Why You’re Struggling to Launch a New Product – You’re Not Answering This Question

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Concept tests are great, right? I love a concept test. I love the little dashboard with the nice, easy summary of all the KPIs that, in theory, should say Go or NO GO. 

Except sometimes they contradict. Sometimes purchase likelihood is a go but appeal is not (huh, how did that happen?) Sometimes we want higher scores to be confident. Sometimes the numbers aren’t as useful and reassuring and definitive as we wanted. Sometimes we’ve got a number in mind that we need to achieve in order to launch but it’s a little arbitrary and out of context.

The problem with surveys is that they lack context. As a participant I’m only given the answer options in front of me and must select one of them. If none of them reflect my experiences or opinions or give me the opportunity to say what I really feel, then I might give a bogus, closest-to answer or give up on the survey altogether. Sometimes the answer options are fine, but without context I feel like my answers are misleading. 

For example, likelihood to recommend. I had a perfectly lovely stay in a B&B abroad many years ago, so long ago it was before roaming was affordable. The host had left a delightful array of biscuits and teas and coffees for me, the breakfasts were out of this world (with one of the most spectacular views I can remember), the room was quiet, the hosts were just the right level of friendly, the bed was comfy, the water pressure in the shower was good… The list goes on. At the end of our stay when asked to fill in the customer satisfaction survey I gladly did, but got stuck at likelihood to recommend. Would I recommend it? 

I’m sure after reading my glowing review, you’re scratching your head wondering why I hesitated. But here’s the thing: the wifi was terrible. I mean really terrible, as in I couldn’t connect. I was abroad, travelling for an extended period of time and had been on a five day hike just before this B&B. I was looking forward to connecting again with the world and calling my parents to let them know I’d survived the hike. But no wifi. So, the question caught me off guard, because in theory I wanted to answer that I’d recommend the B&B because there were so many thoughtful touches, but fundamentally, a key thing was missing for me. 

But this wasn’t the problem. The problem was that the survey didn’t give me an opportunity to say this, it only asked likelihood to recommend. I think I ended up answering with a mid point but whoever analysed their data never understood why and probably thought I was a bad survey since everything else was extremely positive.

I’m not here to undermine surveys. I think they have a very important place in marketing, providing key information to make important decisions that the lovely richness of qualitative research just can’t provide. 

The problem is how and what is asked. 

I think product concept surveys are subject to the same problem as that B&B’s survey. 

The industry understands well enough that there are some key metrics that determine success in the market place for new products: 

• It’s appealing

• It’s relevant

• It’s unique/distinctive

Then we all love to throw in purchase likelihood – I suspect because we feel nervous if we don’t include it, even though there is ample data to show how appalling we as humans are at predicting our own behaviours. Not to mention that this question completely lacks the contextual influences and cues that can drive trial and purchase, such as point-of-sale, who we’re with, the occasion we’re purchasing it, etc etc. 

But let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. Let’s leave purchase likelihood alone. It’s a metric we’re fondly attached to, so let’s leave it in the survey; it’s not that offensive, assuming you don’t hang your hat on only that score. But please I beg you, include an open-ended question asking why they answered whatever they did for purchase – I can guarantee you’ll learn more from that question than from the purchase likelihood score.

However, I’d like to propose a more important question; one that is more human and captures how we think and behave as humans better than the metrics that separate our complex emotions into appeal, distinctiveness and believability.

DOES YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE WANT THIS NEW PRODUCT?

That’s after all the guttural, instinctual response you’re hopefully trying to achieve when they see it on the shelf, so why not ask it? This question takes all the complexities that we’ve tried to separate out and ties them together in the most vital question: desire. Desire drives trial. And it has to be as strong as desire because humans inherently don’t like to break habits or routines – they help us make our lives easier, so why would we want to give up on that?

But desire can be the driving force to break it. In my opinion it boils down to one simple desire: the desire to be a certain type of person. For example an early adopter. An explorer. Healthy. Whimsical. Happy go lucky. We all have an image of ourselves and we want to portray that. Brands are perfect for the job (ever heard someone say they’re a BMW person, for example?)

The other questions that we routinely use as KPIs in concept and product tests are still useful as they can shed some light on why people might not desire it (although again, a simple open-ended question answering why they do or don’t want it in their own words is probably more useful.)

A second and extremely insightful question, especially for B2B audiences, is whether they need the product.

For B2B, need might be more important as they might have workarounds or other solutions that do the job reasonably and so, while they might want something new and shiny, they might not be able to justify the expense or the process to change suppliers/systems. Need on the other hand tells you whether you have a market or not. 

For B2C, finding out whether they need this product provides an insight into your positioning and whether you should/can position it more emotively or more functionally.

So if you’re struggling to launch a new product and struggling to feel confident in all the numbers that concept tests are throwing at you, desire (and then need) is the question you should be answering.