Blog 7 - Michael Shermer

Every morning millions of people wake up and watch the news. Every morning millions of people read their newspaper with their cup of coffee. We look to these sources to find out what is going on in the world around us. We are not able to witness each event that takes place so we trust others to communicate what happens and tell us what to believe, feel, and think. Michael Shermer, in his discussion, introduces the idea that people will always believe what you tell them. ‘Grainy information’ makes for a grainy conclusion that people will often buy into.
Shermer argues that people are getting smarter, however why is it that people will believe whatever they hear? Most people do not question the things they see. If someone is told that a product will perform a certain task, we have the faith that it will. Even when the Virgin Mary’s outline appeared on a building no one thought to investigate the situation further. Common sense, as Shermer demonstrated, would show that something as common as a sprinkler head and palm tree could be the creator of this ‘miracle.’ Yet why did no one else think to discover what was really going on? We are quick to believe whatever someone tells us.
The news portrays top stories in the way they want people to perceive them. They provide the ‘grainy information’ so that we have enough to paint a fuzzy picture, but not enough to truly see what is there. I thought Shermer’s discussion was particularly interesting in the second half. He demonstrated how we naturally all see faces in everything we look at. Without someone else pointing at a ‘face on the moon,’ it is hard to draw the conclusion on your own. However, the minute someone else points out the happy face that is all we focus on.
In relation to marketing and customer insights, Shermer’s position connects the power that marketers have to influence their customer’s decisions. We are able to feed information, in a particular way, to a particular group of people. We are telling them things that might not necessarily be true, but that we deem it important for them focus on. If a marketer does not point out the freshness of a certain product or mention the convenience of a service, people are unlikely to think that the product is fresh or the service is convenient. As marketers, we are quick to decide that other people are like us. We immediately assume they want to hear the things we like best. We deem what we believe most important and capitalize on that aspect.
While conducting research, I think we are all quick to make assumptions about the observations we are gathering. Our own biases start to influence how we judge certain situations. We might be observing a family in their home and we begin to see things that really are not there. If we are told to look for something particular, we are often blinded by anything besides the thing we are looking for.
As consumers, we do not know who we really are or what we really want. When we see something we believe it. And when we often describe who we are and the things we do, we are usually describing ourselves in terms of who we wish we were, not who we really are. Marketers often spin a product to reflect what they think costumers want. However, most of the time the assumption is wrong. Consumers have communicated what they would buy in a hypothetical situation, but in reality they are not likely to do what they say. Consumers are easily influenced by the smallest factors just as marketers are easily fooled.
The audio example Shermer played in his lecturer completely demonstrates his point. Listening to the song backwards, most of the students only caught the word Satan. Once Shermer told them what hidden messages were in the song, people were able to differentiate one word from another. And they believed it! As a marketer, we must be aware of the story we are trying to tell our consumers and what story will influence them to purchase more.

