Comments on: The Death Of Focus Groups?

By: Tom Webster

Tom Webster — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:07:48 +0000

True enough–but at least you can model the non-response bias better. Hey, don’t get me wrong–focus groups aren’t perfect either!

By: Simon

Simon — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:45:47 +0000

I agree with you – particularly regarding non zero sum thinking – and referenced the issue to an extent here and here. But we’re kidding ourselves if we think focus group participants represent more than a tenth of the population

By: Tom Webster

Tom Webster — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:08:32 +0000

Thanks for the comment, Tim! Didn’t name check you because, as you rightly point out, you had a few other things to day, and the tyranny of 140 characters often leaves out the full story. Have heard the sentiment a lot, however. One thing I will add is that there seems to be a DIY ethic about focus groups, and I hear lots of stories of brand managers and other people related to the client conducting them. Very rarely is this a good idea–really leads to a lot of premature conclusions and also fails to take into account the toolbox of techniques that a trained qualitative researcher has at their disposal to really get to the heart of the *people* in the group, and not the brand in question. Most people don’t know what they want, don’t like what is unfamiliar, and don’t articulate things about your brand that you’d like them to! Once you get past all that, however, the learning starts.

Thanks for reading. Look forward to meeting you somewhere on the road.

By: Tom Webster

Tom Webster — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:01:01 +0000

All I can say, Ken, is that I bet you’ve seen some crappy ones The best ones aren’t about brands, they are about people–how they interact, what lights them up and what makes them uncomfortable.

By: Ken Berger

Ken Berger — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:20:46 +0000

I for one have never found focus groups to be very useful, they tend to tell you what you know or what you are asking to hear.
From a branding perspective if you need need a focus group to tell you your brand position you are not in touch with your market or customers.
From a product development standpoint focus groups are by definition trailing indicators, so no truly innovative products result from focus group input, and many are killed by the data that focus groups produce.

By: Tim Hayden

Tim Hayden — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:36:26 +0000

I appreciate the anonymity granted here, yet I have no qualms in outing myself as he who proclaimed this morning that the “focus group is dead.”

I was quick today to add to that statement, “as we know it, the big: two test groups, one control group, pizza and Diet Coke” focus group is, in fact, DEAD. Further, I noted that the traditional focus group is still valuable in attaining initial insight for marketing purposes, and that it is the data from pliable social technology and offlne activations of a brand that garner real-time directional guidance that may be leveraged to shift marketing gears, steer branding and even shape product development.

Twitter is but one tool in the blended mix of what GamePlan has proven as a superior cultivation of opinions, data and behavioral observations. While I am confident that the maturation of social technology and mobile-social media will bolster the impact of such information, I’m always careful to respect that some traditional practices still hold merit in today’s “alternating reality.” All of this is not an argument with you, but a reported realization that the death is nigh or already here for linear-based thinking that produces “lock and load” media planning and buying.

We must be agile, always learning from our ideal audience and being on the ready to accommodate changing perceptions, thoughts and actions.