MARKETERS FORUM: Are focus groups becoming irrelevant?

Shawn Hiltz
VP marketing Asia-Pacific, Dow Jones

Focus groups will not become irrelevant. If used properly, they offer insights that complement other research tools because focus groups provide unique benefits.

The most obvious is the ability to monitor non-verbal cues, as well as the flexibility to adjust questioning.

Also, the opportunity to show new creative or product enhancements and demonstrate functionality.

Lastly: quick results.

Focus groups are not without a downside. If used in isolation, certain limitations exist such as low sample sizes, the effects of peer pressure on responses and varying skill levels of moderators. It is important to have clearly defined objectives and a clear understanding of various research methods. 

Jim Lime
Regional manager, Korea Meat & Live Stock Australia

Social media platforms are today’s new focus groups. They run in real-time, engage customers through their own networks, and encourage them to road-test products.Utilising these platforms is perhaps the best way to delve into the minds of consumers, by communicating with them in a familiar environment, rather than taking them out of their habitat and into a sterile setting. Asking people to vote, comment on, or ‘like’ a product engages larger audiences to participate and generate valuable, honest feedback. Traditional focus groups do have a purpose for specific targeting but, they are often expensive, ineffective and time consuming. At best they provide uncluttered, structured data, but fall short on gaining genuine feedback.

Sean Rach
Director regional marketing, Prudential Asia

Not irrelevant, but there are new ways to listen. Consumers no longer have difficulty getting heard, primarily through social media. The question for brands is, ‘Are you listening?’ For years, focus groups sought to recreate informal conversations to gather insights, but they are subject to a range of biases. Mass adoption of digital media is clearly opening up new ways for marketers to understand consumer opinion and drive brand engagement. In seeking best practice in this use of social media, I would point to the first actions of returning CEOs Michael Dell (Dell’s Idea Storm) and Howard Shultz (Starbuck’s My Starbucks Idea) who used social media to listen to their ‘fans’ and find ways to revive their companies.

Dexter Fu
Senior marketing manager, Nikon Hong Kong

I would not say focus groups are irrelevant at all.

For us as marketing folks, any information that we can get from our end-users and consumers on market trends is relevant. Any information that we obtain from targetted surveys and focus groups still continues to play a very important role.

We would not drop focus groups in favour of social media, but we will of course use this as an additional platform to obtain information. Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and forums help us understand our customers and what they are looking for in our brand and brand value. Customers and their friends’ views, consumer behaviour and how they rate our products and services are very important to us.

David E. Morgan
Marketing & branding head, Standard Chartered Bank

Mobile phones, TV, land based phones, radio, smoke signals - all these inventions changed our ability to communicate, but none fundamentally changed the human condition. Online and social media platforms are the next evolution and as such provide extraordinary opportunities for marketers. Consumers, and marketers, will adapt, but fundamental behaviours and attitudes will remain, so focus groups will always have a role to play in helping understand consumers better.

The value of being able to watch emotional responses - anger, disinterest, engagement, passion - will be difficult to replace.

Maybe we just need to train the next marketing generation in how to use focus groups more effectively.

This article was originally published in the May issue of Campaign Asia-Pacific.