In the Aftermath of the Prototype

The most important lesson I learned from the prototype project was learning to be flexible in market research methods and changing approaches when dissatisfied with the insights gathered.  Our initial approach was to use flashcards to gain consumer perceptions of Nordstrom and the Nordstrom experience relative to other department stores.  While we generated important insights on their perceptions of Nordstrom relative to other retailers, we did not get a lot of detailed feedback on how Nordstrom “pain points” could be addressed.  We decided to take a step back and talk to consumers about the totality of their shopping experience, including online, mobile, and in-store engagement.  This is where we really started to generate insights.  By soliciting a comprehensive recap of the consumer experience, we began to determine what drives consumer decisions, what detracts them from shopping at Nordstrom, what brings them back to Nordstrom, and how the experience can be improved to align with their unique lifestyles.  The most compelling insights included the unwillingness of consumers to use mobile applications to retail shop.  However, unanimously, when we asked consumers to browse the Nordstrom mobile application, they said they were surprised at how visible the graphics were and that they would definitely download and use the app to shop in the future.  Moreover, by asking probing questions about their shopping experience, we discovered that they were unwilling to connect with retailers social media unless either a promotion was offered or they would receive significant time savings.  In sum, by utilizing a variety of research methods, we generated a holistic view on the shopping experience which allowed us to create a robust prototype.

Although seemingly obvious, I learned just how important a large sample size is in generating customer insights and in stimulating creative solutions.  While four or five consumers may have had one idea on a certain aspect of the Nordstrom experience, just as many others had another idea on this aspect.  Additionally, in generating patterns from data, the larger the sample size, the easier it is to see overwhelming trends bear out.  While several trends stood out in our data, it was even more interesting to us how different consumers think.  This allowed me to expand my interpretations of the experience and evaluate the consumer experience in a more authentic, diverse manner.  Moreover, the more consumers I interviewed, the easier it was for me to generate probing follow up questions on subsequent interviews.  Particular pain points, such as ease in the use of mobile applications and retailer’s social media websites, also became more apparent on subsequent interviews.  Thus, in conducting future market research, I am going to be very conscious of sample size, primarily as a means of generating creative thought flow and idea generation.

Surprisingly, the customer shop-alongs delivered the least compelling insights and, overall, did not add much value to our final prototype.  At the outset, my group thought the shop-alongs would deliver more compelling insights than the surveys or focus groups.  However, most of the insights in the shop-along were limited to store layout commentaries.  Customers were particularly focused on shopping for items they wanted rather than on giving well-thought out responses.  Most of the insights involved specific brands or niche ideas concerning items the customer was interested in.   Additionally, my group found that using specific question outlines for interviews was not the best practice given the range of variation in customer needs, ideas, and social media connectivity.  Rather, we learned that it was best to think of a few discrete categories of questions prior to the interview and then tailor the follow up questions to each particular consumer’s responses.  This way, we could let the consumer lead the interview while re-focusing the consumer if need be.  Generally, consumers will answer more questions and inadvertently deliver more insights by talking on their own rather than being prompted by specific questions.  Through the interview process, I became much better at generating insights and allowing the consumer a relaxed, unstructured environment in which to provide me with insights.

Admittedly, I was a little intimidated going into this project.  Nordstrom is one of my favorite retailers and the opportunity to advise Nordstrom executives was exciting but also nerve wracking.  How could our four person team provide compelling insights to folks who worked in the marketing and digital communications fields on a daily basis.  That said, as early as our first team meeting, I really began to appreciate the power of group think.  We had very different experiential backgrounds on our group, and no one had a strong marketing background.  Nevertheless, the diversity of ideas and the ability to generate ideas from one another made a lasting impression on me.  When generating customer insights, I always hope to work in groups in order to develop and hone my ideas.  Moreover, once I started conducting market research and interviewing consumers, I was impressed with how quickly compelling insights could be gathered.  The creative structure of the class gave me a forum in which to think beyond meeting consumer needs to instead thinking about how the entire consumer process could be improved.  While many of the principles taught in the class seem elementary on their face, in practice, I was impressed by the ideas that could be generated using these principles.  By using a variety of research methods such as flashcards, concept associations, and monitored mobile use our group was able to gather robust information about the Nordstrom persona.  Watching our final presentation really enabled me to see just how much I had learned in the class through the prototyping and creativity exercises.  I feel empowered and truly feel that this class will benefit me not only in my internship this summer but in my career as a marketer.  Thank you Professor Walls and Joanna!!! 

