Why Pinterest Should Be on Your Research Radar Now.

Oh savvy marketer, of course you’ve heard the scuttlebutt about new social darling, Pinterest. You’ve already heard that the online pinboard phenomenon just won the Crunchie for the Best New Startup of 2011.  You’ve already heard about the site’s “crazy, crazy traffic and growth.” 8000% in one short year.

You’ve heard about those sweet purchase-power psychographics — all those happily addicted Pinners, 80% of them women ages 25-44, who are spending an average of 14 minutes daily pinning like mad.  Growing the site organically by passing along hard-to-nab invitations.

And the Big Brands, especially retailers like Nordstrom, Whole Foods, and Lands’ End, who are jumping on board this thriving new platform. You already know the tantalizing details.

But your question remains: What’s in it for me, for my brand? Why should I take the time, head count, and budget to expand across yet another social space, especially when Google + and Tumblr are also growing in significance for marketers? Why should I bother?

Here’s why:   Pinterest is an unprecedented opportunity to get up-close-and-personal with your customers. It’s Customer Research as it should be.

While Pinterest clearly didn’t plan to be an astonishing new Digital Ethnography tool, the site is the most intriguing opportunity for marketers to go native that’s come along in decades.  At the core of ethnography is the study of culture — notably  the meanings individuals give to objects, people, events, and experiences.  Ethno actually comes from the Greek word ethnos — meaning folk or culture.  Graphia means writing.

From where I sit, a veteran market researcher with a trusty trendkit at my side , Pinterest is the epitome of our folky digital culture today. Marketers can essentially go native each time they visit the site.  Each board is a collection of what’s meaningful to the Pinners, along with graphia type responses:  Likes, Descriptions, and RePins.

Unlike traditional qualitative research, the methodology or structure is not owned or even necessarily guided by the researcher. We’re merely dropping in;  observing the customer in their native environment.   Call it a digital upgrade of those venerable Focus Group projective techniques — Vision Boards, Mood Boards, Treasure Maps. But even better, Pinterest is iterative. All those Pinners are vividly evolving their boards with every sticky minute they spend per day on the site.

Imagine watching your customers’ wishlist-style boards, all those wants, needs, and desires, as they’re mapped out in gloriously colorful detail. All those aspirations presented authentically and beautifully. Living scrapbooks of your customers’ life designs.

Pinterest is an exciting opportunity to:

• Conduct digital ethnography
• Discover new category/industry/style trends — what pins are most popular
• Study your brand’s Competitive Landscape (visually + response)
• Find new Influencers (many “existing” Influencers are already pinning but new, and perhaps different persona, are are emerging)
• Explore/test new themes, ideas, product development
• Crowdsource product development
• Name Generation.
• Imagine the deep insights of combining face-to-face Focus Groups with Pinterest Digital Ethnography.

Hope to see you on Pinterest soon. I’d love to help get your brand up and Pinning.  If you need an invitation, email me at: hello@guruofnew.com or @guruofnew

Unilever Mashes Up Social Media with Market Research for Alaska Campaign.

I am very excited about my trip to Alaska tomorrow to meet with the ATIA. We’ll be discussing The Ten Commandments of Social Media – and the above ‘Prescribe The Nation’ campaign from Unilever for Vaseline successfully follows all ten of them. I love the blend of ethnography with social media; it’s a great way for marketers to first understand the ‘Conversation’ that’s already well underway and then jump in appropriately. This is what Motrin tried to do — instead they got Mom-stormed on Twitter.

Stay tuned for updates from gorgeous Alaska.

Pure Hog Heaven For Fans and Marketers: New Harley Davidson Museum Opens This Weekend.

This coming Saturday July 12th marks the opening of a new piece of classic Americana – Harley Davidson’s new Museum guaranteed to get ‘your heart racing’ by ‘experiencing the H-D story from dream to legend.’

The Museum is yet another example of Harley Davidson’s brilliant brand strategy and Customer Experience expertise, as the company continues to fan the flames of its most passionate users with high engagement experiences. From a marketer’s point of view, the Museum is nothing short of a Temple of Ethnography and a field trip to this $75 million new 20-acre complex is likely to generate new insights into how to cultivate the cult, as well as a wardrobe of hot new chappies.