Blog 6 - Free Topic - The Hard Part of Customer Insights

“Many enormous new markets are being identified in the United States, and many Guerilla marketers are enjoying record-breaking profits by aiming at these markets.” This statement was made by Jay Conrad Levinson in, Guerrilla Marketing. Levinson is a Guerilla marketing expert and demonstrates his experience through many examples and stories. I found this particular quote interesting because it refers to the wide range of consumer choice in the market today. As I have discussed before, Chris Anderson, the author of The Long Tail, describes the power in the infinite number of niche markets in the world. A marketer has the option to target whom ever he wants, whenever he wants, however he wants.
With the invention of technology, it is now possible for consumers to purchase products with very little effort. They can find any product they want. They have the access and capability to buy the latest trend or search for a rare vintage item. No matter how popular the item is or was, there is a strong chance that a consumer can find it. As marketers, how do we decide who to market our products to? How do we decide the most effective way to reach our target audience and persuade them to visit our store, website, or service? With an infinite number of choices, from a consumers view, it seems that marketers have really discovered what their consumers need. But how do marketers discover a new insight when consumers already have everything they could dream of?
I think one of the biggest challenges in customer insights is a consumer’s inability to articulate what they really need. They can dream big and tell you what they wish they had, but 10 out of 10 times they are telling you about something that already exists. For example, a customer might say, I really wish I had that new Blackberry. When you ask why they start rattling things off like, well it has a calendar on it or the internet is super fast. It takes an experienced marketer to analyze the true reasons behind wanting a calendar or fast internet on your phone. Most of the time it is not this simple to pull away the underlying need from a consumer’s statement. Consumers are not really sure what they need and they do not know how to effectively articulate that. As consumers, we believe we are being offered everything. Like Levinson states, “Satellite and cable TV will grow rapidly, as will the galaxy of choices available.” From a consumer’s perspective, we have what we need. We are not thinking about the products or services that could be offered. Instead, we are thinking about the ones currently available to us.
I love the example of customer insights demonstrated in ‘7 Eleven Gets Sophisticated.’ The article describes how gas station pumps were once without a credit card slot. Consumers have used credit cards for a significant amount of time. It had never dawned on anyone to add a card slot to the pump, saving consumers tons of times. (Not to mention creating higher revenues for the gas stations!) Consumers did not know how to ask for such a thing because it was beyond their realm of thinking. But now consumers could not imagine a life without such a simple service. We are able to tell marketers what we like and what we don’t like, but we cannot seem to tell them what we actually need or why we need it, until after it has been produced.
As the world of choice continues to expand and grow, customer insights are also growing more and more important. Without the ability professionals have to analyze the true needs of their consumers, we would be living in a world with no innovation. It is customer insights that drive consumer choice and freedom. It is customer insights that find a way to make the things we already have better. And it is customer insights we have to thank for delivering the products and services we never even knew we needed.

Blog 5 - Free Topic - The Sonic Experience

Sonic has started an advertising campaign that features two people, either two male friends or a married couple, that debate over a selected menu item while sitting in their car, at one of the Sonic menu stands. When I first saw one of these commercials I thought it was just a random advertisement meant to make people laugh. The commercial, unlike many others, does not put a product in front of your face and tell you why you should have it or why you can’t live without it. Sonic’s unorthodox approach combines a little bit of product with a whole lot of humor to entice consumers to stop by the restaurant.
My favorite Sonic commercial is called “Cran-tastic.” The commercial features one of the Sonic guys sitting in the car with his wife in the passenger seat. Both of them are holding Sonic drinks, and the female starts the dialogue by saying, “This cranberry ice tea is really good!” The male then says, “It’s CRAN-TASTIC! You know who would love this?! My CRAN-Mother or your CRAN-Emma, and they would have a great CRAN-Versation about it.” The male adds ‘cran’ to the beginning of every word he uses, emphasizing the special flavored tea they are both drinking. After debating and bantering for a few seconds CRANBERRY ICE TEA is flashed across the screen in big red letters. An advertising voice comes on describing the fresh tea as images of cranberries and the fountain drink being poured over ice are flashed on the screen. At the end three flavored teas are displayed, followed by the Sonic logo. The theme for all of the Sonic commercials is very similar. The pair debates about one item in a humorous way, and then the food item is flashed on the screen.
After discussing many sides of customer insights in class, I now realize what Sonic is attempting to do with their advertisements. They are creating a certain experience to influence consumers and reflect their brand personality. The article “A Framework for Managing Customer Experiences” showcases the different ways that companies construct an experience for their target market through advertising and marketing. Sonic is using different SEMs to reach a wide audience. First, Sonic is using sense in their commercials by actually showing the product to consumers. We see the cup, we see the drink being poured, and we see the fresh cranberries that go into the drink. We cannot smell or touch the drink, but the visual effect created leaves our taste buds wondering what the drink might taste like. Second, Sonic is using feel to evoke a certain level of humor among customers. Sonic is not a formal dining eatery. Sonic is known for being a convenient, casual hangout. Adding humor to the commercial reflects the entire Sonic atmosphere and makes consumer feel light-hearted and fun. The commercials are also using think on a small degree because viewers start to think about the different ways they could possibly use ‘cran’ with other words. Last, consumers can relate to the commercials because we all view our ideal selves as humorous, charismatic people. We all want to feel apart of a community, and the Sonic commercials make viewers want to be apart of the fun!
I think Sonic is doing a great job of building their brand image while creating a consistent experience for their consumers. The experiential providers they are using, such as the way they are communicating, the product presence at the end of the commercials, and the people displayed in the ads, are all something that customers can identify with. As consumers we can easily visualize ourselves driving to Sonic, ordering a drink, debating about a silly topic with our friends, and enjoying a unique Sonic product. Sonic has a strong understanding of who their customers are and what appeals to them most. They have successfully executed an advertising campaign that is unique, funny, and memorable. A customer takes part in a certain experience before they even visit the restaurant.

