Do you want an easy life?  

Or do you want to know a secret?  

Everyone loves secrets right? Yet the type of secrets we’re going to share may make you feel uncomfortable. They may challenge your perceptions, of how things are, of the world around you. They’re what we call inconvenient truths.  

It’s nearly always easiest to go along with the majority view. To accept common perceptions within marketing. It’s only natural behaviour, at least for most of us. We want to be helpful. We want to get along with others. Yet sometimes facing inconvenient truths is the most helpful thing you can do in the long run to help your brand grow. 

What do we mean by inconvenient truths? 

Here’s a few examples: 

Example 1: 

Perception: Davina McCall has revolutionised the menopause experience for women in the UK. 

Secret: Between the ages of 45 and 55, female suicides are at their highest. And only 15% of women in the UK between 45 and 65 have taken advantage of HRT.    

Example 2: 

Perception: Everybody’s concerned about sustainability and it’s one of society's’ top priorities. 

Secret: Being able to afford essentials is an even higher priority and sustainable products are seen to be expensive. On top of this, many people don’t have enough information to make informed decisions about which products are sustainable. 

Example 3: 

Perception: Young people don’t drink alcohol and the NoLow category is huge. 

Secret: Whilst there has been an increase in those choosing not to drink alcohol, the majority still do, sometimes to excess. Something we can witness in any city centre, on any Friday night! Whilst NoLow is growing, it’s only part of some people’s repertoire and not the only category they’re buying from. 

When we step outside the marketing bubble to understand what’s really going on and face these inconvenient truths, we can unlock secrets that take us on a different journey and land our brands in new and better places. 

Let’s go back to the menopause example. While it may be nice to think that women in the UK already have all the help and support they need, this perception is in sharp contrast with reality, where most women are actually struggling through menopause alone. With this truth in mind, think how this could affect the decisions a brand might make. The language they could use to reach this audience. The channels they could adopt, or the products and services they could develop. Think of the opportunities this perspective unlocks for brands. 

The same is true if we look at the drinks category. If we look at no and low alcohol with contextual understanding, we can see that many still drink alcohol, perhaps at weekends, but are open to finding alcohol-free substitutes during the working week. And if our communications show deeper understanding of real lives and share ways to support them, we end up in a different place. Different language. Different comms. Bigger audience! 

If facing inconvenient truths feels hard then flip it and think about unlocking secrets.  

Hummingbird Insights is a specialist qualitative insight agency owned and run by 3 highly experienced researchers.  

Conducting brilliant, qualitative research is a combination of art and science. It takes years of experience. It takes patience. And the ability to look at a challenge through a different lens. 

Uncover deeper truths. Talk to Hummingbird Insights.