Section One:
The following articles were reviewed:
(2010). The Marketing Society, Retrieved from https://www.marketingsociety.co.uk/sites/default/files/thelibrary/marketing excellence 2 KFC case study.pdf
Dupre, E. (2013). P&G solves diaper dilemma with qualitative research. Direct Marketing News, Retrieved from http://www.dmnews.com/pg-solves-diaper- dilemma-with-qualitative-research/article/322357/
The two articles chosen had something in common, which is, in both cases the companies that undertook the qualitative research were losing market share and needed to find out why this was the case.
In the first article from the Marketing Society (2010), a case study was outlined which described how American fast food restaurant chain KFC was losing market share. The feedback had been that KFC offered fast food and because fast food was unhealthy, diners stopped going to eat there.
In the second article, baby diaper “Pampers” maker, P&G was getting feedback that they were losing share when it was time for the parents to move up to a bigger diaper size.
As is the case with qualitative research, this type of feedback could only be accessed through detailed interviews with customers and would-be customers to get to the root of the disconnect with customers. The dilemma for both KFC and P&G was that they needed direct feedback about their product and brand’s performance so that they could make changes to their market strategies accordingly. In both cases, each company used qualitative research to solve key marketing management issues. In both cases, each company launched qualitative research efforts to make sense of quantitative data that they had gathered. They had lacked the contextual background for the quantitative data already gathered, and, used the feedback derived from the qualitative research to determine the best product marketing strategy going forward. In P&G’s case, they relied on the qualitative data to frame the quantitative data (Dupre, 2013).
For KFC, the slide in sales had been fast and hard since 2005. The pressure to eat healthier and media coverage about obesity and its connection with deadly diseases such as Diabetes, Heart Disease and joint/knee/back ailments all but halted health conscience consumers from dining at KFC. KFC decided to launch an in-depth qualitative research effort in order to better understand consumers’ attitudes toward KFC, and, to getter a more insight necessary for brand re-positioning (2010).
The KFC use of qualitative research to accomplish these substantial marketing redirection efforts was awarded a Marketing Excellence Award and was chosen by The Marketing Society as a showcase example of how research is used to bring back customers and win new ones. I was intrigued to find that it was in fact the use of qualitative research that earned KFC this notoriety!
The P&G qualitative research effort was also a role model case in that P&G established a new way of conducting successful qualitative research in its design of this effort. They set out to follow thirty mothers to understand what mothers are thinking when they make diaper purchase decisions. In previous qualitative studies performed by P&G, they found that keeping the participants engaged was a real problem. P&G needed to find a way to keep these busy moms engaged in the research so that they could learn as much as possible from them. To keep the moms engaged, they developed a new platform that allowed the moms to interact with the other study participants. In a way, they created a small group of “Facebook friends” (Dupre, 2013) that commented and liked each other’s posts. This was a true win-win for both P&G and the moms because this platform kept the moms engaged, and like Facebook, it created an environment where the post was possible right at the moment. This concept of “right at the moment” turned out to be the most important insight from the study because it gave P&G valuable information about what the moms had on their minds at the moment that they were making a diaper purchase decision. This approach was an improvement from previous qualitative studies undertaken by P&G because it allowed the moms to use their Smartphones and Tablets to make posts “right at the moment”. Interestingly, not one mom dropped out of the study as a result of this new platform. This was a tremendous improvement from previous qualitative research efforts undertaken by P&G, where they had struggled to keep the participants coming back for more answers.
The lesson learned from the P&G example is that the method used to gather the qualitative research data is just as important as the data itself. P&G had tried other qualitative research methods in the past that did not produce the results they had hoped for because they struggled to keep the participants active in the study.
This type of innovation was also evident in the KFC case, but in a different way. KFC had lost its way with its brand. Although the KFC brand was solid, KFC had confused its consumers by introducing healthier choices that diluted the brand and gave mixed messages. KFC launched grilled chicken options in response to the media blitz about obesity, but it could not complete with (already healthier) fast food chains like Subway, which had built their brand around eating healthy. In addition, in an effort to attract youth, KFC launched a new line of snack foods. This strategy backfired because families stopped coming to KFC. Their perception was that KFC was an eatery for the youth. Although the youth audience did resonate with the snack foods that were introduced, they spent 60% less per ticket than families did. As a result, sales figures plummeted.
