Consumer Advisory Boards, Large and Small
My latest post for eBrandMarketing.com considers the consumer advisory board (or customer advisory board, aka CAB) concept. Taking a cue from Chrysler (and the other huge brands like P & G that have formed them on a large scale), smaller brands/even independent retailers might gain much from developing their own boards - at even an extremely intimate scale. Here’s an excerpt of my piece:
What’s so interesting about this CAB idea is that talking to customers
regularly and really making note of what they say (about your industry
and otherwise) sounds obvious - especially for industries that are
feeling major pains (as in Chrysler’s case). Yet, lots of businesses
and brands get either too caught up in day to day operations or have
been convinced that only expensive, quantitative consumer research will
deliver the insights they need. In reality, smaller scale, more
intimate connecting - especially in this now overwhelmingly digital age
- can have exponentially positive results that either guide on their
own, or complement more extensive studies.
***
On another note, Yvonne Divita wrote a great opinion piece on marketing to women online for the Adotas site. Here’s an excerpt:
"Web 2.0 gives women the power to be themselves. Previously, when a
woman had a question about a product or service, she would often
disguise her gender, afraid of being talked down to. Today, she’s not
afraid to ask questions. She knows there are millions of other women
out there listening, and, they’ll give her honest replies. Those who
want to market to women online should be tapping into that fresh
confidence."
(Thanks much for mentioning Learned On Women, Yvonne!)