The Hairy Tracking Line

Saturday night: I check into FourSquare while at my favorite bar.  While I’m not a particularly avid FourSquare user, I like to take advantage of potential discounts.  Sweet, just for checking into FourSquare, American Express extends me a five dollar bar tab credit.  I smile at Amex’s marketing genius, and I never cease to be amazed that a 2” by 4” box can tell Amex where I am.  Do I feel like my privacy has been intruded upon?  Frankly, I don’t care.  I’m just pleased with the discount, and that someone wants to give me 5 bucks for nothing. 

But where should the line be drawn?  On the one extreme, I’m overly trusting of digital technologies and online purchasing.   True, my credit card has been fraudulently charged upon, but Amex always refunds the amounts to me, so it is never my problem.  On the other extreme, my mother is extraordinarily sensitive to the potential for fraud perpetration.  Enter paper shredder.  There isn’t a document my mom receives in the mail that she doesn’t shred.  Why is this?  Well, every document has her address on it; thus, the bad guys will know where she lives.  Mom, meet phonebook . . . but telling her that this information is readily available is useless.  I suppose this generational attitude will diffuse, as a more technologically savvy generation comes to fruition.

The Wall Street Journal article: “Apple, Google Collect User Data” touches upon the potential for data collection agencies to track motor traffic speeding.  As someone who has a less than stellar driving record, mostly tarnished by a strong propensity to speed, this is scary. Really scary.  Almost “Big Brother” scary.  I am repulsed by this.  That said, I believe privacy implications and the general lack of enforceability will prevent insurance companies from purchasing this data.  So my driving record will remain intact at least for the time being.

Consent is the big issue at hand in determining digital privacy implications.  To what extent to mobile users consent to “being tracked”.  When lost, I praise my navigation and love that it can track my current location.  I’m certainly aware that someone, somewhere can access this data.  But so what?  I have given my consent to being tracked for purposes that are useful to me.  But have I given consent to being tracked for purposes that are useful to someone else, or, worse yet, that are detrimental to me?  Again, I’m not one to get worked up about how “Big Brother” might be tracking me, but the worst ramifications of digital information sharing have yet to be proliferated at this point.  What does the future hold?

While watching Entertainment Television the other day, I heard a celebrity comment that she was going to stop posting her location on Twitter as the inevitable fans and paparrazi came swarming.  This is the most obvious level of consent.  By voluntarily posting her location, the celebrity was openly giving consent to “location tracking.”  It is a finer line where a person is merely using their mobile device for basic functions. 

To play the devil’s advocate, aren’t marketers just trying to track information in order to better understand and meet the needs of customers?  Obviously, the bottom line is profitability, but aren’t both the consumer and the big bad data collector both benefitting.  How can I on the one hand praise FourSquare for tracking my location while on the other hand critique it for using my information. 

So back to the consent line.  Enter RapLeaf.  The lady referenced in the "A Web Pioneer Profiles Users by Name” who is bombarded by Republican propaganda does not seem to be harmed by receiving political information from the party to which she is aligned.  She states that it is a very bad thing, but why?  She obviously has an interest in the substance of the material.  But she feels spooked by the fact that they can tie her personal information to her internet data.  And this is where even my overly digital trusting spirit is compromised.  This truly is scary.

Indeed, where the layer of anonymity is pealed in non-consensual situations, online tracking is intrusive.  Thus, the line should be drawn at the discrepancy between compilations of data verses data revealing personal information.  Unbelievable that RipLeaf has transmitted data including references to individual information, such as Facebook identification information.  The ease at which interested third-parties or computer hackers can access personal information is scary.

How easy is it to draw an anonymity line?  I am no technology expert, but I imagine this would be a hairy line, just asking for lawsuits to guide a path.  This also presents tough enforcement and penalty questions.  So to what extent will legislatures step up to the plate to make sure that consumer privacy is protected?  Will they extensively increase privacy regulations, and what will these laws look like?  I imagine they will be fast changing as technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace.  Of course, Goggle, Apple, and other data aggregators have big pockets and therefore strong lobbying potential.  This will certainly damper the possibility for strong anti-tracking regulation, but legislation is inevitable.  In any event, the future holds serious change in data aggregation as consumers become increasingly alarmed about “Big Brother” potential from both the government and private parties. 

