We're building a short list of marketing mistakes to add to such classics as “New Coke.” Can you help us?
The best example will win a complimentary registration (to be used by yourself OR a colleague) to Management Roundtable's 1st Annual, Customer Needs Discovery & Innovation Congress to be held August 13 – 15, 2007 in Chicago.
Honorable mentions will win their choice of the following books/articles by our speakers:
What Customers Want, Tony Ulwick
The Design of Things to Come, Jonathan Cagan and Craig Vogel
Understanding Customer Experience (HBR Reprint), Christopher Meyer, Andre Schwager
Customer-Centric Product Definition: The Key to Great Product Development, Sheila Mello
Value Innovation Portfolio Management: Achieving Double-Digit Growth Through Customer Value, Sheila Mello, Wayne Mackey, Ron Lasser
Background
So, here's the background. We're all aware of customer misunderstandings. Sometimes companies have a service that's selling well, so they don't bother much with customer annoyances. Microsoft provided some examples in the past, as well as many utility companies and even e-services like PayPal. Only later, when competition emerges, do these companies realize they need to pay attention to what customers want.
"Executive Decision" can also lead the company astray. Many years ago, Roger Smith didn't want cup holders in GM vehicles. Even highly respected executives like Steve Jobs sometimes get customer needs wrong, witness the Apple Lisa, the Newton , etc.
In other cases, assuming what's true for us is true for others can also lead us down the wrong path.
Just as often, there's an attempt to gain customer insight, but the methodology is wrong. New Coke is the classic case noted above. Here's another. A decade ago, both Chrysler and Ford were trying to learn if minivan customers would pay for an extra sliding rear door, behind the driver's seat. Chrysler did the research one way, thought “yes,” and went on to dominate minivan market share for the next two years. Ford did the research another (wrong) way, thought “no,” and may have lost nearly a billion dollars in market share and retooling costs. Incidentally, we'll talk about the right and wrong methodologies at the Congress.
Your contribution
Here's where you come in. Take a few moments and give us an example from your own experience where customer research was missing or simply done wrong. We'll compile the results for attendees at the Congress. Everyone who submits an example will get a copy of the compiled results. And, the best submission will win a chance for a free registration to the Customer Needs Discovery Congress and 5 entrants will receive the "Honorable Mention" prize. Everyone who submits an example will get a copy of the compiled list.
To enter the contest, click here.
Thanks! This should be fun for all who submit – and the full list of examples may be useful in your own work to get customer research done right.
Sincerely,
Peter Marks
Chairman Customer Needs Discovery & Innovation Congress
