THINKing

This post brings up an interesting point. Traditionally, the focus of marketing was to sell the product to the consumer, whether they wanted it or not. Unfortunately, the result of this tactic was often to present misleading information and deceive the consumers in order to get sales. I think this is where a lot of the mistrust in advertising by the general public stems from. Consumers don’t want to think of themselves as consumers. More importantly, they don’t want to feel like they are being tricked into buying something. They want to think that the companies they buy their products from actually care about them and want to help them solve all their problems.

Today, marketers have shifted their focus from trying to sell their products to an unassuming audience to finding out what their consumers wants and needs are and trying to satisfy those needs. This approach seems not only more humanitarian, but also more profitable. The solution is incredibly intuitive, ask the consumers what they want, then give it to them. But, as we all know, it isn’t that simple. As this post clearly argues, consumers don’t know what they want. In addition, there are too many other factors to consider when developing, redesigning, and marketing a product. Not only do consumers not know what they want and what they and others would actually buy, but they don’t know what is feasible given current technology and monetary constraints. They don’t have information on competitor’s strategies, and they don’t know what is best for your company. Moreover, it is crucial for any business to constantly innovate and think of new ways to serve their customers. Simply giving consumers what they ask for in a focus group or survey is certainly not enough to stay ahead of the game.

I think the point raised in this post concerning studying your consumers’ behaviors versus studying their preferences is entirely valid given my argument. The best way for marketers to learn about what their consumers want is by finding out exactly how they go about their days, what needs to they have that aren’t being met, how they make decisions, and what’s most important to them. Only by understanding how our consumers function can we begin to truly meet their needs.