Sorry Bud . . . Wine is King.

Friday night dinner inner monologue: Hmm, MillerLite or House Pinot Grigio?  The MillerLite might make me feel full, but it would be delicious when paired with the forthcoming enchiladas.  The Pinot Grigio would be lighter, but I think I’d prefer savory over sweet.  Not to mention I like my Pinot Grigio’s very dry, and I’m guessing that the paper tablecloth is a fair indicator that my preferences won’t be met.  Nevertheless, I don’t want to be full. Sigh, quasi-dry Pinto Grigio it is.  The beer and wine categories couldn’t be farther apart, but it appears that in consumer’s minds they are substitutable products.  Hence the plight of the beer industry.  U.S. beer industry volumes have slipped for a third straight year as consumers shift to wine and liquor.

Bud why?  For me, the choice to drink wine over beer hinges primarily on weight management.  But is that what is driving most consumers away from the beer category?   Given that the beer category caters to a 70% male constituent, I think there is more to the story than weight management.  True, the beer industry’s heavy investment into health oriented advertising has given credence to the notion that consumers have become increasingly health conscious when it comes to consuming alcohol.  Or perhaps Americans have become increasingly obese and therefore more aware of their obesity, but I digress.  Perhaps the low carb trend really helped facilitate the move away from beer.  Beer marketers certainly capitalized on this notion in advertising lower carb brews, despite the irony that beers are not particularly carb heavy in the first place.  But regardless, it is clear that Americans made a big push toward lower calorie, lower carb drinks in the early 2000’s. http://www.beveragedynamics.com.  In fact, light brews account for approximately half of all category sales.  

While health consciousness cannot be discounted, my hypothesis is that the declining beer industry also stems from morphing social drinking patterns.  I think the MillerCoor’s CEO, Tom Long, hit the nail on the head with a recent comment in the Wall Street Journal.  “The [millennials] drink different products for different occasions. It used to be in our father's generation, a scotch drinker was a scotch drinker and a beer drinker was a beer drinker.”  http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20111218-704581.html.  Long indicates that the older generation of core beer drinkers has been replaced by the millennials who still enjoy beer but also delve into the wine and spirits categories.   In my paper, I want to flesh out what is driving consumers into drinking more non-beer beverages in order to satiate my own curiosity and better prepare me for my internship with MillerCoors this summer.  Needless to say, Tom and I will have some great elevator discussions about these insights this summer.

On a number of levels, the beer industry is fascinating to me.  My mother is off the boat Irish, and I spent a good portion of my childhood in Ireland.  Every single afternoon, no matter how busy my grandfather was with his law practice, he made time in his day to go to the local pub for [insert stereotype here] at least a pint of Guinness . . . no, he was not rosy cheeked and did not get into bar brawls . . . ok, he was a little rosy cheeked.  The pub culture is very pervasive in Ireland, and particularly in my grandfather’s small town of Tralee.  It was about the experience, end of the work day bonding.  As a young lass, I was fascinated by the pub culture.  And frankly, I’ve always loved the taste of beer.  My father was grilling out in our backyard one day when I was 7, and before he knew it, his Silver Bullet was gone.  He feign scorned me, but I could see the twinkle in his eye.

Gathering insights in the alcohol industry is particularly segment specific.  I think that we can all recognize that our parent’s drinking habits are much different than our own.  For my dad, going shopping for alcohol can only lead to two outcomes: Silver Bullets or Miller High Life.  In contrast, one day my cart might have MillerLite.  The next, Conundrum Table Wine.  The next, Tito’s.  These decisions would be dependent on what sort of dinner party I might be hosting or simply on what mood captured my fancy at the point of sale. My theory, which perhaps is consistent with Tom Long’s insight, is that the older generation’s alcoholic beverage choices were more simple than the millenial’s choices. 

Thus, in order to design a valuable customer alcoholic beverage experience, market researchers must understand the generational shift in alcohol purchasing decisions and the vast dichotomy in market segments, both from an age perspective and a multi-cultural perspective.  In the latter regard, one only need to go shopping in a different region to understand how region specific consumer alcohol preferences really are.  Having moved from South Carolina to Texas, I have seen this concept come to light as I have witnessed how different the grocery store beer aisle is.  On a sidebar, I’m intrigued that more places don’t sell Corona Light, as they do in the Carolina’s.

