Views from the Hills by R. E. Stevens, GENESIS II (The Second Beginning) E-Mail views@aol.com

New Opportunity Exploration

One of the five areas of "consumer research needs" identified in my "Researching Research" is research capable of uncovering new market opportunities. I'm frequently asked how I go about uncovering new ideas. Basically, I attack market idea generation from a number of different perspectives. I start with three basic approaches: asking, observing, and studying. Within each approach, I will also use varied approaches.

Asking -- I don't believe you can expect the consumer to design or articulate a new brand. However, you can utilize the expert (the consumer) to help you understand the parameters of importance and values associated with consumer tasks and purchase motivation. It is relatively easy to explore brand differences and dissatisfaction as well as consumer needs as they relate to a specific product category. Opportunities through this approach usually lead to evolutionary changes as opposed to revolutionary.

Observing -- Through the use of in-home, task observation, I look to understand how the consumer uses brands and why they use them in specific ways. One of the more popular uses of habits research has been in the area of developing products that eliminate steps or products in a consumer task such as conditioners in shampoos, no-rinse floor cleaners, fabric softener in laundry detergents, bleach in laundry detergents, televisions with built-in VCRs, vans with built-in baby seats, etc. Observing consumers opening cartons and dispensing the product led to many innovations in the packaging industry. While the consumer would tell you they had no problems or did nothing special in the task, observation exposed considerable effort to achieve the end result.

The Studying portion of the search deals with the exploration of change that covers such areas as: Social, Life Styles, Equipment, Materials, Legislation, environmental, technology and patents (domestic and foreign). Exploration into the areas of change, results in the revolutionary changes in product categories. I also like to study the historical development of various product categories and old remedies. Benefits in one product category can be utilized in another category where the same benefit is considered valuable. For example, years ago people brushed their teeth with salt and baking soda for cleaning and odor control. Why not add baking soda to toothpaste? If baking soda is good for absorbing odor, why not use it in a deodorant? These are two products I have worked on since retiring from P&G.


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