The thick end of the wedge: What a failed newspaper can teach us about truly understanding what customers want

This article explains why too much focus when seeking customer insight is dangerous for brand strategy, if brand strategists focus too much on the 'thin end of the wedge'.

The thick end of the wedge: What a failed newspaper can teach us about truly understanding what customers want

John SillsThe Foundation

There was a quite brilliant story in May this year about Trinity Mirror, which launched its New Day print newspaper to much fanfare in February, only to close it down just three months later.

The reason Trinity Mirror chief executive Simon Fox gave was insightful in itself: "At the end of the day, what consumers told us they would do and what they actually did were different things. We couldn't persuade enough people to try...

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