In order for beer marketers to design a valuable customer experience, they must be in touch with regional preferences, as well as with multi-cultural purchasing behavior distinctions.  They must really dive into the field.  In this regard, one of the key issues my paper will address is if and how regional/multicultural alcohol purchasing behavior has impacted the move away from the beer category.  In addition to the sources cited herein, I intend to inform my research with a variety of reputable beer blogs, including Beer Fathers, and CEO blogs (See, e.g., http://www.scionadvisors.com/blog/article/14/february-food-and-beverage-sector-insights-.php) to more scholarly publications, including Mintel data, The Beverage Industry magazine and Beverage World Magazine.  While my topic is something that merits a very complex analysis of generational purchasing behavior shifts and multicultural behaviors, I hope to at least get a pulse for the beer industries outlook going forward so that ultimately, I can be in a position to enhance the consumer beer experience. 

The Many Faces of the Social Media Beast

Social media has evolved into a curious beast lately. To explore my own evolution of social media

will perhaps reveal some interesting insights on the beast’s transformation. In graduate school part
I for me, law school, I was a very social creature. Having come straight from college, I felt
that I must keep up with social festivities and attend every event possible. I, however, began to notice that I wasn’t hearing about some outings until the last minute. I soon realized that these events were being posted on Facebook.How ridiculous, I thought. Why would a bunch of adults invite people to events on a site called Facebook. Whatever happened to a good old fashioned Evite?!? Still, I refused to join such a silly site. But I began to wonder more and more who was on it. Was I missing out? Were they finding out information about other people that I should know? Where was everyone being invited to in Facebook land?

So one night during Wineclub, my friend Anna put an end to the wonderment. “Give me your email, she said. I’m signing you up.” And that was that. Little did I know that that night I’d made the decision to forfeit thousands of productive hours of my life. Ten minutes later, after getting bored of
stalking ex-boyfriends through my friend’s account. . . ok, 45 minutes later . . . I began on the mysterious quest to “friend” people for my own account. Hmmm, what did friending mean. I started out with the obvious suspects. College roommates, old teammates, etc.  Then I hit a wall. I looked to Anna for direction on “friending rules.”  Could I friend my classmate who I’d only spoken with a few times?  What was Facebook protocol? It made me squeamish to friend people I didn’t know well at first, but I quickly got over that. And, immediately, became giddy when the friend requests came pouring into me opening the flood gates to new "friendships".

And thus began my foray into what I like to call “light internet stalking,” an irrational behavior strongly facilitated and even encouraged by the social media evolution.  It is for this purpose that many folks use social media. The social media beast has evolved in a way that people no longer think it is strange that you, for example, review 100’s of pictures of a person you’ve only met once. I am
always amazed when the guy from high school I barely even knew and haven’t talked to in 10 years comments on my wall post or when I’m tagged in a photo from high school. It is a little creepy.
So we can obviously find a lot of information about people and events than we could before. But is it
transparency we are all looking for, or is it ego stroking. I cannot help in looking at certain people’s
wall posts and cringe at the “look at me, look at me” posts. The nerve for these people to think I care
about where they ate for lunch or just how terrible there day has been because
they spilled coffee on themselves.

And don’t get me started on the dreaded b word posts. That’s right, those people whose profile pictures suddenly turn into babies. And then soon everything is a drool or poop post. Or how about the girl that tags any photo she is pictured in with a handsome boy within ten minutes. Sigh. The insecurity is patent and disturbing. But I’m guilty as charged too. When I’m at the Masters or Kentucky Derby, you’re dang right I’m throwing that up on Facebook. I want to share that with the people I like .. . or do I just want attention and ego stroking.

Another curious thing about social media is comfort levels. I typically monitor photos every few days or so to make sure no one posts one of me taking a keg stand (obviously, I use that as an example, and would never actually partake in such shenanagins). If, hypothetically speaking, someone ever posted one of me looking down at that silver tap, I’d remove it immediately. After all, that isn’t something I’d want my 800 closest family and friends to see. But then I have this one friend who thinks everything is fair game for Facebook. I cringe when I see the documentation and tagging of her sloppily frolicking around the bar. Her, not me, of course. The nugget we can take from this exploration is that everyone has different comfort levels and ways of censoring posting. Some censor a lot, while others let it all hang out. So researchers must be aware that what they are seeing is a censored, and dare I say, maybe even photo-shopped (don’t hate, there isn’t a picture I can't make look good with a few lighting tweaks), glimpse at people.

