Successful brands understand the secret to growth is listening to customers. Most businesses do not invest in research, they think it is too costly, takes too much time, or they do not need research to tell them what they 'already know'.

Mark Ritson recently praised the BBC's decision to invest heavily in research and boldly said “you don’t know what you're doing if you don’t invest 5% of your budget in research”. At This Brand Works, we couldn’t agree more. Successful business strategies are founded on customer insights, facts and not fiction.

Recently we heard about a leading bank that spent £15m on marketing an insurance product to 50-year-olds. Their campaign bombed, so they brought in a consultant who pointed out their targeting was completely wrong. Their core customers fell into two distinct groups 30-40-year-olds and over 65’s, not the median age of 50! A big failure on the misuse of data.

The lack of, misuse of, or wrong research method is the main reason why 75% of new products fail Harvard business Review . Don’t fall into the 75%, make sure you do your research, use the right methods and interpret the results contextually.

Our top tips for using research to grow your brand

1. listen to your customers, understand them and what their needs and wants are

2. Don’t just focus on your current customers. Speak to lapsed & potential customers too.

3. Spend 5% of your marketing budget on research

4. Use the correct research method. (We recommend using both qual and quant methods)

5. Interpret the data and insights correctly

If you need help or advice on using research to grow your business, get in touch