Most advertisers believe in research. It´s a religion to them. Why? Because it delivers a bunch of good feelings. In the meantime, there are some brands who rather believe in what they believe in. Ideas. Potential. Opportunities.
Henry Ford didn´t produce faster horses now, did he?
Jobs and Wozniak didn´t do any research. After all, research suffers from the “re” in it. Research is only about what has been. Not what will be. And if there is any vision in research, it´s the vision of playing it safe. Which kills creativity. Which again kills a brand and the story behind it before it has been written. Safety is the illusion, failure is the result.
But there´s always two sides of a story, right? If we just condemn research (like I just did) we´ll hardly change anything. Not the brands we work for. Not the work we live for. Nothing. So let´s have a look at why research is still everybody advertiser´s darling and how we can end that phenomenon for the sake of beloved brands.
Martin Weigel, chief planner at W+K Amsterdam, names some of the myths we have to deal with.
#1 RESEARCH ELIMINATES RISKS
Wrong. It can´t. The opposite will be the case. Colin Powell says why:
“Don´t take action if you only have a 40% chance of being right, but don´t wait until you have enough facts to be 100% sure, because by then it is almost always too late… Procrastination in the name of reducing risk actually increases risk.”
#2 RESEARCH IS REALITY
Research and reality have two things in common. The “R” and the “e”. Imagine the following situation: people are sitting in a badly air conditioned room, having bad coffee and old cookies. Everybody´s wearing a nameplate.
They are shown some ads with a burger and some french fries on it. Then they are shown a menu. With prices. Then they are asked what they would order at the drive-thru. Burgers? Nuggets? Fries? Salad? Shakes? What about the food photography?
Are the prices reasonable? Etcetera…
There´s just a few problems also caged in that badly air conditioned room:
- no one in there is hungry
- no one in there is in a hurry
- no one in there drives thru
Research is as real as the food shots on the ads are. At best.
#3 RESEARCH IS RELIABLE
Are you bonkers? It´s not. Clotaire Rapaille, a french psychiatrist and brand consultant tells us why. Actually he already told us more than 10 years ago.
But time moves slowly in adland, doesn´t it?