Blog 4 - Customer Insights Paper Topic

As consumers we have more choices, more options, and more products at the tip of our fingers than ever before. We are surrounded by things we need, the things we want, and the things we think we need or want. We are bombarded with endless product options to consider. The task of buying a product has changed from a simple chore into a daunting process. With advanced technology and more choice, the businesses that dominate our lives are finding profits in new areas. They no longer have to market the most popular item or restrict their brands to a selected group of products. Overall, more product choices affect how consumers decide to purchase products and how companies can choose to make a profit.
Chris Anderson brilliantly outlines the idea of niche marketing in his book, The Long Tail. The book explains the idea that online services carry far more inventory than traditional retailers. Typically consumers flock to the popular books, music, and films because that is all that is offered and marketed. However, Anderson explores the idea that there is also a high demand and profitability in niche markets. Outlined in the book, Chris describes his observations – 1) the tail of available variety is far longer than we realize; 2) it’s now within reach economically; 3) all those niches, when aggregated, can make up a significant market. This means that consumers are being offered more choices than ever before. We are not limited to the popular hits or products because we can now find anything we want. Even the most unpopular song, when placed on I-tunes and purchased only a few times, makes a profit that was once unavailable and believed to be worthless. There is no storage cost tied to providing this ‘unpopular’ song to millions of consumers. Even though the purchases might be minimal compared to the popular top 40, any purchase creates additional revenue for Apple and offers consumers something they could not have found before.
The perfect example of this Anderson’s idea is Amazon. Jeff Bezos realized what he could do with books and the money that he could make. Amazon carries more books than any other retailer in the world. At Amazon you can find just about any book you are looking for. On the surface it seems silly to carry a book that might only sell to a teeny tiny market. After really diving into the Amazon business plan, it becomes clear that a tail of consumer choice generates more freedom for consumers and dollars for the company. By creating a tail of variety, Amazon directly reflects the idea that Anderson has proposed.
The Long Tail also correlates with the idea that Barry Schwarz proposed about consumer decision making. In his opinion, Schwarz believes that choice empowers society with the freedom to make their own decisions. However, he goes on to demonstrate that too much choice paralysizes consumers because no one actually knows what they want or what they need. While a consumer might say they need a certain product, they will probably change their mind by the time they are ready to finalize their purchase. The line between what we really need and what we think we need is growing blurry and the enormous amount of choice provided is not helping to minimize the confusion. With choice comes an endless variety of alternatives that can be evaluated and interpreted differently depending on the consumer.
These ideas change the world of a consumer, but they greatly affect the world of consumer insights. Combined, both ideas make a marketer’s job 100 times harder to determine what their targets will effectively respond to. If a customer says they need one thing, but end up changing their mind, how do we know the most appealing way to market our product? Despite the challenge, marketers can no longer rely on their laurels. They have to research and dig deeper to figure out what is going to happen and be there before it does. Marketers cannot force people into buying their product. With all of the choices and opportunities, customers don’t have to be forced because they have so many other options.