Years ago, while working with a global sweetener brand, I had an experience that perfectly captured the importance of consumer insights. I was involved in research for a new product launch, conducting focus groups to understand consumer sentiment about the product’s attributes.
However, instead of focusing solely on the topic at hand—taste, packaging or sweetness levels, for example—participants kept bringing up bigger concerns, such as health effects, artificial ingredients and even the troubling history of sugar production. I realized that these weren’t just passing preferences; they were deeply rooted opinions shaped by personal experiences and larger societal issues and far more influential in shaping consumer views about the product than any surface marketing concerns.
This reinforced for me something very important: Brands need to stop seeing people merely as consumers. They should recognize them as individuals with concerns, values and histories. When companies embrace this perspective, they not only build genuine relationships with consumers but also become part of—not sit outside—the meaningful conversations happening in society.