It just seems so obvious

Since the mid-1970's a small but growing group of market researchers have been con- ducting research in the aisles of supermarkets. I have always thought that if I want to understand purchase motivation, the store is the best place to conduct my research. If I want to know what the barriers are to the purchase of my brand, the best place for understanding is the store aisle. If I want to know the acceptable price range for my brand, the store aisle seems to be the appropriate place to evaluate prices. If I want to understand the communication of my package and the appearance, it seems that the store aisle is the best place to do my research. IT JUST SEEMS SO OBVIOUS. So why are some companies doing in-store research and others not? It seems that the successful companies are doing in-store research and the not-so-successful are not. Could that be just one of the contributing factors?

The following is a segment of a one-page letter written by Herb Sorensen that I think is appropriately stated:

"When the true failure rate of new product introductions at many companies persists at 90% or more, complacency in the marketing and development community is a natural but intolerable tendency.

 

 

Maybe it's time to stop relying on the opinions of mall shoppers and pre-recruited consumer panels in trying to predict the behavior of supermarket shoppers.

For more than twenty-five years, Sorensen Associates has specialized in observing supermarket shoppers as they select products from supermarket shelves across the country. We also conduct opinion and attitude studies in the aisles of the super-markets.

Maybe you or someone in your company should hear the rationale and details of our logical but unconventional approach."

I would like to hear your thoughts.