Market research is neither an exact science, nor infallible, as many marketing failures will attest. Nonetheless, it is not the best idea to do the exact opposite of what your target market is telling you. On the UK’s TV version of the The Apprentice, two teams of budding entrepreneurs fighting to win a £250,000 prize fund to invest into their own business, were given the task of developing a new ‘free’, premium magazine (‘freemium’). Both teams carried out market research on their chosen demographic – one young and one old, and both promptly chose to ignore their focus group feedback. One of the two competing groups, Team Venture, had decided to target their magazine at the 60 plus audience. Their focus group, hosted at a bowling club, sought the views of the over 60s on the type of magazine they would read and enjoy.
Things started badly when one of the two researchers, Susie, began the conversation with the question: “What do you guys do?”, which received the immediate sarcastic response of, “bowl”. When asked specifically about potential content, the over 60 group said categorically they did not feel old and wanted a magazine that highlighted enjoyable, fun activities such as holidays without kids, skiing and bungee jumping. What they definitely did not want was content that was condescending and stereotypical, such as knitting puzzles and quizzes.
