Asking the wrong questions

An example that not only shows the value of research but the importance of conducting the research correctly and asking the "right questions" is the failure of New Coke.

Coca-Cola was concerned with the fact that Pepsi was advertising the fact that consumers preferred them to Coke in taste tests. They decided to develop a new formula, eventually called New Coke.

They conducted research that included focus groups as well as taste tests. While comparing the original Coke formula to Pepsi, consumers preferred Pepsi. However, those participants were only sipping the drinks, which is not the whole experience of drinking a soft drink. Those that did drink the whole cans disliked Pepsi, saying it was too sweet.

Consumers reacted favorably to the new formula, which excited executives at Coke. However, they were not told that Coke planned to replace the old Coke with this newer version. When the product launched, people were outraged that they could no longer buy the Coke they were used to.

This lasted three months before Coca-Cola scrapped the idea and relaunched Coca-Cola Classic.



Source:
Henning, J. (2009, February 3). Coke, New Coke & the Angry Focus Group. Retrieved from http://blog.vovici.com/blog/bid/18094/Coke-New-Coke-the-Angry-Focus-Group. (2010, September 27).

Got Milk?

One of the first cases that comes to mind whenever I think of creative consumer research is the development of the got milk? campaign. As detailed in the last chapter of Jon Steel's Truth Lies and Advertising, the California Fluid Milk Processors' Advisory Board (CFMPAB) was concerned with the decline of milk consumption in California. They approached the team at Goodby, Silverstein and Partners in hopes of developing a campaign that would "reinvent" milk.

With a large budget and a client up for pretty much anything, the agency embarked on a mission to research anything about milk they could find. They looked at survey results commissioned by the CFMPAB and found that "70 percent of Californians claimed to use milk 'frequently,' while 30 percent did not." Also, by looking at the previous milk advertisements in California, they realized that those ads were targeting the 30 percent of people who didn't drink milk at all. People who don't drink milk most likely are not going to start drinking milk just because they saw an ad for it on TV. What the agency decided to do was target consumers who currently drink milk in an effort to get them to consume more milk.

So, they had to figure out how consumers use milk. Jeff Manning drew on an idea he had working on a campaign for another client. "You hardly ever use milk on its own." Whether its brownies, cookies, or cereal, milk is usually accompanied by something. A study they conducted found that "88 percent of milk is consumed in the home."In focus groups, consumers indicated that the food that went with milk was more important to them than the milk, although the milk was essential.

Now, the team started to hone into the idea of what happens when one runs out of milk. They asked people to go a week without drinking milk and to come back and share their experiences. The results were astonishing. People were distraught without their lattes and having to eat cookies without a glass of milk. The agency realized they had something and decided the strategy for the campaign would be to highlight what happens when someone runs out of milk.

A few of the ads are below.

Chocolate-chip scented!