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

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.