3 Brand Marketers Use Ethnography to Get to Know Customers

When traditional market research fails, many companies are turning to ethnographic studies to better understand their customers' needs and desires.

1. P&G launched a program called "Living It" where managers and senior leaders spend time in the homes of low-income customers around the world to develop deeper customer insights and create successful innovations.
2. Google videotaped Chinese users as they searched using the powerful engine. The video allowed Google to see first-hand how the users were searching and exactly why they weren't getting satisfactory results.
3. ParagonRx is a firm we at STINSON Brand Innovation often partner with to observe how physicians communicate with patients and how they actually prescribe and even administer therapies.

Think about how your brand team can observe customers using your products or services. Encourage your sales and marketing managers – and your agencies’ creative teams -- to get out of the office and closer to the customer.