I recently read a 2006 case study from Mindshare that caught my attention. The client, Wrigley’s chewing gum, wanted to find out more about the Teen market for Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Gum. True, the potential uses of phones for marketing agencies in 2010 have evolved tremendously in the past 4 years. Nonetheless, the simple ways in which Mindshare benefited from using cell phones in their market research still holds true, despite the major technological advancements in the world of cell phones.
First, to start off the discussion, I’ll share a few clips from the case study, to show how Mindshare used phones in their market research:
Goal:
We wanted to learn more about the purchasing process, including what influences their decisions, how they interact with chewing gum and how they react to advertising.
Execution:
Gum chewers were recruited to make two trips to stores to purchase chewing gum. While they were in the gum aisle, they called in and described the decision-making process in as much detail as possible. We found out whether their decision was pre-planned, the factors influencing their decision, brand selection, the presence and influence of other teens, the influence of the store and how they learned about gum.
{Read the entire case study on Mindshare’s website.}
To my mind, this case study pinpoints 3 major benefits of using phones in marketing research:
- REACH – Phones can reach a broad population. The teen market is especially difficult to engage in market research, but by using cell phones, the marketing agency approached the project using a device that’s most common in their lives. Even today with all different smartphones on the market, marketing agencies can find ways to use even the most basic phones to engage a wider population in market research.
- SPEED – With a limited time frame to conduct their research, Mindshare needed to find answers quickly. While emails (and today facebook messages) can sometimes sit in people’s inbox for days, phones generate more immediate responses.
- ACCURACY – True, one could argues that phone surveys are not always the most scientific methods for conducting market research. On the other hand, by using phones you can generate responses from the target market in the actual environment in which they make the purchasing decision. The answers that potential customers provide in surveys conducted in leisure time, at home, lack the spontaneity and authenticity of the actual customer purchase. Juicy Fruit got the teens to talk about their decision-making process while actually standing in the aisle choosing which chewing gum to buy!
In what other ways do marketing agencies benefit from using phones in their market research? Do you think that Mindshare would conduct their research the same way today, in 2010? If not, how could they adapt the process using the latest phone technologies and apps?
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- U.S. Homes Leaving Landlines for Cell Phones
- 5 Ways to Use Phones For Do-It-Yourself Marketing
- Snom Expands its VoIP Phones for Open Source Systems
