Discovering Wishes—The Third Challenge for Research

Posted by Bob Kaden on May 21, 2007

2 comments | 2970 reads

If you ask consumers in the right way what they WISH you would do to make their lives easier, better, more fun, more interesting or even more worthwhile they’ll talk your head off. The problem is not an abundance of ideas but where you should focus your efforts in order to enjoy the greatest sales and profits.

Consider the IPod. Once perfected, Apple could listen successfully to consumer WISHES and turn its attention to extending the line by introducing more fashion oriented colors. Or having first proven it was the premier fluid replacement drink for athletes, Gatorade could increase sales by listening to consumer WISHES for new flavors. And who would WISH Bank of America could help them grow their IRA account if they consistently sent out checking account statements that contained errors?

Its enticing to think beyond the basics and to uncover WISHES consumers might have. Doing so can point to potential trends in the marketplace and new income streams. But to let your research push you into marketing and product moves before you’re ready can be an expensive disaster.

It never seems as glamorous to focus on satisfying consumer NEEDS and WANTS before moving to their WISH list, but it is essential in establishing a permanent foothold in the market. Furthermore, once you effectively deliver the closer in essentials that will make your business profitable, you will be far more successful in addressing consumer WISHES.

Products and services exist to satisfy consumer needs, wants, wishes, desires and emotions. Effective marketing research should uncover the essential consumer needs and wants you must first address to have long term success…and it should provide a score card for how effective you are at the basics.

The next challenge is for research is to uncover the consumer WISHES you should consider for stretching the reach of your business, and to rank order the ones that will produce the greatest return for your money.

Bob Kaden

Bob Kaden is the author of Guerrilla Marketing Research and president of The Kaden Company, a marketing research consultancy that works with clients in planning and applying research to make more money. He is a frequent lecturer and trainer in the areas of creativity and marketing research processes.

About Bob Kaden |
Connect:

Categories:

2970 reads
Print
Email

2 comments »

screeech

July 4, 2007

Wishes vs. Desires

Hello Mr. Kaden,

I haven't exactly read your book on Guerrilla Marketing Research. And I'm not sure whether it explains in more detail the research challenges you outlined here. I don't have much problem distinguishing between needs and wants. However, I'm a bit lost here in the 3rd and 4th challenges--wishes and desires. How exactly do we know that we're not interchanging one from the other? And if we are, what makes the differentiation between the two important in the research process? Do customers really care whether you know their wishes and desires, let alone differentiate them? How can we practically listen to these wishes and desires in a quantifiable way to properly justify our next chosen step in improving our products and services? Thanks.

3y3-0p3n3r

Bob Kaden

July 9, 2007

Wishes Distinguished from Desires

Thank you for your comment. I would ask you to read the blog on The Fourth Challenge for Marketing Research--Determining Desires. It should clarify the differences between uncovering consumer wishes vs. uncovering consumer desires.

In regard to customers caring whether we as marketers uncover or differentiate wishes or desires, most customers don't give it much thought unless asked...and asked in the right setting and context. But for a marketer to be successful it had better think about it religously. That is my point here.

Quantifying wishes and desires is not particularly difficult once they are uncovered and then described in a concept, storyboard or other type of depiction. Ideas for new products or services can then be shown to consumers in a framework that allows them to envision the idea and rate their interest. Using controls of previously successful and unsuccessful products or services is always helpful when attempting to justify the financial risks of moving ahead.

Please feel free to ask questions or make additional comments should you wish elaboration.

Post new comment

Your name: *

E-mail: *

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Homepage:

Subject:

Comment: *

Input format

Filtered HTML

Allowed HTML tags: <a> <img> <hr> <table> <tr> <td> <th><ul> <ol> <li> </li><blockquote> <colspan> <rowspan><object>
Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
Images can be added to this post.

Post

Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
Images can be added to this post.

More information about formatting options

Notify me when new comments are posted

All comments

Replies to my comment

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

What code is in the image?: *

Enter the characters shown in the image.

MarketPlace

Global Customer Experience Management (CEM) Certification Program

[May 30-31, Frankfurt; July 25-26, Hong Kong] An internationally recognized program with proven track record of success - being run for 34 times in 13 cities with attendees from 50 countries, the program is developed based on the U.S. patent-pending Branded CEM Method which aims to drive customer loyalty and brand differentiation with quantifiable business results. Limited offer: USD300 early bird discount.

Join us on May 29th in New York City. Stuart Ryder, SVP, Mobile Research Lead for Ipsos IOTX & Roxana Strohmenger, a leading Forrester analyst, will be in attendance to share best practices and new trends in mobile market research.

[June 12, Sir Francis Drake Hotel] Gregson Siu, Vice President, Ariba Business Operations, Ariba and Bob Thompson, CustomerThink, will be in attendance to share best practices, new trends and latest research to help you develop your customer experience program.

Social Networking and sCRM International Congress in Colombia

[June 25-26, Bogota] Thirteen international thought leaders will present, from different perspectives, the trends, the uses, and the magic - as well as the reality - of Social Networking and how it impacts the way customers are doing/will do business.

Driving ROI With VoC

Walker has identified multiple ways to measure ROI – there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. This paper will address each and conclude with some recommendations to help B-to-B practitioners evaluate which ROI approach will work best for their particular business need.