I heard a great story recently about the iconic movie, Die Hard.
Apparently in early test groups, viewers were confused why the lead character was pitched as a hero when he “keeps hiding and calling for help”.
I must admit, I laughed out loud when I heard this … mainly because it was a viewpoint that I don’t think I would have ever come up with, even if I was working on it 24/7 for a year.
It also probably says more about where the minds of American men were back when the movie came out than anything else.
And while learning this has ensured I will never watch the movie in the same way again, it does highlight the best and worst of focus groups.
I must admit I’m not a fan of this approach.
To be fair, it’s less the methodology and more about how clients are using what they find/hear.
Treating it as undeniable fact … something that needs to be followed to the letter.
But the reality is focus groups are – at best – a guide, rather than a blueprint.
Factors like group dynamics, vacuum thinking and the focus on answers, not understanding all combine to ensure there are a number of major flaws with this approach, and yet some blindly believe this is pathway to success.
Fools.
To be fair, I feel this way about pretty much all research methodologies.
Not because I’m a prick, but because context and dynamics continually shape our viewpoints and behaviours, which is why I don’t like relying on one form of research but a combination of different kinds … as long as one is spent out in culture, talking … listening … learning from the way the core of subcultures live.
Not just in terms of the specific thing we are working on, but life in general.
The language.
The associations.
The labels they use.
The pressures, laughter, fears and concerns …
Clothes … music … games … hashtags … iconography …
Their thoughts about situations not just their reactions or behaviours …
What they’ve started doing rather than what they’ve always done … the ‘edge effect’ that Martin and I talked about in our Cannes talk on Chaos last year.
But that approach is still seen as the exception rather than the rule.
Interacting with real life is still viewed as a novelty rather than a reality.
Which is why, if you have to use research, I like the way Dreamworks does it.
They don’t care about what people think about their stories or characters … they don’t give a shit about the highs or lows or things they’d change, they ask just one simple question …
Were you entertained?
That’s it.
It’s the only thing that matters to them.
Simple. Focused. Clear.
Because while they want people to enjoy what they do, they don’t want people to decide what they do …
Sure, they listen to what is said.
Sure, they sometimes decide to make changes based on what is said.
But they never do what they don’t agree with because you can’t steer a ship to port when you have a thousand captains all telling you where to go.
There’s a lot of people who could learn from this.
And I don’t just mean clients …