Think you have a great product? As an entrepreneur, don’t forget to ask yourself one important question: Am I telling my consumers what they want and how they want it, or am I asking them? If you chose the 1st option, think about another idea or ideology where you tell people what they want that just doesn’t work. It starts with a C and ends in an –ism. As for the second choice, if you’re asking them, are traditional research techniques like interviews and surveys enough?

The current thinking is that those methods are not enough nor sufficient, and for gaining deep-seated insights into consumers’ minds, focus groups should be used. Focus groups are used as a tool for gaining consumer insights, so for best results, find subjects in your target market. Encourage participants to make associations related to products and brands. Some interesting associations for example, in a focus group for SUVS, it might be discovered that consumers prefer large cars because they believe such cars protect them from the “jungle” of everyday driving. A good creative strategy would have an SUV driving through jungle like terrain with ease, coming out in pristine condition. Another association might be that men buy convertibles as substitute mistresses. Here I’d envision a man approaching middle age in a fire-engine red convertible to pull up to a stop sign alongside a gorgeous bombshell, exchange smiles, and then drive off.

An unconventional method for mining emotions called “archetype research,” developed by G. Clotaire Rapaille, a French-born medical anthropologist, combines three hour long focus group sessions with dimmed lights while playing mood music in the background. Here, consumers are asked to look at pictures of a product and are asked to go back into their childhood and discuss any emotions that were evoked. Afterwards, they write stories about their feelings, and Rapaille and his staff look them over for revealing emotions. Remembering a new concept is dependent upon associating it with an emotion, and the more emotions evoked, the greater the likelihood of recall.

Anybody remember Folger’s coffee ad where a young soldier returns home and brews a small pot of coffee that causes his mother to sense his return? Well, that campaign was a direct result of archetype research, and it was determined that aroma sells more coffee than taste because of the emotional ties to home that are evoked. Generally, the more emotions evoked, the greater the likelihood of recall. All you have to do is find the right emotions to target, and the find the right people to ask about them.