Steve Jobs and Insight Marketing

Some people say give the customers what they want, but that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, ‘If I’d ask customers what they wanted, they would have told me a faster horse.’ People don’t know what they want until you show it to them. That’s why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page. (Steve Jobs)

Let's start with the fundamentals.

What is market research or insight marketing?

Market research is a powerful instrument for assisting with company strategy. It is about gathering data that gives insight into your consumers' thoughts, purchasing behaviours, and location. Furthermore, market research may help you track industry trends and keep an eye on what your competitors are doing.

You require both data and insight.

You require information, but what kind of information? Return to your "issue," or the gap that needs to be filled. For example, we would want to know "how to get people to buy in-store rather than online?"

How do you respond to such inquiries? You gather and analyse information and data. NO, they are not always the same thing.

Data collection may be accomplished in a variety of methods, such as:

• surveys
• interviews
• discussion groups
• experiments
• spying on individuals like stalkers (maybe with some ethical/legal ramifications...but hey, Facebook does it...)

For our purposes in marketing, insights are the outcome of applying human thought and reasoning to examined data, seeking for and making a directional shift in the way we think or behave.

In practice, "insights" are the application of human interpretation to a problem and facts, often with the goal of developing a strategy or finding a solution.

BACK TO JOBS

‘If I’d ask customers what they wanted, they would have told me a faster horse.’

Steve Jobs liked this quote, so the title incorporates a misunderstanding Jobs. And I'm not sure if I believe Steve Jobs misread market research or if people misinterpreted Jobs' (and Ford's) comments.

Why wouldn't we pay attention to that? To people's wishes. In fact, Ford may have done so. After all, what really is a car?

Or even better. If we didn't want/need quicker horses, would we have needed to build a car? Perhaps many buyers (sample) desired a quicker horse (data), and then "tada!" the automobile was born (solution). And I'm sure that utilising the phrase "horsepower" or a horse as a logo must be associated with customer wishes as well (marketing).

Yes, perhaps Jobs and Ford did not utilise the entire survey-analysis-interpretation. They did, however, know how to extract "insight" from data.

The Apple Store

So Steve wasn't thrilled with the prospect of Apple depending only on technology (strange?) and internet sales. And by selling products in the same way that any other brand would, Apple might have been a success in the same way that any other brand would be. It was clear that something had to be done. What about the Apple Store? But how, exactly?

Research.

Insight.

Jobs was recommended to do an experiment. Get a warehouse and test out mock-up versions of the business until they find the ideal one.

Jobs and his crew observed "customers" as they walked through the storefronts and interacted with the merchandise. That is how the Apple Store's final version was created. A centre in which items and consumers are central to the experience. Not simply a desk and a salesman telling you how things used to be.

The salesperson is another insight-driven application of the retailers.

What distinguishes a hotel concierge from a "typical" (for want of a better term) salesperson? They are not dying (or appear to be dying) to sell you something; they are there to assist, to solve issues, and to meet needs. That's all there is to it.

Assume that a firm is an investment. By the entrepreneur, as well as by stakeholders and other investors. Would you want to put your money into something that hasn't been thoroughly researched? Wouldn't you like to "look at the data"?

Now, this is not to suggest that research cannot destroy excellent insight; it may. And, sometimes, imagination and understanding are sufficient to produce something spectacular. But, but, but. Wouldn't you want them both if they were done well?

I mean, I'm not an entrepreneur, but I'd be doing both.