In building any significantly new interactive or online brand experience, part of the challenge to ensure success of the initiative is to gain stakeholder consensus before anything is created. This is not always easy, and is often overlooked during the strategic planning process.
If we are conducting formal branding exercise or brand planning sessions, there is usually good participation from those with a significant stake in how their brand is perceived. However, when it comes to participating in customer-focused research, stakeholders are often nowhere to be found, preferring to review the results in a nice PowerPoint presentation. However, if you really want them to look past their departmental responsibilities and see how their customers really interact with their products or services, get them to be 'in the room' and observe that interaction first-hand. There is no substitute. Third-party findings can always be disputed, but if they see and hear what customers have to say first-hand, reaching consensus on recommended responses usually follows. Suddenly the needed budgets free up, the value of customer research is no longer questioned and, if you are lucky, a stronger sense of urgency exists to respond with the right solutions.
This isn't brain surgery. It is, however, creating the proper rationale and atmosphere for stakeholders to see the truth, and then act on it. For some, those that regularly interact with their customers, results may not be breathtaking. But for so many executives, who seldom have any direct contact with live customers, the revelations can lead to major shifts in brand marketing and advertising.
There are also many forms of such research. Assessing all the options and choosing the right method is paramount to make sure that the research really fosters insights on true and unbiased needs, attitudes, and behaviors that lead to predictable purchase behavior.
