Most Common Brand Research Mistakes

The surge of branding that began in the ‘60s for uniqueness has become a commonplace way to differentiate products from each other. Now in the 21st century, brands are spending anywhere between 5-20% of their annual revenue on it.

All this to win the attention and loyalty of the consumer. Labours of many, infinite hours, funded researches with hundreds of people, brainstorm sessions, huge changes to the company motto and many more things go into this.

And although brand research has proven to be the most solving but it all ends up a failure if it fails on one of the following:

1. Not asking the right questions:
​Whether it be in-house office research or one conducted in association with a research agency, the questions determine the amount of feedback you are going to receive in both these. To get actionable feedback you need to focus on the answers you want. There are more than ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers. Don’t limit.

2. Not researching competition:
Knowledge of your competition and their uniqueness can help you find a separate identity for your products. The competition will not only be pricing but winning the loyalty of customers with creative ideas since you are the one on the verge to lay siege.

3. Imitation:
In the study of art imitation holds a respectable passage of rite but in marketing, it’s a suicide. Playing on the marketing of an established product may get a brand lot of flak for lack of creativity and plagiarism. And a further subconscious boycott of the brand as a substandard copy of the established.

4. Not tracking data:
Every idea you put out there will mostly generate a fluctuation in sales or feedback. Not tracking this and keep believing in the strategy will only lead it to doom. Data helps on your ability to improve and gain on the achieved momentum.

5. Not keeping track of consumer changes:
Consumers’ needs change with time. And these swings in needs can make a product hit or obsolete. This brings the need of brand to remain in constant touch with their wants and aspirations.