Jo Ann Herold, Marketing Research Detective

  

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Welcome to the July 2010 edition of The Marketing Dialog. This month’s guest marketing leader is Jo Ann Herold, who brings over 20 years marketing experience to Top Right Strategic Marketing. Prior to consulting, she spent 16 years at Honey Baked Ham and was formerly the VP of Marketing and Chief Marketing Officer with them. She has worked as a Regional Marketing Manager for Shoney’s and Captain D’s for five years. Before that, she was head of marketing for the Jackson, MS Zoo and has owned her own marketing firm.

To thank our guests for their participation, Polaris will make a donation to the charity of their choice. Jo Ann has chosen The American Marketing Association Atlanta Ken Bernhardt Scholarship for Outstanding Collegiate Marketer Award. “The reasons I am passionate about this scholarship is that I am a lifelong learner, it gives students a chance to study marketing—which has been a great career for me, I am president-elect of the Atlanta chapter of AMA, and Ken Bernhardt has been a friend and mentor. As an added bonus, he will match all donations personally,” said Jo Ann. (Please note, Ken Bernhardt was also TMD’s very first guest marketing leader)

If you would like to know more about The American Marketing Association Atlanta Ken Bernhardt Scholarship for Outstanding Collegiate Marketer Award or to make a donation, please contact AMA Atlanta or Jo Ann directly at jherold@toprightpartners.com

TMD: Thanks for participating in this month’s Dialog, Jo Ann. Are you a fan of marketing research? And if so, why?

Jo Ann: I use some form of marketing research almost every day. As a consumer marketer, I am always asking consumers, customers, suppliers, vendors and experts their opinion. I look for patterns and consistency in the answers. But I also look for the misfit answers.

I also like when an answer jumps out. Sometimes, however, the answer isn’t so clear. I think of research as detective work—it’s a blast to start with a blank sheet of paper, provide an articulate problem statement, develop the hypothesis, and then uncover the information from all points of view.

I serve on the Executive Advisory Board for the AMA. We brought in the thought leaders and are in the process of developing a white paper on the Trends in Marketing for 2020. I am also working on a fun project for InterContinental Hotels right now. I also have taught research as an Adjunct Professor. Obviously, I am a huge believer in research!

TMD: Why do you think marketing research is important?

Jo Ann: It provides the voice of the customer. It takes the personal opinions out of the answers and provides unbiased “truths” to the problem.

TMD: From the marketing research you conducted, what information was your company surprised to discover or would not have known without the research?

Jo Ann: When I was CMO at HoneyBaked Ham, we were surprised to learn that the glaze was the key differentiator for the product. It seems so obvious now—but it was a huge Aha at the time!

TMD: That’s funny isn’t it – to look back on something and see how obvious it is now? But at the time … huge insight!

Can you tell us about a time where a bad marketing decision was made due to the lack of research?

Jo Ann: Oh gosh, you had to ask that. Pricing is often the least researched and most important piece of the Marketing P’s. One time, I made a pricing decision without research. I learned my lesson and now, always try to incorporate research into any consumer pricing decision.

TMD: Well, you aren’t the only marketer to have that experience! How about at time when marketing research saved your company money?

Jo Ann: Marketing Research has helped some of my clients understand what the consumer will pay for. What attributes are “worth the price” and what areas are “fools gold.” At HoneyBaked, I was able to save the company a lot of money in packaging.

TMD: You’ve had some great experience in marketing over the course of your career? How has your thinking about marketing research evolved over that time?

Jo Ann: Dramatically—especially as my responsibilities increased. The impact of my decisions had significant financial implications. Research aided the decision making process.

TMD: What has been the most successful marketing research project your company has undertaken? What made it successful?

Jo Ann: The most successful projects are the ones where there is a creative insights process involved.

• This includes smartly identifying what is the problem that needs to be solved,

• Including the business in the problem identification,

• Sourcing the right approach or supplier to lead the research,

• Wrapping the project with a session that summarizes the key insights and “Ahas”,

• Determining how to commercialized the findings for financial gains, and

• Sharing the research and findings throughout the organization and with key suppliers.

TMD: The creative process is certainly important. But how do you get buy-in for marketing research from other executives?

Jo Ann: Include them in all steps of the process. Share the problem statement, invite executives to hear and see any aspect of the customer interviews, ask them to provide input into the “Aha” section of the research project. They will love being a part of it. And you will too!

TMD: What marketing decisions do you think are the most difficult to make without any research?

Jo Ann: Anything related to the marketing P’s should have some element of research. Also, research doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. For example, store visits, customer calls and customer surveys can be conducted using internal resources.

TMD: That is such an important point – information does not have to cost an arm and a leg. Especially now, we have a lot of information available to us.

Let me ask you one last question: What are your recommendations for marketing research professionals? What are the pitfalls they need to watch out for?

Jo Ann: Always provide insights into the data. That is what is the most important. At each step of the process, ask the question, “What does this mean?”

TMD: Jo Ann, thank you so much!

Let us know: What marketing decision are the most difficult to make without research?

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