Editor's note: This is the first installment of a new feature in which Art Shulman, president of Shulman Research, Van Nuys, Calif., presents humorous stories of life in the research trenches. Readers are invited to call or write Art with stories of their own.
A while ago I traded war stories - unusual experiences in our research careers - with fellow research company owner Harry Heller, a former boss I hadn't seen for years. Harry related an experience he had some time ago while testing commercials in the Los Angeles area. It seems that just as the test commercial was being shown in the theater, a minor but quite palpable earthquake rolled across the city.
When Harry inquired about a retest, the representative of the research company replied, "That won't be necessary. We'll just compare the results to our earthquake norms."
In return, I told him how, a few years back, I'd personally been an attraction at Universal Studios Tours. It all came about when Universal wanted to evaluate some new outdoor advertising executions. The study required large samples, fast turnaround (1,000 interviews by the weekend) and, of course, low cost. The solution was obvious. We set up a tachistoscope in a small, enclosed theater on the Universal lot. Over the course of the day, between more traditional attractions, Universal trams pulled up to the theater, where passengers disembarked and were led in and handed questionnaires.
I became a veritable showbiz luminary as I stood onstage and instructed them to write down what they saw flashed on the screen, and later, report their age, sex, and geographic origin. Results were on the client's desk by the time I got back to real life on Monday morning, feeling proud that due to my efforts, Universal guests experienced a part of show business they hadn't been familiar with - the tachistoscopic billboard test.
Later, after it occurred to me that my old boss and I weren't the only ones with interesting experiences, I called some colleagues for theirs. The first person I contacted said, "I wish I could help, but I'm the least funny person I know." He was right. But I wasn't discouraged. I was confident that most market researchers were truly funny. Well, at least that they had some funny experiences.
When the next two folks I contacted asked if what they told me had to be true, I briefly wondered about the veracity of some of the info our profession passes along.
Finally, Ed Sugar, of C.A. Walker & Associates, reported knowing a senior market researcher who took a client to a topless restaurant in Los Angeles. The researcher was surprised to find that he knew their waitress, a former project director for his company. When the executive asked why she was waiting tables there, the woman explained, "I make much more money here than I ever made as a project director working for you."
Arnie Fishman, chairman of Lieberman Research West, recalls a meeting where an astute advertising agency account exec observed, after seeing a presentation of a tracking study, "Boy that brand DK seems to be increasing, and no one's mentioned a word about it!"
Arnie also recalls the presentation of a major research study, where the head of marketing at a large financial services company asserted, "The results you provide are interesting, but what I want to know is what everybody else thinks, not just the 3,000 people you interviewed."
Gene Delvecchio, director of research at Ogilvy & Mather, Los Angeles, relates an experience involving a focus group with real estate agents. The day the group was scheduled, news broadcasts announced that some real estate agents in a different part of the city had been taken hostage by a gunman. That afternoon all but one of the agents scheduled for the group called to cancel, supplying a variety of reasons for backing out, none of which were the true reason - they were afraid the session was a scam to capture them for ransom.
Gene also remembers a focus group in which consumers had been pre-screened as recent home buyers, as well as for security. Part of the session involved reaction to a print ad for a financial institution. It was quite a surprise when one of the respondents in the room turned out to be the model in the ad.
She happened to be a recent home buyer who didn't work for a market research company, an advertising agency or in the real estate business, and who was recruited entirely by coincidence!
Focus group moderator Louise Kroot-Haukka reports leading a discussion among female fast food buyers about pro¬spective new formulations being considered by her client. In the midst of taste testing, one of the respondents threw up. On the test burgers. The client, observing behind the mirror, was only partially consoled when the rueful woman confessed afterwards: "I was sick before I ate. It wasn't your food."
Respondents aren't the only people who throw up. Harry Heller reports that he rented a helicopter to fly over Long Island in order to locate houses with swimming pools for a pool chemical product placement. After about half an hour in the lurching helicopter, Harry upchucked all over the map he was using to record locations of swimming pools.
In future installments of this column, I'll report on more quirky, loopy and strange happenings in the world of market research.