CapsuleBlog

Research bias

Congrats to Seventh Generation, which just topped the list of the USA brands perceived as the most green in the ImagePower Global Green Brands Survey. An impressive sample of 9000 consumers were interviewed in eight countries for the poll, and most of the others on the list don't really come as a surprise: Whole Foods, Tom's of Maine, Burt's Bees, Trader Joe's, The Walt Disney Company... wait. The Walt Disney Company?

If this was a survey of brands which produce the most princess backpacks and lunchboxes per year, Walt would have been numero uno; however, my assumptions of consumer perceptions of the greenest brands and Disney just don't jive. I had to look into this, and found that the official deck at slideshare gives the impression that consumers were provided with a list of brands to rate on a scale of greenness, rather than being freely able to nominate any brand. Aha. That makes sense.

I don't want to rain on Disney's parade, and a quick scan of their corporate citizenship initiatives certainly shows that they are talking the talk. Just goes to show though how important it is to look behind the scenes when it comes to interpreting any research study.

Image by roboppy on flickr

When it comes to actually designing research studies, it's essential to consider bias issues vigilantly throughout the planning process, whether the study is qualitative or quantitative (or a mixture of both). It can be especially challenging in qualitative research, when you're dealing with data-gathering methods that involve direct conversation with your sample such as focus groups and interviews. This is where the facilitator's experience is vital - he or she must be able to think on the spot, directing discussion to avoid bias wherever possible and gather optimal data.

Want to know more? We recommend an excellent book on the topic: Design Research Methods and Perspectives by Brenda Laurel, available here.

At least the landfill will be silent, SunChips.

A coworker just drew my attention to the news that Frito-Lay is removing the much-touted compostable SunChips bag (in fact, I touted it on this very blog!) on five of the six flavors because... it's too noisy. Observe the evidence:

 

There's just one sad little group saying screw the noise, we'll put up with that for the sake of the planet.

This is an extremely difficult dilemma for Frito-Lay. On the one hand, they attempted something very innovative, and built significant awareness of the need for packaging to be sustainable. But this is also a good example of the challenge of implementing change in a behemoth organization, with an established brand. Perhaps if a new upstart brand had launched the compostable bag, it could have made the noise factor its hallmark and forced other competitors to adapt.

At the end of the day, in the for-profit world there cannot be environmental sustainability without economic sustainability.

It's a shame that the environment loses, for now, however hopefully this will push Frito-Lay to develop something more quiet and even more green in the near future.

Have you heard about Giant Steps?

There's a cool event happening on October 1st we want to spread the word about. Giant Steps is a one-day, interactive conference plus an evening concert/after-party taking place in the Twin Cities on Friday, October 1, 2010. According to the website, it's a gathering of inspiring folks forging their own paths and designing their vision of work and life.

The daytime portion of Giant Steps will include interactive, large-group sessions with insights from some of our amazing contributors. There will be tons of info about -

• Getting started
• How they've evolved their work and their outlooks along the way
• What's worked...and what hasn't worked
• Interesting ideas and models for new ways of doing things

There will also be small-group workshops on a variety of practical subjects and focused group discussions. Some of the workshop topics and "mini-panel" discussions include:

• Understanding basic personal finance and links to your business finance
• Legal topics for entrepreneurs, artists, and independents
• How to write an amazing bio
• Networking and promotion
• Using social media effectively
• Gaining access and coverage for your work in the media
• Working with (other) artists
• Building an audience for your business / art
• Working with youth--for income and inspiration
• Exploring alternative funding models
• Building an on-line presence for you and your work

In addition, there will be photographers providing FREE headshots, a forum for exchanging information about useful resources, and The Storefront for Ideas from Works Progress.

There will be many opportunities--both organized and organic--to mix, mingle and meet the other amazing people in the room.

Capsule's Aaron Keller will be on one of the panels and we know this is going to be great!

Crowdsourcing. What if the crowd isn't all it's cracked up to be?

From the oracle that is Wikipedia:

Crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to a large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call.

At first, the crowdsourcing trend may appear to be cool. Democratic, unique and innovative. But behind the hype, is it really just mundane and mediocre? Find out more here.

