Reading Reflections #1

Branding and the Groundswell

Recognize the logo's above? For the most part, of course you did.

In fact, every time you look at the logo you probably also immediately think of the service and/or product the company provides. That “recognition” is all part of the companies plan. Companies can spend amounts exceeding billions of dollars to insure that their logo doesn’t just show you who they are but what they are (Branding Costs). Why spend that amount of dough on branding a company? As the Groundswell asserts, companies want to make sure that customers get a very specific view of the company, what they stand for, and what they have to offer to the public (Groundswell). Basically, they want us to see the product, the service, the brand as they see it. After all, it is theirs, isn’t it?

Not exactly…

You see, they may be the ones making the product or providing the service, their name may be emblazoned on the stock for the company or stamped on the back of their product-- but that ownership doesn’t mean that they get to define their brand. Now way, that power is reserved for the consumer. The consumers run the market and hold the buying power, not the company or its respective brand. For, in truth, the brand may be built in house, but it lives, thrives, or dies outside the company's walls (Groundswell).

Figure 1

So, if the consumers are the ones who are really running the show, then companies who plan on sticking it out for the long run have to always be hyper aware of what their customers think. The best way to figure that out is by paying attention to what customers say. Yep, that's right, the key to getting into the minds of the customers is by simple good old fashion listening. Well, listening with a twist that is.

This type of listening is called market research (Groundswell). Now, for most companies in today's plugged-in and wire-up world, the best approach to market research is not by survey or test group--  those approaches are now considered to be archaic and ineffective. Nope, in 2017 technology and the burgeoning world of social media dominate the world of market research-- and for good reason too (5-Ways-Technology-Has-Changed-Market-Research). To put it simply, social media platforms don't offer cut-and-dry answering of questions. Rather, social media offers vibrant insight in a much larger volume that would be otherwise impossible to match (and, may I add, very expensive).

Think about it. Whether a consumer directly searches out blogs or posts to talk about their review of a product or service, or whether a consumer simply posts a picture utilizing a product a certain way, the way they engage and talk about a product can be utilized by companies as raw data.

Figure 2

 However, the work doesn't end at spending hours scrolling through a few blogs and searching for hashtags on Twitter (Social Media and Marketing). With humans spending ample time on social sites (see chart below), there is certainly no shortage of input. However, in order for listening to the groundswell to be effective (aka profitable) companies need to act on what they hear (Groundswell).

Figure 3

Acting on the information: making the change that is needed, feels like the most daunting part of marketing research in the groundswell. Everyone has an opinion (whether good, bad, or ugly). But who do you listen too? Do you focus on the loyal consumers or would you rather grow your consumer base by taking the advice of an entirely different demographic? These are all choices marketing researchers have to make, and they have to make them based off of what you and I say on Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter. Now isn't that something?

Next time your favorite brand comes out with a new advertisement, a re-designed logo, alters a current product or service, or adds a new product or service to their line-up, stop and think: do you see the groundswell's impact?