Beyond Listening: Learning the Secret Language of Focus Groups - Hardcover

Goebert, Bonnie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471395625 ISBN 13: 9780471395621

Publisher: Wiley, 2001

Synopsis

A groundbreaking guide to making one of marketing's most important resources more effective
When kids in a Nabisco focus group told researchers that they always separated their Oreos before they ate them, the researchers recommended that the company develop a cookie that couldn't be taken apart. Fortunately, in this case, Nabisco didn't heed the researchers' advice. Each year, companies spend a billion dollars on focus groups designed to ferret out consumer motivation, and, according to expert Bonnie Goebert, in many cases they're throwing their money away. In this fascinating book, Goebert, a highly respected moderator with three decades of experience with focus groups, explains what's wrong with how companies use the information. More importantly, she draws on her own experiences with clients like the New York Times, Tropicana, Maxwell House, Colgate, Maybelline, Lipton, Federal Express, and scores of other prestigious accounts to provide simple clear-cut guidelines on how companies of just about any size can use focus groups to capture the hearts and minds of consumers.
Bonnie Goebert (Southampton, NY) heads her own focus group consulting firm.

About this title

About the Author

BONNIE GOEBERT is a leading expert in focus group research, with thirty years of experience working on brand identity, product development, category expansion, and promotion and advertising strategy with Fortune 1000 companies in virtually every product category. She heads The Bonnie Goebert Company, a qualitative research consulting firm.

HERMA M. ROSENTHAL runs Writing Resource, an editorial consulting firm. Her clients have included The New York Times, Discovery Communications, and Children's Television Workshop. Rosenthal has written for Newsday, TV Guide, and Entertainment Weekly, among other publications.

From the Back Cover

"In the dangerous jungle of consumer research, Bonnie Goebert is the ultimate guide. A few hours and the price of this book will quadruple your consumer research investment." --Melinda Davis Wingate, President, The Next Group

"A lot of marketing books start with interesting points, then dissolve into a theoretical realm, but Bonnie Goebert's work is consistently rooted in real world experience. Her case study examples make this book very worthwhile for any professional who wants to get inside the head of the consumer." --Justin Harrington, Senior Partner, Account Services Bozell

In Beyond Listening, focus group expert Bonnie Goebert explains how to interpret consumer response and turn that information into hard-core benefits for any size company. She presents case studies of her household-name clients, such as Excedrin, Tropicana, and DuPont, to illustrate how companies leverage consumer information to meet changing consumer needs and strengthen loyalty to products. Any merchant, marketer, or retailer will find Beyond Listening invaluable in the ongoing struggle to gain insight into consumer behavior.

From the Inside Flap

Why is it some consumers purchase certain brands religiously and are hard-pressed to name any of the competition? Why can even the tiniest change to a product be a complete turnoff? Answers to questions like these are critical to developing effective advertising and marketing strategies. You must understand how your core consumers perceive your brand and what will motivate them to continue to buy (or begin to reject) your product in this competitive marketplace.

Carefully listening to what they have to say-and correctly interpreting their behavior-is key in understanding the emotional relationship between consumers and brands. Which is why Beyond Listening: Learning the Secret Language of Focus Groups can be your most valuable tool in this endeavor. This book was written to help you gain the necessary insight to meet changing consumer needs and strengthen loyalty to your products and services.

With thirty years' experience as a focus group moderator, Bonnie Goebert has mastered the art of reaching out to consumers. Her unique approach to focus groups encourages consumers to reveal their secret thought processes so marketers can hear the usually silent dialogue we have with ourselves when choosing the right shampoo, sorting through breath mints, or deciding which painkiller will actually ease a headache. In Beyond Listening, Goebert, along with Herma Rosenthal, shows how being aware of the way consumers articulate these thoughts and how they relate to brands will benefit any size company-even those unable to conduct full-tilt focus groups.

Drawing on numerous case studies of Goebert's impressive client list (The New York Times, Excedrin, the Hard Rock Cafe, Lysol, Tropicana, and DuPont, among others), the book illustrates how to leverage feedback from focus groups to yield positive results for your business. Colorful examples demonstrate how household-name companies use-and sometimes ignore-consumer information. You'll also see how to:
* Determine who should-and shouldn't-be in focus groups
* Master the skill of really listening
* Learn from consumer disappointment
* Uncover the true identity of a brand
* See your product from the consumer's perspective
* Protect brands in a changing marketplace
Avoid potential marketing disasters by successfully interpreting consumer response with Beyond Listening-and turn your knowledge into strong results for your company.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471395625
• ISBN 13: 9780471395621
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240