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Strategic
Issues
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FINDING
YOUR 8008 — LISTENING TO THE CUSTOMER FOR SUCCESSFUL MARKETING
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The
standard techniques of listening to the customer are
useful when the rate of change in the market is continuous.
But when the change is discontinuous — also known
as paradigm change — customers cannot foresee it.
I wonder whether any amount of listening to the customer
would have resulted in predicting that New Titan would
overtake HMT.
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we
make every day: which toothpaste, which newspaper, which
dress, which road and so on. Many of these decisions
are taken neither consciously nor logically. Yet, the
industry spends millions every year finding logical
answers to such questions through administering questionnaires.
On top of that it spends much more to act on those answers!
Very often, it is best not to ask but just watch. That’s
why a test market site, however badly organised, is
a better indicator because it gives observable conclusions
rather than mere verbal responses.
Statistics also mislead if used blindly. Aggregate averages
frequently smother the very data you are looking for.
During the new product testing of TV sets at Onida,
I found that about half the respondents said they had
no problems with the sound output whereas the others
wanted more wattage. Pretty soon we realised that there
were two different segments with respect to the sound,
and changed our range development strategy accordingly.
Instead of remaining personally present, had we looked
only at the averages, we would have developed middle-of-the-road
products which would have been neither here nor there.
Always beware of what you are averaging.
Many times the insights are hidden in the individual
comments. But, paradoxically, it takes years of exposure
to customer knowledge gained over time that permits
you to recognise such nuggets hidden in the individual
responses.
Consumer insights woven into campaigns like the Clinic
shampoo anti-dandruff campaign ‘Dare to wear black’
did not happen easily. In fact, great ideas do not come
in well-verbalised concepts from customers. Firstly,
the latter are not always completely aware of everything
that drives them to do what they actually do. Secondly,
they are not good articulators of even what they know.
The best ideas come when internal managers — honed by
years of experience and consumer exposure — see something
and say ‘Aha!’. Neither Sony’s Walkman nor Honda’s hatchback
car design nor our Nirma or Rasna came out as customer
expectations from any survey designed to find unmet
needs. They all came out of an entrepreneurial flair
which was solidly grounded in exposure to the market
and industry. Listening to Paradigm Change is Different
Lastly, let’s not think that we must listen only to
the customers. Customers cannot tell you everything
you need to know. The standard techniques of listening
to the customer are useful when the rate of change in
the market is continuous. But when the change is discontinuous
— also known as paradigm change —customers cannot foresee
it. I wonder whether any amount of listening to the
customer would have resulted in predicting the changes
that have actually occurred in the Indian market, eg:
* Cell phone technology overtaking pager technology.
* The New Titan segment swiftly overtaking HMT l Reynolds
ballpens going into new channels like grocery/chemist
outlets
* Audio giant Philips being unable to become leader
in BWTV
* BWTV leaders EC/Dianora/Telerad/Solidaire being unable
to lead in CTV
* New BIS rules for packaged water making small brands
unviable
For anticipating such changes, it is better to rely
on experts rather than customers. Experts have the advantage
of not only knowing the customers but also other forces
shaping the industry, and can extrapolate their observations
in one field onto another field. Two types of experts
who can be easily tapped but are often ignored are the
dealers and after-sales service personnel. In fact these
are the only two cadres in any company that are in daily
contact with many customers and have pretty good ideas
on what needs to be done. Symphony of Ahmedabad is the
only company I know which actually formed a board of
dealers which met quarterly to advise the board of directors..
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