Customer insights that matter
Patrick Barwise and Seán MeehanLondon Business School and IMD
This paper, to be presented at the ARF Re:Think 2011 conference, is based on our new book, Beyond the Familiar: Long-Term Growth through Customer Focus and Innovation (www.beyond-the-familiar.com Jossey-Bass, April 2011).
Our last book, Simply Better,1looked at 'differentiation that matters', that is, differentiation through the eyes of the customer. It was based on evidence that, despite marketers' obsession with uniqueness, what most customers want is products and services that just work, rather than offering USPs. Delivering the basics 'simply...