Fast Company recently published a story about researchers who created bodysuits to mimic the mobility, motion, function and balance of a Baby Boomer’s body. Why? Because these researchers wanted to understand the challenges that this aging generation encounter doing even the most mundane tasks.
They uncovered a lot of insights by strapping on the suit…
“The suit has a pelvic harness that connects to a headpiece, mimicking the spine and restricting mobility, range of motion, joint function, balance, and vision. We’ve suited up students and taken them to the grocery store to purchase foods with low sugar, low sodium, and low fat — foods commonly purchased by older adults. They found that it was very challenging to locate these items on the shelf. That’s valuable information that we can take back to organizations.”
What would happen if you shed your skin for a day and climbed into your customer’s body? Would you better understand what their fears and frustrations are? Would you develop an appreciation for their hopes and dreams? Would you learn what it was really like to deal with your company…or your competitor’s? The answers are likely yes, yes and yes.
The key to success in marketing, sales, social media, customer relations, communications, web design, etc is to know your customers. Not just how you define your target market but how they live, what they see, what they hear, how they think and feel, what they say and do. Only then…when you know them intimately…can you speak to them in a way that connects, compels and elicits a response.
[on READY2SPARK] Do you have a customer empathy suit? – http://www.ready2spark.com/2011/02/do-yo… #eventprofs
[on READY2SPARK] Do you have a customer empathy suit? – http://www.ready2spark.com/2011/02/do-yo… #eventprofs
I recently watched a TV clip of Oprah with Donald Trump. Oprah put Trump to test at the Chicago Trump Hotel as he became bellhop, dog walker, housekeeper and room service. The hotel’s customers were surprised to see Trump doing some of the daily jobs around the hotel. While Trump didn’t actually put himself in the shoes of his customers, he did put himself in the shoes of his employees that served those customers. It was an interesting clip to watch and Trump said he had a lot of respect for his employees.
So true, Jeff. Thanks for sharing.
This idea made me smile and excited! I’m currently a Journalism major emphasizing in strategic communications and I’m working on a lengthy assignment in branding a product, writing and SMP, creating a print ad, radio ad and television ad for Campbell’s Select Harvest. I would’ve loved to put on a suit like this to get into the mind (and body,) of baby boomer women. How insightful!
I love it!
Instead of a customer empathy suit, why don’t you go to a few supermarkets and watch how people shop the category. Or you can ‘listen in’ to conversations between your target market online. Think about what communities they’d be a part of, what keywords they’d use in conversation about soups and research what people are saying about the brand (and its competitors) today – using tools like socialmention.com, search.twitter.com and google alerts.
Best of luck!
Thank you for the recommendations! I’ve never been to socialmention before, I’ll have to check it out. I used http://www.brandtags.net to determine what the general consensus of Campbell’s was. So far the project is going great. Thank you!