I often think people who design inferior (or downright awful) products should be sentenced to using them ;-) It is definitely important to actually use your own products in real-world situations. And I agree wholeheartedly about the back of baby diapers...

The imagery of crawling on hands and knees at their height is powerful and is the perfect illustration of what we should be doing for our customers. In the past I worked with R&D scientists and was tasked with merging heady scientific innovation with marketability and consumer demand/need. The challenge gave me a broader perspective but also a greater appreciation for starting with the customer and working backward. Thank you for this incredible analogy, I will remember and use it!

Tim - congratulations for being the first guy to post a comment on an article that started with a tampoon story. LOL.

Thanks to both you and Karen for your input!

Leigh,

Great post. I always tell my clients to go out where your customers live and feel their experiences.

Glad I don't market Tampons, but I get diapers.

Great post but I could do without the flashbacks to the days of diaper leaks up the back. Always hoped that issue happened when I was at work ;)

Since you brought up the tampon issue...are you familiar with the "getting close to customers" research that was done for that market? The team included prostitutes in the research and that highlighted the aspect of "a time of the month to relax and take care of yourself".

That is outside of the box thinking based on getting close to your customers.

Its funny how I been thinking about this exact subject all day because I'm dealing with that now (or lack there of) and here I am now reading it. Of course I completely agree with you. I'm currently a tour manager (goal to get in-house). I've managed many tours for many brands and I don't know how some of these ideas even see the light. I'm on the front line talking to people everyday. I see and know what works and what doesn't. Has anyone ever asked ask for my input...no. Shame. Many of the people create campaigns and have never executed anything. I can't tell you the hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted on things and then I see the lies and cover ups told to the client (but sometimes they don't care also).

When I think about Seth Gordin, he understands marketing so well because he understands people. Just as you stated, researched is use figure things out, but that should only be a guide. A lot of people need to be fired truthfully. They just don't get it. I often wonder how and why clients continue business with a lot of companies. Or is it that the client is just as clueless as the agency. Then again, I could be the crazy one.

NW guy -

I do seem to recall that research, although I find it ineresting that - out of all demographics, they chose to adopt partial focus on hookers. Sad.

I wonder if that research had something to do with Always' new campaign "Have a Happy Period" - which is AWFUL. We're teetering on the edge of "TMI" here, I guess... but gimme a BREAK!

Condottiere -

You 'aint crazy and thanks for your input.

Your point is excellent. I dealt with near TOTAL disconnects between sales and marketing at MANY clients. The divisions acted as if they were in competition (and often, they were for budget). Marketing left them out of planning -- OR Sales didn't want to participate in marketing planning. I saw it repeatedly.

It's a sad state of affairs when we forget to include our people on the frontline with the clients. For shame.

The problem is, if I'm a marketing leader and I fire everyone, then I have to do the work. And I lose headcount, and budget...and...

I agree with you also about Seth Godin. Yes - he does "get" people. He's also pretty transparent and down-to-earth guy with a no-nonsense approach which people find refreshing. ;-)

Good post, Leigh. My first experience art directing a photo shoot was for a sales sheet for a major tampon brand. I still tell stories about it!

Don't you wish male ad execs could actually experience menstruation so they'd know what it's like? On the other hand, that's what market research is for. Too bad babies can't participate in focus groups! :)

Elaine,

I guess I really DON'T wish that on men...because there's a world of crap they deal with that I wouldn't wish on myself! ;-)

LOL.

Your post and the comments remind me of a quote attributed to the founder of Intuit, Scott Cook: He believed in "following the customer home" and advocated the kind of crawling around research you suggest. He said "...before you can walk in your customers' shoes, you have to take off your own." As you write, it is a tough shift for people inside the brand to take--setting aside their perceptions about how customers use our products. A tough shift but a necessary one.

Great post! I know that often groupthink can have bad results in product/brand development. Often people do not have the ability to look beyond their own navel.

As a father of two young children, I just discovered that I possibly have the experience to build a great brand. (-:

Great post! I know that often groupthink can have bad results in product/brand development. Often people do not have the ability to look beyond their own navel.

As a father of two young children, I just discovered that I possibly have the experience to build a great brand. (-:

Cynthia,

One of the exercises I recommended one of my clients engage in was taking off their shoes and putting on a pair out of a box (flip flops, clown shoes, running shoes, heels).

The exercised involved walking around the room in the shoes for 2 minutes and then answering a series of questions about the experience. "What do the shoes tell you about the customer and the customer's journey"; "What doe the shoes tell you about the customer's preferences" (e.g. comfort over beauty; beauty over comfort) "What tasks could be done easily in these shoes" ; "What terrain would be difficult to navigate in these shoes?"; etc. Then we began to talk about "Live Pathing" - or designing customer pathways to brand discovery based on some of those factors.

It 'aint so hard - just involves getting out of group-think, as James said - and our own comfort zones and perspectives.

Great post. Reminds me of the IDEO formula for success of going out there, observing potential customers in real life situations in their habitats and buying environments and even becoming one to truly bring out a product that lives up to its promise. The exercises that I give my students always involves a little bit of this primary observation and questioning.

I've always wanted to make the executives who run Kohler and American Standard clean toilets -- get rid of the spider condo on the pipes behind the toilet, clean all the nooks and crannies on the base of the toilet, clean a toilet wedged into a narrow space, and in general deal with the multiple aggravations, including cleaning the bathroom floor behind and around the toilet.

I wish I could wrap them up with duct tape so they had to clean the toilet even though they couldn't bend over or kneel or squat -- a problem that many older people have.

The real problem is not just in knowing the customer -- it is also in testing the product with insightful customers and listening to customer feedback. I've really come to despise customer service departments with their 800 numbers -- customers never have the opportunity to talk to someone who can make a difference, and the decision makers are insulated from people who could help them produce a more successful product.

At least twice, I've called customer service 800 numbers and been told by the rep that "a lot of people ask for that." When I ask when the product is going to change, since a lot of people have asked for similar changes, the customer service rep seems baffled by my assumption that the product will change.

Barbara,

That totally cracks me up. Thank you. You are absolutely right!

With all due respect to plumbers, I think they should probably have to both clean and REPAIR their own product. Then they should go innovate.

Leigh