Why Brands Should Talk to their Fans

What’s the first thing most successful companies do when they launch a new product? They ask their target market what they think of their concept and listen to their advice. Armed with that knowledge, they then build it. Right? Or not?

I have been having daily conversations with CPG brands for the last 15 years, and I’m still seeing this is not the common way to do things; in fact, it’s the opposite. Third-party research looks at trends, asks random people if they would like turmeric-infused in their lipstick (who wouldn’t?) and focus groups are assembled to validate this excellent idea.

Let’s pause here for a moment for a quick tangent: I once participated in a focus group for a vodka brand. The organizer who met with me prepped me on how to answer the questions. I thought that was weird, but I was a poor student and needed the cash. The brand was targeting cool party girls, and so my somewhat nerdy, introverted self sat in a circle with a group of fellow nerds around a conference room table. Meanwhile, the vodka brand people sat behind the glass and listened with interest to our 100% rehearsed insights. I feel bad confessing this, but as I said, I needed the cash.

I’m not saying focus groups are bad. In fact, I think they can be highly effective, providing the people participating are the right target. What I’m wondering is, why don’t brands start by talking with the people who already buy their products? Their fans.

Many brands seem to fear collaboration with the very people who buy their products. They would prefer to observe them from afar, preferably via cookies and browser data, so they can follow them around the web and target them to buy that turmeric-infused lipstick.

The question is, do we want turmeric lipstick, or do we simply want quality products that deliver results? (Spoiler alert… it’s the latter!)

Here’s what I think brands should be doing:

• #1. Have an owned community. Not just an email database, but a fully opted-in pool of people you will engage with to help you launch more consumer-driven products.
• #2. Develop an annual calendar of ways you’ll collaborate with your community, from product development surveys to sampling opportunities.
• #3. Create offers for your different consumer segments to encourage increased basket size and purchase frequency.
• #4. Consider loyalty programs (e.g., points that fans can use towards future purchases) to reward their good behaviour.
• #5. And finally, trust your community and launch products your fans say they want.

Launching Butterfly

These are the reasons we launched Butterly. Not just because we wanted to provide a platform for dialogue but because we wanted to facilitate building communities around brands. Today, we’re partnering with AI technology to deliver on the above as well as educate brands on the direct correlation between their community development efforts and their sales. Makes sense, right?

If you’d like to learn more or try it out, let me know!

Ali de Bold is the co-founder of ChickAdvisor.com, Canada's most trusted product reviews website. Launching in 2006, the site was Canada’s first product review community and the brainchild of Ali and her husband, Alex de Bold. The couple launched the company from their living room, without any external funding, and have since turned it into a community-based institution. Today, ChickAdvisor is thriving with hundreds of thousands of members across Canada, the USA and the UK, working with top-tier CPG brands. The company has also launched Butterly, a community-building software for brands, XYStuff and FamilyRated, which are niche product review sites with active and loyal followings.

Ali is a third-generation entrepreneur and a graduate of Ryerson’s Radio and Television Arts program.