Jun. 16, 2008 at 2:16pm

Insights from the underwear drawer

Posted by Shari Campbell in Measurement, Planning and Strategy
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Market research is like looking in someone’s underwear drawer!

I don’t think I fully appreciated that statement when I first heard it some 25 years ago. It was uttered by my intern supervisor at St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham, just minutes before I attended a presentation on the hospital’s community perception study.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. I’m driving to Bellevue with JayRay’s college intern Katie Nelson, a student at Pacific Lutheran University, and Melina Young, a JayRay employee and recent graduate of University of Washington Tacoma. I was conducting focus groups for a healthcare client and wanted to explain to these two bright young professionals why focus group research can be so helpful.

“Well,” I said, “it’s kind of like looking in my husband’s underwear drawer!”

They looked at me, somewhat alarmed. I continued.

“If you pulled open my husband’s underwear drawer today, you’d find what you expect –
underwear. But nestled between his running socks,” I continued, “you’d also find a bag of Dove chocolates and my iPod.”

And that, in a nutshell, is what I appreciate about market research. Whether it’s a quantitative brand study or a qualitative focus group, you can always count on uncovering new insights about your customers or patients.

I mentioned this analogy to a couple friends. Surprisingly, I learned that others hide interesting items in their underwear drawers … GameBoys, keys, credit cards, loose change, Christmas card receipts and the list goes on.

Without giving away confidential research from my client, let me just say that we confirmed what we expected: patients value communication and coordination. We also uncovered some surprising insights into what constitutes coordination. We’ll talk more about that in another blog.

And if you’re curious about why we hide chocolates in my husband’s underwear drawer: our teenage daughters would never look there, so it’s proven to be a great place for stashing our favorite chocolates.

It also reminds me again and again of the value of talking to your customers: you’ll always discover the unexpected.

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