we necessarily should.” When you are designing a piece of research, it is essential to keep it focused on actual business needs in order to deliver relevant customer insights that genuinely serve the company’s commercial objectives. Anything less and the relevance and value of the research have to be called into question.

A sound, fundamental understanding of consumer behaviour and market dynamics is what underpins most successful marketing strategies – but for such research to have any true value, it must deliver practical, tangible insights that can inform either new product development or marketing planning. Research always needs to go deeper than the headline-grabbing numbers.

Lyndsay Peck

@RESEARCH LIVE

4 Comments

Goos Eilander

13 years ago

I fully agree with this comment of Linday Peck on these outcome. Some things are better not asked, some things are better not concluded. That is: if you just take an answer for real, without interpretation. By now, researchers should realise that people simply cannot answer some questions truthfully. Ever heard of implicit and or projective systems?

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Anon

13 years ago

I have also read about that research and i think that Lindsay obersvations, while interesting, are missing the point. If companies, marketers or researchers think that they can sleep well knowing that most people would not care at all if their company and brand disappear tomorrow... i cannot figure out how this company will survive in today's consumer empowedered context. Besides, if they continue asking people the same sort of things they have done in the past 20 years, they will not discover nothing new that brings some light in today's uncertain context What i found interesting of this research is that it goes in depth and explores what concrete issues makes brands meaningful to people; from sustainability to those elements that contribute to people's well-being in all senses. I guess it is good to explore new territories of human well-being to start building a new model to make a difference

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Pat MacLeod

13 years ago

I hadn't seen the research before reading this article. Surely the results aren't that perplexing. Most brands aren't that beneficial to fundamental factors like health and most brands aren't ever intending to be. The results surely reflect the current economic situation in many western economies, where poeple are less concerned generally about nice-to-haves. Ask the same question when the economy is booming and the results, I suspect, would be different. As far as the need to keep research focussed on the actual business needs - of course it's absolutely vital to do that. I only skimmed the article in questionvia the link, but wasn't it an opinion poll rather than designed to inform new product development or marketing planning. Or am I missing something...

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Anon

13 years ago

Marketing in 'mostly fluff' shocker

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