So sue me

As it often does, the New York Times raised an especially timely issue yesterday. We've all heard the wonders of social media extolled almost ad nauseum. It provides opportunity at a level never before seen for brands to learn more about their customers and in turn, sell more of their particular product or service. In the reverse of the equation, it also enables consumers to access more information - and particularly more uncontrolled information - about the brands. If I'm left feeling significantly dissatisfied with an experience with a brand, and the brand has had the chance to make it right but didn't, you're dang right I'm going to get online to warn other people about it.

Case in point: there's a great story here from Ken Peters of the Think B.I.G. blog about his less than satisfying experience with the Nook reader device. Well worth a read.

But do you think Ken worried about being sued when he opined on his blog, and then saw his story reTweeted and referenced around the web?

The NYT article discusses the implications of this wonderful new world of transparency and free speech, profiling a disgruntled Kalamazoo student who founded a Facebook group to complain about a Michigan towing company. Within two days, the group had 800 members and the towing company well, freaked. In the form of a $750,000 lawsuit against him.

As America was founded on the principle of free speech, this seems more than a little ironic. Thankfully the law seems to agree. The NYT calls this an example of a "decades-old legal maneuver known as a strategic lawsuit against public participation, or Slapp". Perfect name, isn't it?

"The label has traditionally referred to meritless defamation suits filed by businesses or government officials against citizens who speak out against them. The plaintiffs are not necessarily expecting to succeed — most do not — but rather to intimidate critics who are inclined to back down when faced with the prospect of a long, expensive court battle."

Instead of viewing this an especially powerful opportunity to respond to the customer in question - in a public and powerful way - the towing company is being incredibly short-sighted about this by reacting with a good old-fashioned knee jerk. It is a towing company, after all. Perhaps we really need the social media titans - the Best Buys and Dells of the world - to keep setting the bar until the others catch on. Hopefully it's not too late.

Farmville? Srsly?

Call me a rabid maniac, but I do not understand Farmville. I hide any friend's updates if I see they've found a wandering purple calf with five legs and a bad case of TB in need of care. I was kind of surprised to see that 82 million Facebookers disagree with me.

Microsoft's Bing just cashed in on the cow, according to Adweek, with an in-game offer of game cash to be redeemed for farm supplies in exchange for becoming a fan of Bing. Over 425, 000 fans were added in a single day. I'm speechless.

We witnessed a stunning waste

Aaron walked into the office this morning holding a mysterious Blackberry-sized box.

"BRING THIS PHONE INTO ONE OF OUR STORES AND TRADE FOR A FREE BLACKBERRY CURVE" it screamed. He informed us that it appeared every house in his neighborhood had been slammed with the promotion. The box contained a retail display unit of a Blackberry 8830, courtesy of Verizon. A retail display unit is a mock phone - it looks exactly like the real deal, feels the same, weighs the same, and probably takes almost as much material and energy to construct as a working model. How many people actually still believe in the "this phone is free!!!" concept? I think most of us long ago cracked onto the fact that you simply pay for them over the duration of the contract, disguised in other fees.

So. What is Aaron now supposed to do with this thing? Seeing as it is mixed media and cannot be simply placed in his home recycling bin, is he supposed to try to locate an adequate recycling facility and bring it there? Do you think he appreciates for this imposition on his time?

This got his attention, sure. Long enough to bring it into Capsule, dump it on my desk, and suggest we rant about it. But, unlike a two year old child, we expect Verizon to be aware that there's a difference between positive attention, and the opposite. Inspiring feelings of admiration, trust and energy in your consumers is preferable to anger, inconvenience and eye-rolling, yes?

Lame 'Loser' product placement

I've never been into The Biggest Loser much. This season, I've been sucked into a few episodes. Call it curiosity. Or perhaps I'm just trying to understand the Capsule office obsession with P90X a little better.

Whatever it is, the most standout thing about the show is not the incredible transformations, the tears, or the throwing up after a particularly strenuous workout. It's the horrible product placement. 

Last night I watched Aussie chef hottie Curtis Stone touting Jennie O ground turkey burgers to the team: a giant disconnect if I ever saw one, given that his usual style leans towards local, organic and gourmet. Jennie O mass-produced ground turkey meat is none of these things. The close-ups of the product packaging, over-use of the brand name, and general clumsiness of the segment made the product placement unnatural and icky.

