Crashing a Focus Group
Yes, it’s true. I crashed a focus group the other night. I say “crashed” because they typically don’t let people who work in the marketing business to participate in focus groups. Not that we’re any more or less typical than the average guy. But we might be counted on to skew the results by talking about marketing-related stuff the group would not normally bring out.
Anyway, I snuk in, telling them I was a speaker and author. So I didn’t lie, and they didn’t ask any further. And for the record, I did not “over participate” or address those sales, marketing and advertising issues that might otherwise not come up. I was a good boy.
The group of men, all 50+ — what a crowd that was — was being asked what they knew and felt about a kind of cancer and TV commercials that were designed to encourage people to be tested for early detection.
What I experienced there was highly AFFIRMING to my beliefs about what works in advertising and selling. Let me review what went on, then I’ll share my conclusions…
- There was a wide diversity of knowledge and opinion about the topic and the treatments.
- There was a wide diversity of feeling and reaction to the topic and the treatments.
- The group was diverse as far as socio-economic status, education, occupation and so forth.
- We spent most of the time talking about what we knew or thought we knew about the topic and the treatment, and our thoughts and feelings about the topic and the treatment.
- At the end, we viewed three television commercials that took three dramatically different approaches to encouraging people over 50 to be screened for cancer. The first was a testimonial approach, the second an emotional appeal, and the third, humorous.
The testimonial approach featured a person who had cancer and had gone through treatment, but who also had been told by a doctor that an early screening could have prevented the problem. The spot included stats as well as this fellow’s personal story. The story was moving, the facts backed up the claims. The facts typically were given by graphics on-screen without the benefit of voice over.
The emotional appeal featured a youngish grandfather in a pool with his granddaughter, grandma looking on from the side. Nobody else in the pool buy grandpa and child. Music playing in the background. Highly produced spot. Message was all voice over. Talked about being around to see your grandchildren grow up.
The humorous approach featured an actor giving excuses why he wouldn’t go get tested. He listed off a bunch of things all boiling down to it being embarrassing. Only during the last eight or 10 seconds of the spot were you sure he was talking about cancer — after they logo of the sponsoring non-profit organization appeared at the call to action.
The reactions of the group were fascinating…
- Everybody unanimously and enthusiastically said the testimonial spot was the most powerful and persuasive. They sited the emotional appeal of the guys own story, the contrast between what was and what could have been, if only he’d been screened, the stats. They also criticized the spot for not using voice over when showing the stats, saying that during those silent times, they lost attention. (By the way, I didn’t contribute my thoughts about the spot until everybody else had said their piece.
- For all of us except one, the emotional appeal was the second favorite, but it was a distant second. The consensus was that this “touchy-feely” attempt fell short. (Interestingly, after the session was over, the moderator revealed to us that the emotional appeal worked best with women.) As men, we didn’t oppose the “tear jerker” approach, we just felt that this attempt didn’t quite “get there.” (Personally, I like a good tear jerker ad, but it has to get to the tear or the tickle if it’s going to be successful.)
- Finally, the humorous attempt fell on its face with our group, except for one guy, who placed it a close second to the testimonial ad. Some people felt like humor was inappropriate for the subject matter, but most just thought it wasn’t well executed enough. They said it wasn’t funny enough, the actor wasn’t convincing enough, that kind of thing. They didn’t laugh or even chuckle.
Here are the marketing principles the reaction of the group confirmed for me…
- People are more moved by “moving away from pain” than they are by moving toward pleasure. (Especially men, apparently.
- There must be emotion, but emotion must be backed up by proof. Credibility is everything in advertising.
- People prefer and are more influenced by people and situations that they consider “real” as opposed to contrived for the sake of the commercial.
- Emotion based on real is very important. Contrived emotion is difficult to make work. And if you can’t pull it off, you’re better off not to try. And most people can’t pull it off. Go with the real.
- Humor is difficult to make work. It’s not that it can’t work. It’s just very difficult to bring it off. More difficult, in fact, than the contrived emotional appeal. If you can’t do it, better not to try.
- Every ad should be a complete sales pitch, including an offer and call to action.
- TV ads should include audio that matches written words displayed on the screen.
So there you have it. Human nature confirmed again. It is immutable. And those advertisers who recognize this and use it will find their economic situation on the rise, while those who choose to ignore the infallibility of human nature do so at their own financial risk.
Get Exclusive Marketing Tips FREE
To receive exclusive updates and information available ONLYto our subscribers, fill out the fields below...
Leave a Comment