Daniel Burstein spoke to Dr. Michael Solomon, Professor of Marketing, Saint Joseph’s University (https://www.sju.edu/) in Episode #4.

Some lessons that emerged in the discussion:

•  Don’t overlook unconventional sources of data. When Dr. Solomon worked with Levi Strauss on the psychology of blue jeans, he learned a lot by poring through letters customers had written to the company over 150 years. 
•  Interact as much as possible with real consumers when you’re developing a new product. Dr. Solomon’s team observed how users struggled with a popular cleaning product from Black & Decker. By making a simple design change that didn’t occur to the engineers, this brand became the market leader in its category.
•  Get frequent reality checks from customers. As an author of several marketing textbooks, Dr. Solomon discovered that his frame of reference is not the same as his readers (typically college students). For example, when he discussed cultural events like 9/11, he had to remind himself that his readers were infants when this occurred.

Dr. Solomon also shared lessons he gained from the people he collaborated with in his career:

•  John Greco, Chair and CEO, Marketing IMPACT Council taught him about the strength of weak ties. Networking with associates of a colleague can be very effective. John reinforced the value of maintaining strong networks and partnerships where members possess complementary skills.
• Dr. Malaika Brengman, Associate Professor of Marketing, Vrije Universiteit Brussel taught him about finding collaborators with complementary skillsets. Collaborating on research about robotic service providers, he has seen how valuable it can be to team up with a colleague who has a different frame of reference and background.
• Jacqueline Lew, Executive Director / Global Head of Consumer & Brand Health Practice, CI Product Leadership, NielsenIQ taught him to always be vigilant about updating assumptions. Jacqueline’s frame of reference is global (she is based in Malaysia) and her perspective has been useful to him as he checks his assumptions about consumer behavior in other parts of the world.

Dr. Solomon’s parting words of advice: “Always start at least with the assumption that your frame of reference is not the same as your customers”

Articles (and a book) mentioned in this episode:

The New Chameleons: How to Connect with Consumers Who Defy Categorization (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-new-chameleons-the-new-chameleons-michael-r-solomon/1136940991) – his book

Mobile Marketing: 4 takeaways on how to improve your mobile shopping experience beyond just responsive design (https://marketingexperiments.com/conversion-marketing/mobile-marketing-four-takeaways-on-how-to-improve-your-mobile-shopping-experience-beyond-just-responsive-design)– eBags used customer anthropology to discover how customers shop for handbags online

Customer Theory: How to leverage empathy in your marketing (with free tool) (https://marketingexperiments.com/conversion-marketing/customer-theory-leverage-empathy-free-tool)

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