Expert vs. Consumer, Consumer Wins
Was that chart the first you time you realized the Oscar’s were not about movies that made money, probably not. But when I looked at that NY Times chart many months ago, I then looked at the top ten ratings for television shows. I quickly realized I hadn’t seen many of the TV shows and motion pictures that were garnering the most attention so I thought to myself do I have any idea what America likes and wants.
Should I work in advertising, and worse yet should I dare describe myself as someone who works on strategy and insights. This is compounded even further by the fact that I DVR or Netflix all the shows I watch so I don’t really see many commercials on a daily basis.
Moreover I’ve grown disenchanted with critics in business and trade pubs.
When I pick up the WSJ or read it online I see that Walt Mossberg is reviewing products. And I’m sure he’s done some great product reviews but I personally rather refer to the hundreds of comments on Amazon. I can pick one or two to read. I can also read what that real person has said about other products or visit their blog to see if they are an opinion I care about. I’m not saying Mossberg’s opinion is not important as I would definitely attend a talk like the one he did at the Aspen Ideas Festival.
I have a similar reaaction when reading an ad critic column. To me these are a knowledgable person that watches a lot of commercials (like the Oscar panel and Mossberg) and can dissect which ones connect with people and are a cut above the rest. The only problem is they can trash something like the JC Penny Doghouse video while consumers are sending it around like wildfire. I know you can’t always get it right, but why not report the news saying the video is catching on and ask people to tell you why they like it.
On a professional level, I think it’s less about who you are as a consumer or how you focus on deriving insight through your own eyes and more about what you understand about people and habits.
If I have to choose between what a drove of consumers think about something and what a media expert thinks when it comes to advertising and products, I will choose the consumer.
