Consumers
December 01 2000
by Mike TuffreyCommenting on Lord Astor's denials during the Profumo scandal, Mandy Rice-Davies famously said, "He would, wouldn't he?" The same can be said of many consumers' claims in CRM surveys, given the tendency to give expected responses. That makes the latest research by BITC and The Co-operative Bank especially welcome, as they ask what consumer do, not what they say.
Even more robust proof of the effectiveness of CRM is the growing list of successful schemes, making this one of the fastest growing areas of corporate social responsibility. Few major brands have not yet experimented with at least one campaign. Some, though by no means all, are now making it a core part of building the trust in the brand. In increasingly competitive and confused markets, such as telecoms, gas, electricity and financial services, the inertia (or comfort) factor is very valuable.
Many corporate responsibility managers would love to know more about attitudes among their key stakeholders, but lack big budgets for consultation. So why not think about asking marketing colleagues to add a question or two to their existing market research? Or ask supplementary questions when customers phone in to product 'carelines'. And use the results of mainstream market research in lieu of expensive new stakeholder consultation, when preparing social reports.