5 reasons why focus groups suck

Rivers of ink have flown in countless books and newspaper articles about this subject. So it should be clear for everyone by now that focus groups suck when it comes to rating an ad. And yet they’re still used. And yet there’s still some people who just don’t get it. It’s only right that I step in now and make a list of 5 reasons why focus groups are the worst advisor when it comes to choosing an ad for your campaign.

• Focus groups are not relevant, statistically speaking. The sample isn’t representative. Remember, you want to speak to millions of people. Are you sure the opinions of 20 people in a room are truly representative for all those millions?

• The participants will lie to you. That’s right, they will LIE to you. That’s because they’re not feeling ok, they’re amongst strangers. They’re not gonna be honest with so many unknown people around them. They will say what they think you want to hear from them. They will say what’s appropriate, not what they truly think.

• The participants aren’t in the industry. They don’t care about the ads. They HATE the ads. Tens of years of excremental advertising shoved down their throats made them hate ALL advertising. They will say “I’ll show ‘em”. And, oh, they will. They will kill those ideas if it’s the last thing they’ll ever do in this life.

• Focus groups will chose the mildest, most not-threatening, the very essence of mediocrity, the P.C.-iest idea of them all. They will chose an UNREMARKABLE, BORING, FORGETTABLE idea for your brand. They will make your brand boring and unremarkable. Remember, they’re not in a safe environment, they’re not at their homes, they’re not feeling secure. They wouldn’t want the other guys to think bad about them. Great ideas are controversial, are remarkable, the great ideas give birth to countless discussions about them. That will never happen in a focus group.

• Focus groups are a waste of time and money. They will not prove anything to anyone. They’re only useful if done massively (hundreds of) and only for insight gathering. Focus groups for ad rating is just a means to not take responsibility for the success or the failure of a campaign. Focus groups are for cowards. “No, boss, don’t fire me, it’s not my fault! The focus groups said this was a great ad! So what if you wasted millions of dollars on a shitty campaign? The focus groups loved it! It’s their fault!”

Yea. So how about firing those focus groups and start taking responsibility for the choices you have to make regarding your brand? Face it, one of the reasons why advertising worldwide is so bad (besides clients that have no clue) is this: the damn focus groups.