I've seen the same thing before with Yoplait yogurt. In one of the first episodes of the season, we see one of the contestants upset over something - possibly a poor weigh-in result. Bob consoles her. WITH A YOPLAIT YOGURT.

I don't know about you, but when I'm upset, the last thing I feel like reaching for is a low-fat strawberry yogurt. Another example of an unrealistic and forced scene. Poor Bob must have been cringing beneath those gigantic tattoo-covered biceps.

I understand that brands are seeking new ways to promote themselves - new causes, new associations, new ways of connecting with consumers. But they're putting themselves at risk of insulting the audience instead. 

I found a transcript online of a blogger's conversation with Jillian Michaels and Mark Koops, executive producer.

“One of the other questions that’s been brought up by a lot of the readers on [DietsInReview.com] is the product placement that takes place on this show. Everyone [feels it is] very cheesy and it’s very obviously placed. Is there any plan to tone that back in the future or to maybe do it a little differently?”

Jillian: “Mark? I’ll have to defer to my boss on this one because I cannot talk about this at all. I’ll get in trouble.”

Brandi: “Product placement is obviously paying the bills for the show, but it seems to be striking a strange chord with the audience.”

Mark: “I think, you know, it is sort of, no pun intended – part of the reality of where television is moving to in the 21st Century. The 30-second spot, you know, goes away and (DVR) penetrations, it’s a longer topic of conversation.

We’re approached by a number of companies wanting to, to get involved in the show. And I think we’re very selective in terms of who we take. We’ve been approached in the past by all the fast food companies, you know.

I think we do try and have a selective process about who we pick and about the message they’re trying to (sell).

Could at times it be done, you know, cleaner and better? I think there’s always room for improvement."

Seems like Jillian's not excited about it either.

I have three words of advice for The Biggest Loser and its sponsors: Make It Subtle!

I recommend saying it like Tim Gunn.

Perception versus reality

When Aaron's talking to our clients about branding, he often explains the fact that perception is everything when it comes to a consumer's feelings about your brand.

It doesn't matter what the truth is - if Betty Sue heard that a cockroach was once found in Arlene's neighbor's cousin's sister-in-law's box of YOUR BRAND of pasta, she'll never buy it again. Betty Sue believes in the existence of that damn cockroach and there's nothing you can do to convince her that Arlene's neighbor's cousin's sister-in-law was full of it.

I read recently that more U.S. consumers believe a product deemed "natural" is more green than one deemed "organic". According to this report, "despite well-defined certification standards, organic products are among those that consumers distrust; 31 percent of respondents said ‘100 percent natural’ is the most desirable eco-friendly product label claim, compared to 14 percent who chose ‘100 percent organic’."

FoodNavigator.com tells us that 'All Natural' was the third most frequent claim made on food products launched in the US in 2007, appearing on 2,617 products. It ranked fourth most popular claim for beverages, used on 542 items.

In 2007 both Cadbury Schweppes and Kraft faced lawsuits after making 'natural' label claims on beverages that contained high fructose corn syrup. Both companies changed the labeling of their products before any legal action was taken.

Cases such as these clearly indicate that there is debate surrounding the use of the term, and not only could that lead to misinformed purchases by consumers, but also to lost time and money for manufacturers.

Apparently the FDA lacks the resources required to increase its regulation of the "all natural" term on our food and beverages, and so the battle of ethics continues...

Just goes to show there is a serious need for some consumer education. Burt's Bees, we're looking to you. Actually, I take that back... sadly you're another small, earth-loving company eaten up by a behemoth.

Excuse me, do you have this sweater in 221U?

UNIQLO, the Japanese clothing company (responsible for the world's larget vending machine) has introduced a line of new cashmere sweaters for the holiday season. From what I understand, it seems like the company already has a very successful line of PANTONE-inspired t-shirts, with a color palette somewhere around 300+.

According to this website, "each cashmere sweater in the PANTONE Collection will bear a small woven tag resembling the iconic PANTONE Chip, with the UNIQLO logo inside, indicating the unique partnership and assuring the wearer of the PANTONE Color match."

Sweaters retail for $130. Not bad, considering they're PANTONE certified.