Listening to Others

My yoga teacher (whose blog I read regularly even if I'm not as regular in my practice) wrote a lovely post about being still and listening to yourself that you can read if you click this link.   


Yesterday I had the opportunity of listening to others, in what marketers call "focus groups."


In the private sector, focus groups are often conducted in different markets (cities), with moderated discussions probing consumer targets (select groups of people based on demographic or psychographic profiles, or some other measure) about a variety of things that may have to do with why they like brand X over brand Y, their opinions on certain product or service benefits,  impressions on new advertising creative, regional preferences and so on.   


Certain companies and brands who pride themselves on innovation may put less stock in 'consumer insights' learned from focus groups.  Steve Jobs famously said, "It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."  


Though listening to focus groups about more mundane matters such as what brand of toothpaste they would purchase over another at a grocery store, or what might motivate them to change cell phone service providers can be interesting and revealing, because stopping to listen to what others think outside of your own organization always is.  


An often repeated quote from real life 'Mad Men' David Ogilvy, that has stood the test of time: "The consumer isn't a 'moron'; she is your wife."


Even more interesting to me was what I experienced yesterday: listening to people discuss why they personally decided to support a non-profit organization, why they might have decided to do this on a monthly basis, and why they might have been doing so for 20 to sometimes 30 plus years.    


I was sitting next to someone from the research department of a large ad agency and he said, "I have never listened to such an engaged focus group before."


I commented to one of my colleagues, "Some of these people have been giving to our organization longer than you have been alive."





Not every focus group is inspiring and humbling, but I think no matter what you are listening for, it's the 'why' that matters....