You’ve seen it before. An organization rushes to market with a new campaign or brand. And then, nothing. Or, even worse, the effort backfires.
What happened? Often, the campaign’s strategy was anchored to assumptions or knowledge – about the audience or the market – that may have been flawed, dated or flat-out wrong.
This is why we frequently advocate for some market research. It doesn’t need to be a huge investment. But a modest amount – either during planning or before you launch – can make a big impact on your efforts.
You can gain valuable perspective about your audience and their needs. Just a few focus groups can provide fresh insights into what your audience thinks about you or your category, and why. Qualitative research can reveal the real motivators that drive decision making, giving you the focus you need to develop more impactful campaigns.
You can identify any red flags or blind spots before you launch your campaign. The images, words or messages you’ve leaned on repeatedly in the past… sometimes it’s a good idea to “gut check” these with some creative testing (an online survey, perhaps) to make sure they are truly landing in the way you think they are.
You can gain greater confidence that your efforts will produce results. The learnings gained from a modest research investment can help give you – and stakeholders within your organization – some extra peace of mind that your work will be effective, and help set a baseline for expectations, too.
Of course, those are just a few examples. At 88, we apply our evidence-based approach every day to our clients’ communications efforts. If you’d like to learn more, contact Barbara Jurgens at bjurgens@88brandpartners.com.