FOR NOT LISTENING TO FOCUS GROUPS - YOU'RE FIRED

In the latest episode (about new flavours of ice-cream) Sir Ralan (as he's always called) made a surprising reference to market research. He told the teams to do some research (their attempts were hilarious), and in the boardroom he emphasised its importance. "In my business career," he said, "I have learnt to set aside my own opinion and to do research to find out what the public think" (or words to that effect).

Well you could have knocked me down with a feather. I thought Sir Ralan's view of market research would be roughly as enlightened as his view of advertising (ie very old fashioned). And yet, there he is, so far on the side of the angels as far as market research is concerned, he is actually beyond reasonable.

I don't think we have any clients so angelic as to actually set aside their own opinion in the face of research. In fact clients tend to modify, expand or extend their opinion as a result of new insights from research, and I would argue that this active collaboration is a good thing.

So, a surprising view from Sir Ralan, and all the more welcome for that. Maybe he's a better role model for young business people than I thought.

Dominic