What KFC did next with their qualitative research was quite innovative. They knew that they could not ever say that KFC was “good for you”, so instead they framed KFC perceptionally as “better for you” (2010). KFC decided that they would conduct the research to see how they could position KFC as “better tasting” than other fast food. Their method was to test “fast food tastes good, but KFC tastes especially good”. With the data collected from this qualitative research, they went to their New Product Development (NPD) group and refreshed their stale menu based on this feedback. Because of the new menu, KFC gained share and saw an uptick in their sales numbers.
Section 2:
In the two cases analyzed, it is clear that qualitative research provides key data that is used to make sense of quantitative research. The insight provided from qualitative research allows companies such P&G and KFC to redirect their marketing efforts. In P&G’s case, they were able to repackage Pampers and modify the labeling. KFC leveraged its strong brand equity and refreshed its marketing messages to support a new menu. In both cases, each company used qualitative research to drive new product development that was needed in order to boost its sales and take share from competitors. The analyses of the qualitative market research also redirected marketing efforts and revamped brands.
Marketing research has evolved over the years, and now with significant advances in technology, qualitative research is becoming more achievable as a result. In the P&G example, social media and interactivity among the research participants enabled the study to continue without loss of participants. In addition, because the participants were able to use their mobile devices --another technology enabler, P&G managed to capture real time insight about the thoughts of their buyers at the moment that they were making purchase decisions.
The link between technology advancements and the rise in prominence and importance of qualitative research is the topic of a recent article by Willie Pena as a guest blogger on the Marketing Insights website (Pena). In this article, Pena outlines the reasons that qualitative research is being used more frequently by companies to drive their marketing strategies. Pena claims that qualitative research will continue to be more and more important as technology advances make it easier to achieve. He credits five main reasons why this is the case.
- Social Media
- Mobile Ethnography
- Increased emphasis on the customer experience
- Increased automation and speed to market
- Online Communities
Interestingly, the P&G example proved how social media, online communities and mobile ethnography contributed to the success of their qualitative research. In the KFC case, the pressure to improve the customer experience allowed them to use their qualitative research in order to get a new, fresh menu to market by communicating the necessary changes to their development teams.
No doubt, many organizations will latch onto this emerging trend of coupling evolved technology with qualitative research techniques. Study groups that were once only possible through face-to-face interactions exclusively can now be conducted by using video conferencing; or by creating an online community; or by using social media. By using these new platforms, the qualitative research outcome is likely to be quicker, just as accurate and much easier and less costly for an organization to implement.
During my research for this report, I found that very few companies had embraced the use and benefits of using qualitative research. I was not surprised to find that Marketing Legend P&G has not only embraced it, but had designed a platform to support its success. As previously discussed, qualitative research will continue to grow as evolving technology enables its easier implementation. What are needed now are more Marketing Excellence case studies such as the one about KFC so that more awareness can be created about the benefits to organizations when they use qualitative research to better understand the data gathered by using quantitative research.
The other necessary change so that organizations can more fully embrace and begin reaping the benefits of qualitative research is the evolution and proliferation of Computer Assisted/Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS). Based on my research, I was able to find a found niche companies that offer their transcription services, but really not much more. This software needs to evolve and add analytics so that it can become a powerful way to categorize key qualitative research. A good analogy is to compare CAQDAS to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools. These CRM tools began as rudimentary tables that could be sorted in certain ways and before long, developed into powerful marketing allies that shaved hours of work for marketers and sales professionals. Such is the trend for CAQDAS. It is in its infancy, but before long, it will evolve to enable the methods and outcomes of qualitative research to become an intrinsic component of any integrated marketing plan.
In conclusion, large and small companies can benefit greatly from the analysis of qualitative research. As in the case of P&G and KFC: qualitative research allowed the companies to better understand their quantitative research because the data mined from the qualitative research helped to frame the quantitative data and its results. Their qualitative research provided the context for the quantitative research and provided key insights necessary in order to understand purchase behaviors. With this, more intimate insight into buyers’, purchase behavior, qualitative research data allowed both companies to quickly modify their products for improved sales outcomes.
References
Pena, W. (n.d.). Qualblog insights on market research, Retrieved from http://qualblog.com/current-and-emerging-trends-in-qualitative-market-research/
(2010). The Marketing Society, Retrieved from https://www.marketingsociety.co.uk/sites/default/files/thelibrary/marketing excellence 2 KFC case study.pdf
Dupre, E. (2013). P&G solves diaper dilemma with qualitative research. Direct Marketing News, Retrieved from http://www.dmnews.com/pg-solves-diaper- dilemma-with-qualitative-research/article/322357/
