Customer Research Invaluable But It’s Just An Input
A past client wanted to develop a brand strategy and also produce its first decent set of collateral material after being in business for over 20 years. I reported directly to the company’s President for this initiative.
I conducted many customer interviews and researched the clients’ competitors to inform the development of the brand strategy.
The management team eventually approved the tag line: “Whatever It Takes”. However, several months later the tag line discussion reemerged during a meeting as were were preparing to produce collateral. The client’s tag line for the three previous years had been, “To Make a Difference”. We developed the new tag line, “Whatever It Takes” to position the company as a team of deeply committed people who were relentless at delivering results: (versus positioning the company based on it technical competencies which was how all its competitors were selling themselves). When executives talked about the company, they often used these exact words to describe how they ensured work was completed to high standards, on time and on budget. The customer interviews also told us the real point of difference for the client was this attitude and deep commitment to customer service.
I felt we had a winning tag line that encapsulated their promise as a company and in three words provided a window into the psyche of this firm.
Much to my dismay, I felt the client was retreating into safe mode by wanting to reuse the same tag line they’d been using for the past three years. The President was shaking his head. Sensing panic, I suggested we run the two tag lines by clients who had previously participated in one-on-one customer research interviews to inform the discussion.
More surprise. Five of sixteen clients responded and here was their feedback:
Client 1: I prefer “To Make a Difference”. It’s classier. Not to be crude, but “Whatever it Takes” just sounds desperate.
Client 2: I think the ” Whatever it Takes ” implies taking short cuts , not following the rules. So I would go with ” To Make a Difference or simply ” Make a Difference ”
Client 3: OK … Neither of them work for me. “whatever it takes” while generally positive; can have several negative connotations; “not in control”, lack of ethics … “to make a difference”, doesn’t engage me at me at all, a slight variation “making a difference” is somewhat better but doesn’t target any specific audience
Client 4: I prefer: “To Make a Difference I think it sounds more professional and better represents what the company’s objectives.
Client 5: To make a difference.
So what to do? Was “Making a Difference” the winner?
I decided to speak to the President about the issue. I let him know about the results, but offered the following reasons as to why I was hesitant about the old tag line:
a) It was off strategy. We spent countless hours developing a brand strategy that determined we were to position the brand based on the company’s ability to service the heck out of their customers.
b) While “Making a Difference” resonated well with current clients , I felt it was an internally focused message that would not resonate well with prospective customers who were unaware of my client’s business.
c) My gut was telling me that “Whatever it Takes” was the right type of message, we had just chosen the wrong words to communicate the company.
We eventually settled on: “Outstanding People - Outstanding Results.” This message resonated better with the team, worked for clients and reinforced the commitment of their organization to meet their clients’ needs. Further discussion with clients suggested this tag line was a strong reflection of the company.
The customer research was invaluable because:
- The preliminary market research helped us to understand how the company was perceived by clients and how the company stood out versus competitors.
- The follow up interviews with clients was critical to understanding we missed the mark with the first tag line. While a sample of five is not statistically valid, zero for five suggests a trend.
Ultimately, the research helped me make the case to the management team to think differently about their business and pushed them out of the safety zone. Movement was made toward a renewed position that reinforced what the client was truly about.
Add comment January 8th, 2009
