So much of the marketing communications business is about assumptions. Practitioners prefer to call it “instinct” (which sounds better than “assumptions”). On any given day, an expert is going to be right with these assumptions about 90% of the time.
It’s that other 10% that can make a big difference. A smart marketer will seek out the 10%, looking for ways to have assumptions challenged or refined for greater precision.
A reminder about assumptions occurred for me recently, when I was seated on a flight to Sacramento between two young ladies—one was in her mid-60s, the other in her mid-80s.
What made my neighbors in Row 7 so interesting was that they were both listening to iPods.
So much for my assumptions about the demographics of MP3 player users!
Thus the need to find ways to correct or modify assumptions. The good thing is, it’s not too complicated—it’s usually just a function of asking the right people the right questions.
One of the most fruitful processes we utilize here at The Creative Alliance is personal interviews with our clients’ employees, customers and other stakeholders. For large-scale feedback, online surveys are great, but to really plumb the depths of brand relationships, nothing beats sitting down with folks to talk.
We always learn a great deal in these conversations. We hear motivations, aspirations, phraseology that we might not come up with on our own—a valuable kick in the assumptions.