The focus group is on its knees as a marketing tool according to this BW article. Ironically, the reason is that people don't say what they actually think in such articifical situations. As anyone who has ever been in one will know, these groups create all sorts or weird behaviour and allow companies to read what they want to read. (Which, let's face it, may be why they have been so popular). Not surprisingly, with the growth of the blogopshere...
...in all its forms, as a massive unrestricted public forum, companies are now looking to tap into it to understand what people think. This is what our blog reporting service does. Compared to (my quite distant memory of focus groups) the results are normally quite rich and throw up lots of surprises and challenges to the way that companies view themselves.
The article also touches on open source marketing when describing how Yahoo is developing its products...
"That leads to work sessions in which a few select consumers work together with Yahoo
staffers to actually design a new product. "The outcome is richer if they feel included in our process, not just observed."
Come to think of it, the idea of people standing behind a one way mirror observing 'consumers' - like a zoo - is a pretty weird one these days!
(Via Brand New)
One thing that's feeding this process, I believe, is the growing recognition inside some companies that their customers know more about their products than they do. One of the hardest things to let go of, as a product developer, is the idea that you are the person most expert in the world on your own products. Your customers use them every day in real-world situations - they've experienced the practical, rather than theoretical, applications and limitations of your products. Turning the marketing process inside out, and having your customers sell new (ideas for) product enhancements to you only makes sense.
Posted by: Michael Fergusson | November 21, 2005 at 09:32 PM