The pitch: Just go to the dogs, or church ...

By JONATHAN DODD*

Creative director Jeneal Rohrback recently discussed in The Pitch the problem of well-paid advertising people living lifestyles increasingly distanced from "everyday people".

"How can we even contemplate what the everyday consumer wants or feels when we live in chi-chi land?" she asked (April 17).

Unfortunately I doubt Rohrback's solution will catch on - she has opted to trim down her excesses by selling the second car, sacking her domestic helpers and turfing extraneous clothes and credit cards.

Fortunately, other less drastic, and I dare say more effective, options are available to the readers who share Rohrback's spirit, but perhaps not her guts.

These options were raised by me at the 1999 NZ Market Research Society conference, in a paper entitled Are NZ Market Researchers Too Far Removed from Everyday NZ to Accurately Unmask the Truth?

To investigate this issue, I conducted a survey of 222 market researchers, using the same questions and methodology as a parallel survey conducted among a representative sample of more than 1000 adult New Zealanders.

The results pretty much panned out as expected: market researchers such as myself, charged every day with scrutinising all manner of people, products and markets, are essentially your typical urban, tertiary-educated, young, white faces earning above-average incomes and living a lifestyle certainly "above average" in most socio-economic factors.

We're notably more likely than most kiwis to use the internet, visit cafes and restaurants, own computers, hold dinner parties, play golf, tennis, and sail, keep up with fashions, and spend extra for quality and luxury goods.

Conversely, we're less likely to bet on the dogs, go to church, live on a tight budget or use coupons to save money.

Now, although market researchers aren't charged with creating great advertisements, as are Rohrback and her colleagues, this does not reduce the problem for it is we researchers who so often help advertisers and creatives develop and monitor their advertising strategies.



What, then, is the conscientious creative, strategist or researcher to do, if Rohrback's solution is too drastic?

As well as various changes that can be made at a company-wide level (for example, hiring specialists for specific markets), I believe my key premise back in 1999 still stands - anybody who wishes to broaden his or her horizons can, in fact, do so very easily, without losing one credit card or pair of shoes.

The first step can be taken when next in your car - switch radio stations and enter a new world. National Radio listeners should listen to BFM, BBC World listeners could switch to Radio Pacific.

Likewise, try switching the weekend's outing from Parnell to the Otara Markets, then buy a copy of Truth instead of the Herald. Try swapping your hip nightclub for a night out at the trots or even just wander along to your neighbourhood church for this Sunday's service.

Of course, such actions may take you out of your comfort zone, but if you're a truly passionate and genuinely people-loving advertiser or researcher, you'll enjoy the insights and experiences gained, and will inevitably see the results in your work.

* Jonathan Dodd is research and marketing manager at market research company Research Solutions Ltd.

* The Pitch is a forum for those working in advertising, marketing, public relations and communications. We welcome lively and topical 500-word contributions.
Email Simon Hendery.