So knowing we all use social media for censoring, curiosity, attention-seeking, ego stroking, and light stalking, how useful of an information gathering tool is it. Is it useful at all? Or is it simply phony? Or is it a powerful insight into human hubris? In some cases, it is all of these things. Researchers must be mindful that we are all trying to put our best face forward, though the posts we make may not manifest our face at all. We may all be trying to put someone else’s face forward. Or we may be borrowing someone else’s face.  Researchers must be cognizant of the psychological impetus behind posting before the information can be valuable to them. The bottom line is that researchers need to be involved in social media themselves before they can really understand the social media beast and its many heads.

Persona Exploration: Salvador “Snakes in his Head” Contiga

Meet Salvador Contiga, an affluent but value driven consumer.  Salvador is drawn to innovative, well-planned products and services that keep pace with his dynamic lifestyle. He does not perceive high-end products as a status symbol, but rather as an embodiment of his multi-dimensional, passionate lifestyle. Salvador’s core values are mentoring, exploring his curiosities, helping those without a voice, and shunning convention and stereotypes. He is overall content but sometimes worries about societal epidemic’s including violence, anxieties and low self-esteem. He also is troubled that he cannot commit to a job—he has worked as a voice over artist, consultant, financier, marketer, and sports agent, and is only 39. He aspires to find a meaningful job that will satisfy his intellectual curiosity, as well as to influence others to find their passions in their careers and hobbies.

Everyday, Salvador revels at the million opportunities for work and play in his external environment; he can never seem to settle on any one and just as he switches careers constantly, he also dabbles into many hobbies.  Similiarly, his friends come from all walks of life. He thrives from learning from others and appreciates diverse perspectives. Often, he stops by the side of the road to chat with the homeless man, curious as to how a person can burn so many bridges that not even one friend will take him in. Nevertheless, Salvador always gives humanity the benefit of the doubt. At his core, Salvador is caring and respects all walks of life so cause based marketing campaigns, including those benefiting Darfur and Hurricane Katrina victims, often entice him.

His measures of success are achieving inner peace, positively influencing as many people as possible, and always improving and stretching his horizons. His obstacles are negative influences, insincere people, and convention without insight. Salvador always has an attitude of wonderment, constant intellectually curiousity. He never accepts anything at face value and often humors in life’s ironies. He has an unassuming, low key appearance and is most likely wearing casual Dockers kakis, and a pullover sweater, or a collared shirt on nice occasions. He dresses for comfort and practicality, not to stay on trend or make a statement except that he will purchase for cause based marketing.

Behaviorally, he is exceptionally inquisitive and talks to everyone, asking a lot of questions.  Friends are there to enlighten him and for him to enlighten them.  His bosses tell him to stop  trying to save the world and just finish the task at hand. His influencers tend to be people similarly minded to him in that they are always trying to effect change and innovate. Salvador’s fear is missing out on experiencing life, and he often has intense FOMO. He is frustrated by bureaucracy, insincere politics, and bravados. His obstacles are his own psyche, and he often jokes that the “snakes in his head” stop him from ever making a decision or getting anything done, although he always excels in his achievements.

While the market offers a smorgasbord of purchase options, Salvador will only purchase innovative, well-thought out products. He is a first adapter, but a product needs to hold his interest long enough to merit repeat purchases.  Product performance is vital as Salvador does not purchase for prestige and has no tolerance for poorly crafted products that do not understand his needs. Innovation, creativity and connecting to Salvador’s lifestyle are crucial in maintaining his brand loyalty. While Salvador does not align himself to any one brand, he often purchase Apple products in light of its understanding of how to keep up with his busy lifestyle and constantly keep him engaged. Marketing campaigns that reflect a connection between the product and Salvador’s busy, risk-taking lifestyle will draw him in, rather than prestige based campaigns. In short, the Salvadors of the world want products that will mesh with their active, intellectually curious, spontaneous, value-driven lifestyles.