Are Focus Groups a Dying Breed?

In the B to B marketing world, focus groups have, in the past, been heavily relied upon. When you had a new product or new idea, you sat down with a group of people, specifically chosen to meet certain criteria, and presented your idea or product to them to get feedback. Many marketers found though, that instead of gathering a lot of new information, focus groups often confirmed the research that they had already done.

The Emerging Alternative to Focus Groups
Today, many agencies are creating a brand “persona” or character, the idea being that you act as an author and actually personify the target market you are trying to reach. You give your persona a gender and a name; professional traits such as the industry they are in; where they get their industry news and industry information; and what professional events they attend. In the past, this method has been referred to as “role playing” or has been rolled into a variance of “think tanks,” but creating a brand persona is really taking on a life of its own.

A Brand Persona Example
Let’s say for example that your company sells Engineering Services used for oil drilling and exploration. Your customer persona is probably male, 40-55, pays close attention to CNBC to stay up to date with world market events, reads the Wall Street Journal, attends many industry related trade shows, and works for a large, well established oil company in Houston. You even give your persona’s a name--John.

As you begin to further determine how you will advertise, you always keep in mind, “Would John be attracted to this ad in the Wall Street Journal?” “Would John go to this trade show?” “Would John go to this website?” “Does John watch this Television news program?”

Being able to focus all of your marketing efforts on a specific type of business and customer that you are trying to reach will help you to more effectively reach your end user. Getting into the mind and life of your customers will help you to create products and advertise in ways that they can relate to, thus increasing the probability that they’ll purchase what you have to sell.

Having trouble determining who your end user is? Call The Marion Group! Our branding specialists would be happy discuss options with you that will help you define who you are and who your target market is.