“Concept Talk” - Concept Development Blog with The Concept Queen

A happy client and a happy moderator equals a productive partnership.

Products fail. This is an irrefutable truth of the consumer goods industry. Yet, according to Proctor & Gamble, 75% of product failure is not because the product does not perform, but because it is the wrong idea.

The goal of good concept development is to define potentially winning ideas or products and identify their niche in the market. Unlike a product concept, a marketing concept actually positions the product in the market. It explains how the product can make your consumer’s life better and gives your consumer strong evidence that it actually will. Concept development requires research to understand the consumer’s habits and belief system to find the opportunity, or the position, in the market.

Several approaches can help to re-energize the client-consumer interaction and serve as the foundation and grounding for kick-starting the idea development process. One or all of the techniques can be used depending on your business challenge:

Learn from the past. - Checking history often eliminates blind spots and helps the client not to steer down a path that did not work the first time. That is not to say that research 10 years old is going to help, but something in the last 3 may offer some fertile ground. In an ideation session, I like to assign participating team members different research studies to review and lead a short teachback during the session on a particular area of importance (wants/needs, competition, habits/practices, etc). An additional benefit is that the process of checking history creates current knowledge experts in these specific areas who can be tapped throughout the ideation process..

Experience the product in situ. - Once history has been re-examined, real-time experiences with the product/service can be very helpful. These could range from watching the consumer using the product or having the client actually use the product either before or during an ideation session. In any context, follow up questions would be imperative to “document” the experience. All this experience can be leveraged as a launching pad during ideation.

Amplify the experience to re-frame thinking. - This is a variation on experiencing the product in situ; however, this is all about making the interaction with the product or service larger than life. To accomplish this the team members are asked to examine the product or service from a new perspective. A variety of approaches are possible. One could be examining a “used” product to tell a story (such as a well-used running sneaker or a teenager’s notebooks at the end of the school year). The exploratory may find new areas to explore to address any noticed issues with the product. Another may be using the product blind-folded or with one hand. You imagination is your only limit, you are just trying to have your client team connect with the product at at different level. Regardless of the approach used, this is about making the interaction experience larger-than-life. It can be engaging, revealing and fun.

So the next time you are asked to help innovate, energize your clients to break the concept development process into fun, bite-size pieces. Using any of these tactics can facilitate better knowledge and connect more creatively with the consumer experience so you and your client can avoid the junk heap.

When writing a positioning concept, keep it less than 100 words. It will help keep you focused and single-minded.

I am sure that some of you chuckled when you saw this headline. I wouldn’t be surprised if you thought “well, duh – of course the research comes first!” You need to know what the consumer is thinking, feeling and needing before you write your concept. Well, if that’s the case I often wonder why clients insist on taking a “full” concept into a few focus groups to see if they’ve got it right. It just doesn’t make sense.

Here are a few reasons why writing concepts in your cube is just not a good idea:

You waste time writing a concept without a meaningful benefit – Writing an effective concept takes time and often a fair bit of management input is also required. Given the investment, the last thing you want to find out when you optimize your concept is that your benefit has no traction. If you can let the benefits bubble up from your consumer, rather than from management you clearly have a lot better chance at success. In addition, you capture the consumer’s words for that benefit rather than the internal company language (see the next point).

Don’t have the consumer words - When concepts are written without the consumers’ language, you often end up with a canned, manufacturer-speak type of concept. The layman’s words are just not as technical as any marketing or R&D person would ever write. It makes sense, these folks are experts on their business and they eat, sleep and drink their brand/products for 40+ hours a week. It is very difficult to think and speak like a consumer with this type of knowledge. Since a concept should be written at the 4th grade level, you got to keep it simple. The best way to do this is hear the words from your consumer and parrot them back.

Poor concept evaluation because RTBs tend to rule a concept – The reason to believe is the guts of the concept. It does what it says – it provides the reason to believe your brand can offer the product or service. As such, your consumer typically jumps on that part of a concept, then has a hard time stepping back to give you good feedback on the rest of the concept. This is particularly true with products that have some type of technical component – folks want the details. Stepping back and identifying the “big idea” becomes really difficult once they’ve honed in

Create loaded concepts – no prioritization – Without clear direction from your consumer, you’ll often create the “Franken concept “. This is the concept that just keeps getting pieces added to it because no one really knows what is truly relevant and important. This is particularly common when different functions review the concept prior to research. Everyone seems to have something that is “really important” and “must” be part of the concept. I’ve experienced this with clients. You get something with about 3 benefits and 10 support points. While it will have something for everyone, it will not be easy to turn into a copy strategy with a single-minded idea. No one will know which piece actually drove the success.

So next time when the “finished” concept pass over your desk, ask yourself, “Have has my consumers been involved enough with this to help make them great?” If the answer is “no” think about an extra layer of research to build them the right way for winning ideas.

