We’re cutting back on all our shopper research this year: it just tells us stuff we already know, and doesn’t lead to any insight
This quote comes from a very senior manager in a very large consumer goods company. As shopper marketing comes of age, and attracts more attention (and funding), it appears that there is a great deal of frustration with what is happening in the space. Of course this is not limited to shopper research: but for some reason, expectations appear to be higher here than elsewhere. And, having seen a lot of shopper work, and reviewed a lot of shopper research, I have a degree of empathy with these managers. A lot of shopper research is generic. A lot of the reports are disappointing, and have little actionable insight.
It’s easy to blame agencies, and to be clear, I’m not going to let them off the hook. But the client/agency relationship is a two-way street, and if the client can take credit when things go well then, when things go wrong, they should also take a long hard look in the mirror.
Things can go wrong in many parts of the process, but this is a blog, and needs to be concise, so I will focus on the area which from my experience is the biggest source of the problem, and also the biggest source of potential solutions: the brief.
The Biggest Villain? A bad research brief
The quality of many of the research briefs I come across is, unfortunately, often poor – and many of the downstream disappointments can be traced back to an ill-conceived brief. So much so that we at engage now offer a service to write or critique briefs, and training in how to do it. The brief is of critical importance as it defines pretty much everything that happens from that time onwards, and becomes the key document against which the proposal, the research structure and the outputs are benchmarked. It is also a really useful tool to assess agencies. If your brief is largely generic, then a generic response is very likely. But if your brief is unique and bespoke, then any agency who sends a more generic proposal can be ditched – they either haven’t read the brief, didn’t understand it, or and unable to deliver against it.
There is not enough space in a short blog post to cover off every element of a high quality shopper research brief (though we are considering producing an e-book on that topic in the next few months so let me know if you are interested). Rather I have tried to capture some key thoughts that can be used to sense-check any brief you are preparing: to help make any brief more effective. These are also the most common omissions from the briefs I come across.
Share what you know: Your agency will know less about your brand than you do. Share your thinking: share your research. Share evaluations of other activity. In return (as well as demanding confidentiality) demand that this is clearly built into their outputs.
Make it clear what you want to do with the outputs: Share what you will do if a hypothesis is proven or not. What potential actions might be taken, and therefore what information is required (to what level of accuracy) to enable a decision to be made about that action.
Whose behavior are we interested in? Research briefs often list out the target shopper (or the target consumer) – but clarity about specifically which shoppers we are interested in helps create focus, and ensure we cover the right shoppers. Countless times I see research which has focused on category shoppers, when actually the opportunity is to drive penetration – which would require an understanding of those that do not currently buy the category.
A checklist of objectives, hypotheses and mandatory information Including this in the brief will save you time later. Ask the agency to include in their proposal (and with any subsequent questionnaire) a spreadsheet which maps each element of the proposal or questionnaire back to the required information. This helps you spot when the agency has padded out the proposal with unnecessary fieldwork, helps spot gaps where key questions won’t be answered, and also helps when (as is so often the case) things need to be cut to fit budgets.
And agencies: lest you think I’m letting you off the hook – think on. When you accept a poor brief then you are just as culpable in this. When the results are disappointing, it is not enough to point to the brief and say ‘we delivered against that’. Take responsibility. Guide the client to create a better brief. Collaborate to create a better understanding of what the key outcomes should be. Have the courage to say no from time to time.
There is a lot which can be written about how to create a great brief, and I’m conscious that I have only scratched the surface here. Please add to this in the comments section if you feel there is something I’ve missed. And if you’re about to spend funds in the shopper space, check out our free e-book on conducting shopper research.
