Memo to CMOs: Consumer Insights Should Be A Priority
No one is to blame here, but high level marketing types are apparently still spending more money on branding and promotions than they are on gathering consumer insights. This seems odd, since no amount of money you throw at those two things will actually be effective (for the long term, especially) if your prospective customers find your products, services and marketing strategies irrelevant. Consumer insights should be guiding, not trailing, branding, promotion and all the rest.
My latest post for eBrandMarketing.com comments on a recent study showing CMOs have some catching up to do. Here’s a clip:
It may well seem more complicated and perhaps scary to leave your fantastic marketing strategies vulnerable to human influence, but - as marketers may be discovering even more in this faltering economy - the humans at (consumers) or close (distributors) to the receiving end of any product or service transaction have the insights your brand needs most.
Think of the small businesses of yesteryear (or the few that still exist in your life now). The owners knew nothing of “branding,” but they talked with customers every single day. No policies, mid-level managers or half-day meetings got in their way. Consumer and distributor insights would have been their only resource then, but now they are less likely to be considered by those businesses that need them most.