The rush to get a new product or service developed and into the market, sometimes puts a project team under both time and financial pressure. As such, often a team feels they can cut a few corners and take their concepts from idea directly to quant. Sure, you save some time and maybe some money in the the short-term budget by skipping qualitative, but in the long run, a concept might under perform NOT because it is a bad “idea” but because it hasn’t been vetted before testing. A round of qualitative can help prevent some of these typical shortcomings in a marketing concept.

Not having consumer/customer language - We often forget that our target audience doesn’t spend as much time “over thinking” the product or service as much as a typical brand manager. Oftentimes, the customer h a somewhat uncomplicated reason for delighting in an offering. Unfortunately, clients can get stuck in the “manufacturer-speak” when writing concepts. The language in the concept might convince management you’ve got something great to offer, but concepts laden with “insider language” are often nixed by potential buyers for not speaking to them in a relevant and personal way.

Polarizing name choice - The name that you and your team might think is “cute” or “transparent” just might not be. This is an area that is often overlooked by marketers and managers. In some cases, the offering has a code name during development that takes on a life of its own. Suddenly a name that meant “everything” to the insider becomes the name/version of the concept that is tested for a “go/no go” market decision. Similarly, the team may spend so much time on development of the offering that the name never gets sorted out. Names can be very polarizing. The last thing you want to find out in your quant test is that the name diminished your purchase intent so you haven’t gotten a fair read on your product/service.

Logic doesn’t tie together- The marketer and R&D specialist understand all the inner workings of a product or service. They are close to the development process and have probably spent more waking hours thinking about it than virtually anyone on the planet. Unfortunately, what becomes common sense to the “insider” may not be quite so obvious to the target audience. A round of qualitative provides an objective review that can ensure that the concept isn’t confusing and the reasons to believe actually are believable and payoffs the promised benefit(s).

Too technical - Generally, a concept needs to communicate the ‘big idea” for the buyer, regardless if the end user is a consumer, a doctor, a CEO, etc. As knowledge experts, the tendency is to want to showcase how smart we are, rather than simply communicating the compelling idea. A good example might be Intel - there is a lot of engineering to make a high quality, high performance computer chip, but as an end-buyer we’ve been educated that Intel stands for quality. As such, telling a buyer that a computer has ‘Intel inside” is what they need to know to help them feel confident their PC will work well. It is the K.I.S.S theory - “Keep It Simple Silly” that a round of qualitative can help to sort out.

Single-minded - A client favorite is to tell a potential buyer everything that a product or service can potentially offer. While a concept like this will test well in quant because it will offer “something for everyone,” it will become impossible to deliver one selling idea that will satisfy all those who loved the concept. A round a qualitative helps to ensure that only one idea is communicated, so delivering it will not be impossible. In qualitative, if the question of “what is the main idea?” gets many unique answers, you can be pretty sure no one will know what main idea is really driving the win.

So don’t be short-cited and think the near-term budget considerations are more important than a final check to ensure optimized concepts. A little money spent on qual, might avert a costly mistake down the line.
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According to Procter & Gamble, 75% of product failure is NOT because the product does not perform, but because it was the wrong idea.   As a result, many millions of dollars are wasted on product launches that just go nowhere.  Clearly, the intention behind concept development is to find the potential winning ideas and qualify them before they hit the market to avoid this aforementioned fate.

But what happens, if the idea is a bad one before the research even starts?  Unfortunately, this scenario is more prevalent that one would want to believe  The Qualitative Researcher Consultant (QRC) who will “backward integrate” into the idea-generating phase can provide an invaluable service to clients because QRCs know how to dig deeper, listen objectively, and how to facilitate “experiences” with creative protocols.   As such, the QRC not only helps clients with the qualification stage, but can play an integral role during early development to make sure the client is bringing the best possible stimuli into the research room.

A simple, 3-step approach to triangulate different client experiences together is the foundation for kick-starting this process.   These experiences fall into 3 distinct areas: 1) learn from the past, 2) experience the product/service in situ, and 3) amplify the experience to reframe thinking.  A combination of approaches provides a rich and relevant canvas for new concept development.

LEARN FROM THE PAST

The most typical scenario I see with clients is the “cobwebs on the findings” syndrome.  Brands get bought and sold, marketing managers can ebb and flow, technologies come and go…and the records of why things were done get forgotten.  While I am don’t advocate, “betting the farm” on 5 year-old data, I do firmly believe that money shouldn’t be spent on re-inventing the wheel.  Plus, the clients garner three additional benefits.  First, checking history can often prevent blind spots from the start.  Second, the process creates knowledge experts in specific area that can be tapped throughout development.  And finally, the participants get grounded with the same information, thus eliminating false beliefs and assumptions.

EXPERIENCE IN SITU

Real-time product/service experience with the product/service can frame challenges and set up the team with information to leverage for ideation.  One may wonder why the marketing of R&D teams needs to experience their products. Surprisingly, some clients might not even use the product they sell.  How about men working on feminine protection or women working on chainsaws and building tools? As such, they need to reacquaint themselves with the product or service with what I call “a new set of radar.”

