Global Focus Group Day: Celebrating the Power of Face-to-Face Insights

I first wrote about how Focus Groups Aren’t Dead nearly 10 years ago. Since that time, so much has changed, but yet this mantra is more true than ever.

The coronavirus pandemic upended in-person qualitative research at the start of 2020. In the face of the shutdown constraints, we got creative to engage with consumers and clients. In-home interviews were transitioned to digital, coupled with webcam conversations. We also developed methods for conducting remote shop-alongs with mobile phones, and how to translate a full day of in-person activation workshops into a series of virtual sessions with Zoom breakout rooms. Webcam focus groups, which I had previously always recommended clients against were suddenly a necessity.

Now, with the explosion of AI, we have even more research tools and methods at our fingertips, including our SmartMod AI-moderated interviews and conversations with synthetic responders through our AI Smart Shopper Persona.

And yet… in person focus groups are more alive than ever. This year, I’ve already racked up over 100,000 miles on my favorite airline traveling to conduct research. That’s because even with all these methods and ways of researching and engaging with consumers, nothing can beat what you can do in focus groups.

So when are in-person focus groups the best choice:

Complex Topics

• The open conversation of focus groups makes it ideal for exploring a topic or piece that’s not fully understood. There’s a flexibility in asking the same question multiple times in different ways to uncover consumers’ perspectives, and we can iterate our line of questions as we continually peel back the proverbial onion. The conversations are exploratory and open.

Early-stage Ideas

• Groups are a great way to introduce early-stage ideas to consumers as the moderator can first check for understanding to ensure the consumers “get” the stimulus (stim) before they evaluate it. We can also take that feedback to iterate the materials as we go through fieldwork, ultimately yielding a better final concept at the end.

Physical Stim (Sensory + Packaging)

• Consumers can see, touch, and taste the stimuli presented to capture real-life experiences. A new product may sound great on paper, but if it’s not executed well, it’s not going to sell.

Richer Conversations

• While you can also tackle this virtually, the conversation is that much richer in person. The moderator can pick up non-verbal reactions of the consumers’ full body language, not just their tone of voice and facial expressions. Respondents actually talk with each other – not just the moderator – because they can pick up cues of when it’s their turn to talk, and the group rapport is deeper. The conversation is simply better when you’re together in a room.

Client Engagement

• Having clients together in a backroom leads to better engagement with the research. Distractions are too tempting when clients are virtual. They’re able to talk during and between groups to align on implications and next steps.

Still, budgets don’t always allow for the travel to watch groups from the backroom while munching on peanut M&Ms. Web streaming has gotten cheaper to keep clients engaged who can’t travel. The pandemic taught us that webcam groups are a viable ‘good enough’ option when research funds are tight, especially when paired with robust asynchronous homework. 

July 9th is Global Focus Group Day, and I want to thank C+R’s founder, Dr. Saul Ben-Zeev, for developing focus groups. Although I never got the chance to meet him, his enterprising spirit lives on at C+R. While there are so many more ways to tackle a client’s burning business question, sometimes, and often, a focus group is the perfect solution. 

Happy Global Focus Group Day!

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