When Should You Skip Consumer Research?

Most would agree there’s intrinsic value in using consumer research to better understand your current audience, your target audience, and how their perceptions and behaviors can inform your brand and content strategy.

But what happens when you have a big idea that doesn’t align with existing perceptions of your brand?

The Birth of Tiny Desk

This was exactly the position NPR found itself in back in 2008. The network’s Bob Boilen and Stephen Thompson were at a South by Southwest concert in a noisy Austin bar, trying to hear folk singer Laura Gibson perform while the crowd was distracted and talking over the music. Thompson jokingly suggested they should invite Gibson to play at Boilen’s desk so they could actually hear her.

She did. Boilen filmed it, posted it online, and NPR’s Tiny Desk series was born.

The Phenomenon Today

Today, Tiny Desk features artists performing behind a desk in a small office to a group of very fortunate invited fans. The series attracts a jaw-dropping 20 million viewers a month and has become a cultural phenomenon.

The biggest pop stars have played the desk—Adele, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and Taylor Swift have all performed. The series is also deeply diverse. Tyler, The Creator and Juvenile’s performances are iconic, and nearly every genre imaginable is represented (though you won’t find much Country outside of Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson).

I’m now a rabid Turnstile fan after discovering them on Tiny Desk, and if you watch the series’ first stage dive at 14:22 of their performance and don’t smile, I’m not sure how to help you.

The producers skillfully feature a blend of existing stars and emerging talent most viewers have never heard of—at least not until they play the desk. It’s become a tremendous discovery tool and launching pad, which means it’s not easy to get booked.

The Research Question

What if, after Thompson and Boilen had the idea but before they launched it, they had researched to see what consumers thought?

This researcher thinks it probably wouldn’t have been a great move.

Steve Jobs’ perspective on this kind of research is often quoted. At a 1982 planning retreat, someone on the Macintosh team suggested conducting market research to see what customers wanted. “No,” Jobs said. “Customers don’t know what they want until we’ve shown them.”

Can you imagine Apple conducting research in the early 2000s, asking consumers what they wanted in the iPhone? They couldn’t have possibly answered in a strategically valuable way because smartphones didn’t exist yet, and consumers couldn’t visualize what they were capable of.

Once the iPhone was created, could consumer research be conducted to find out what features were most and least popular and guide improvements? Of course.

When Research Makes Sense

While the Tiny Desk series isn’t the iPhone, it was very different from anything that came before it. If you had asked existing NPR listeners in 2008 what they thought of the idea, it may have been confusing. The network’s older-skewing audience may not have liked it, or their musical tastes may have leaned toward legacy artists. The genre diversity might have tested poorly.

Thompson and Boilen needed to create it so viewers could understand it. Their strategic vision was necessary to build the brand.

So, let’s return to the original question: What if your big idea doesn’t mesh with existing perceptions of your brand?

NPR’s median listener age is traditionally at the upper end of the 25-54 demographic, while Tiny Desk viewers are younger and more diverse. On one hand, Tiny Desk has effectively expanded the appeal of the NPR brand while bringing in new audiences. On the other hand, the audiences are somewhat siloed. Is it possible to convert Tiny Desk viewers into NPR listeners?

This is where research can certainly play a role—to understand how a now-established brand like Tiny Desk can integrate within the traditional NPR broadcast ecosystem. A few months ago, NPR debuted Tiny Desk Radio, which showcases performances and behind-the-scenes stories on public radio stations and online. On the surface, it’s a smart strategy to drive cross-platform listenership and viewership.

The Bottom Line

A common misconception about consumer research is that it doesn’t encourage innovation. The truth is that strategic innovation is not only encouraged but also required for brands to evolve.

Use research correctly to validate your decisions, evolve your brand and content, and seek ways to expand perceptions without compromising expectations. Just remember that truly groundbreaking ideas may need to exist before you can research them effectively.