AMPLIFY THE EXPERIENCE

And last but not least, amplifying the experience is really about making the usage experience almost larger-than-life.  It can be fun, engaging and most revealing.  In this case, the process of viewing the concept challenges on a greater scale can highlight and magnify the opportunity areas that should be tackled giving the client team some additional “food for thought”.

Think about this the next time you enter concept development.  Is you consultant really offering as much know-how to ensure the best ideas make it into the focus group?  If not, perhaps it is time for a new vendor.

In positioning concept development, it is critical that your concepts are driven by the wants and needs of your target audience.  Don’t develop a product or service, then try to develop a concept to motivate your end user to buy/use it. 

Sometimes a “best of both worlds” strategy can give your concept development efforts a boost. Gain qualitative insight “locally” with in-person research and “nationally” using online

Recently, I’ve been seeing more and more research opportunities that can easily leverage the power of online, asynchronous bulletin boards. Ironically, some clients still have some resistance primarily because they believe something is “lost” when one walks away from an in-person engagement. Let’s focus on the many ways your concept development efforts might be augmented with online research.

Broader Sample of Participants - The Online Bulletin Board allows you to get a much more diverse sample than a 2 or 3 city study. Virtually, anyone can participate in the board as long as they have a computer with an Internet connection. Studies can have respondents from across the U.S. or the world (assuming a common language is available).

No Participant Time Pressure - Online Bulletin Boards are an asynchronous meaning individuals can participate at any time of the day, which is most convenient for them. It does not require someone to drive to a facility at a specific time to participate. In addition, this gives the moderator the luxury of recruiting participant across multiple time zones for the same group.

Circumvents Incidence Challenges - Online can be particularly helpful when a client needs a specific target who is difficult to find. Online opens up the possibility of a broad cross-section of people across geographic barriers thus widening the pool of respondents. In addition, if a client has a list of buyers or an 1800# that captures emails, they can recruit using this “pre-screened” list for those individuals who have had experience with the product or service.

Saves Time - The time to set up and conduct a research project is shortened by using online technology. 20/20 Research pulled some numbers together and found that on average an asynchronous bulletin board saves about 1/3 of the time compared to the traditional groups (based on 2 groups in 4 cities). This is largely driven by not needing the spend time finding facilities in multiple cities, being able to conduct the research simultaneously with several boards, and not waiting for transcriptions (because you get one instantly when the board completes).

Saves Money - While the combined cost for recruiting, incentives and moderating is fundamentally the same as a typical in-person research project; many of the incremental costs just don’t exist. In an online venue, you don’t need to pay for recordings or respondent/client food (which we all know can really add up!). In addition, the travel budget drops to zero - no planes, trains, automobiles, or hotels - for both the moderator and the clients.

So, your big takeaway should be that you should consider adding online research to your next research plan. And remember, not every project is the right fit for this methodology. Consider taking small steps, such as a hybrid study with both in-person plus online research, to see just how your business might benefit.

T’was the day before research
When all through the brand
Not a creature was stirring,
Not even the main (wo)man.

The screener was finished,
The recruit had begun.
With hopes of finding insights
Which were second to none.

The team was excited,
And snug in their choice,
When picking a consultant,
There was just one name voiced.

The moderator had written
A great discussion guide.
The brand team was confident,
That she’s on their side.

When out in the focus room
There arose such a clatter
Clients sprang up from their chairs
To see what was the matter.

Away to the mirror,
They flew like a flash
Tossed the M&Ms aside,
So they landed – crash!

In the room, all were seated,
Energy buzzed from inside.
Giving the client a sense,
They were in for a ride.

When what to their
Wondering eyes should appear
But, eight excited respondents
Though, there were no reindeer.

With a charismatic moderator
So quick, lively, and free
They knew just in on moment
It was Martha Guidry.

More rapid than lightening
Through the guide she did blaze
It was so efficient and fun,
Clients’ eyes whirled in a haze

Now, Concepts! Now, Copy!
Now, Insights and Benefits!
On Packaging! On Logos!
On Products and Tasting!

From the top of the guide,
To the end of all groups,
She gathered great learning
As if jumping through hoops.

And then in a twinkling,
From the room, clients did hear
The knowledge they needed,
So they had nothing to fear.

She was dressed kind of funky,
From her head to her toes.
Where she got the cool earrings,
No one really does know.

A bundle of techniques,
She has in her back pocket.
She was gathering all the learning
As if launching a rocket.

Her eyes how they twinkled,
Her attitude so merry.
The respondents were helpful.
The discussion did carry.

She makes moderating look easy,
Like some magical elf
I laughed when I pretend,
I could moderate myself

A wink of her eye and
A twist of her head,
Soon gave me to know,
I had nothing to dread.

She listened to each word
And went straight to her work
And filled clients with knowledge,
Then turned with a jerk.

And laying a finger,
Aside of my chin.
I knew having Martha moderate
Was always a WIN!.

She sprang from her chair,
To the team gave a snap.
The debrief was astounding
Then called it a wrap.

But I heard her exclaim,
Ere she drove out of sight.
Think The Rite Concept,
Get your qualitative RIGHT!

@The Rite Concept 2009