Imagine that you are the product manager for a new low-cal food called Sweet Cravings, a sugary munchable that comes in 12 delicious flavors. You’re extremely excited about a Cornell University research study that has documented how both men and women crave comfort foods.
Aware that Pillsbury is set to introduce its own new comfort food product, you waste no time tasking your advertising agency to develop a high-powered campaign touting how Sweet Cravings satisfies your customers’ sweet tooth with just half the calories of other comfort foods. With their creative juices flowing, the agency creates a $25 million national campaign featuring macho cowboys munching on Sweet Cravings cookies during cattle drives, rodeos and around the evening campfire. TV and radio spots along with colorful spreads in high-priced magazines carry the catchy slogan: “Every cowpoke craves Sweet Cravings.”
Advertising Age declares your campaign the best of the year. Awards pour in from around the world. Unfortunately, the product fails to sell. Major grocery retailers cancel their orders. After just four months, your company stops production of Sweet Cravings altogether. And—sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news—you lose your job.
What happened? Well, it wasn’t that the product was bad. And the ad campaign really was fairly decent. You just failed to dig deeper for the additional subtleties about your customers that would have meant the difference between a successful new product launch and a dud. Had you dug deeper, you would have learned that even though men and women both crave comfort foods, they crave different types. Men want hearty choices like T-bone steak and pasta. It is women who prefer sweets like ice cream and chocolate cake. Their emotional needs are just as dissimilar. Men eat comfort foods to celebrate, say a new job or a raise. Conversely, women snack when they are lonely or depressed.
Your ad campaign communicated exactly the wrong thing to exactly the wrong audience—sweet low calorie comfort food for men. But don’t feel too bad. You’re not alone. Each year, thousands of new products fail for the same reason. Despite millions spent on consumer research and advertising, marketers don’t listen to what their customers are saying.
Hearing customers is not the same as listening to them.
Listen closely to what they are really telling you—every little detail.
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