I had a dear friend in high school whose father was the coach of a professional sports team. Imagine my oh-my-gosh-I-can’t-stand-it excitement when I was invited to attend a team event with her family. After much high-school-age-appropriate angst about the proper outfit, makeup, hair, and imagining what I’d say if I actually met one of the players kinds of freaking out preparation, I arrived at Lisa’s house for a quick cup of hot chocolate before the big event. The evening was a lot of fun, and though I shook hands with only a few players, the people-watching was a blast. Still feeling the glow of a great time, I stopped off to visit Lisa’s “powder room” before heading home. Imagine the sheer horror of looking up at the mirror and discovering my dried hot cocoa mustache!
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked while feeling like the world was falling away from my feet.
“I didn’t want to embarrass you,” she said.
(Sigh.)
Sometimes one of the most difficult – but nevertheless critical – parts of a qualitative researcher’s job is delivering the bad news. That new product, logo or concept in which you’ve invested oodles of time and TLC, certain that it’s the next sliced bread revolution … once in awhile it falls down with consumers. We feel your heartbreak, but we also owe you the painful details.
A classic cocoa mustache tale of “Why You Should Always Do Your Qualitative Research” from recent years goes like this: A popular cable channel rebranded itself with a new logo that instantly reminded viewers of, well, an STD. Not good. Had they put a qualitative team on it before rolling it out and investing all that branding goodwill in a “woopsie,” well, the early heartbreak would been a whole lot better than the tsunami of “what were you thinking?” that followed.
A key reason to invest in qualitative research is to test your latest and greatest with consumers before “the party.” The cleverest ideas can fail if the audience you’re trying to reach doesn’t see it your way, and that’s why qualitative research can be a great investment in the long run. As researchers, we’ve all felt the heartbreak from the back room, knowing that what we’re discovering may send you back to the drawing board. (Why many facilities stock the back room with stress balls.) However, in the end, delivering the occasional bad news along with the good is one of the most important and valuable services we provide. Qualitative research can keep you from ever going out in public with a cocoa mustache again. I promise.