What You Should Learn by Conducting Brand Research

• Why do customers choose you over competing brands?
  Knowing this enables you to focus on the skills that help you make and keep your promise to the customer.
• Are you competing in the right category?
  To be clear, an example of a category is laptop computers. A brand in that category is Dell. Knowing in which category you compete in the mind of your most profitable customer enables you to strengthen your position in that category. You can strengthen that position by better delivering the benefits your customer receives when they choose you.
• What specific new products and services can you offer?
  Old Coke will not travel to new coke. Yet Virgin can travel from the entertainment industry to the travel industry to the soft drink industry. Brand research will identify the current state of your brand in the minds of your customers and what specific steps are required to move your brand to the desired future state.
• What are the sources of trust employed by a customer when choosing a company like yours?
  When making a buying decision, customers seek out trusted sources, such as colleagues, experts, the Internet or advertising. Brand research can identify those sources and the ways in which your customer prefers to interact with these sources.
• What are the key messages that resonate with your most profitable customers?
  Brand research will provide the specific messages that influence customers. These messages should create differentiation and describe the benefits of ownership.

Source:
Use Market Research to Understand Your Markets. Use Brand Research to Understand Your Customers
by Joseph Benson
The CEO Refresher, October 2005

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