Category: Interesting in the Industry
Moscow and the Big Mac.
It must have been 8 degrees outside; maybe 9. The tip of my nose was frozen, and it didn’t look like the snow was going to stop. The line was long, and we were quite a ways back.
Moscow, February 1993.
It was our second trip to Russia. There would be more. The Soviet Union had formerly broken up a couple of years earlier and the line we were standing in was outside one of the first MacDonald’s in Russia.
Russians loved the burgers, at that time treating the fast-food restaurant like fine dining.
There would eventually be 850 locations in more than 100 cities in Russia selling Big Macs. But with Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, global politics changed, and McDonald’s management pulled the plug in June of 2021. All of the golden arches were sold to a Russian businessman, and you can no longer buy a Big Mac in the land of borscht and Bolsheviks.
While 850 locations may seem like a lot, the fact is that MacDonald’s has 40,275 restaurants in operation and closing or selling off 850, isn’t as big a dent as you might think. There are golden arches in 133 countries worldwide. From Pago Pago in American Somoa to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, MacDonald’s restaurants generate more than $23 billion a year in annual revenue.
In fact, they are the largest restaurant chain in the world.
And they have one thing in common with the largest coffee chain in the world and, in fact, with the largest corporation in the world: ….yep, they survey.
“To remain number one in the fast-food industry, McDonald’s frequently uses market research to make its customers happy.”
“In the case of McDonald’s, a positive attitude when it comes to listening to their clients has allowed them to excel and rapidly grow to become a global fast-food chain.”
https://mcdonald551991527.wordpress.com/2019/11/10/mcdonalds-market-research/
Are you getting the picture?
MacDonalds – one of the most successful companies in the world – surveys. And, frankly, so do thousands of other successful companies
How about you?
Surveyed your customers or prospects lately?
You want to your drive your sales and income?
“We took bids on this project, and none of your competitors offered such a short turnaround…. At the same time, your cost was lower than all the competitive bids, again permitting us to move quickly and get more for our budget for this project than we would have afforded from anyone else.”
K.C., Ph.D., Vice President, Systems & Information
Call or email me about who you want to survey and pricing (which will be more
Best,
Bruce
Bruce Wiseman
President & CEO
On Target Research
www.ontargetresearch.com
Br***@br**********.net
1-818-397-1401
Steve Jobs and my computer camera.
It started when I couldn’t get the camera to work on my MacBook.
Besides banning me from the growing number of zoom and other online video meetings, this was going to be a problem for my radio show.
What radio show?
I do a weekly live radio show out of Los Angeles every Thursday. I broadcast from my home office, but the studio connects to me via a SKYPE video feed.
No camera, no video feed, something I had been providing to my audience for years.
I called Apple support. They spent a great deal of time with me, going through all of the potential software problems it could be, found nothing and said,
“It’s a hardware problem,” and he made an appointment for me at the Genius Bar at the closest Apple store.
Down the mountain to the Apple store in Santa Clarita (I live in a small community, 6,000 feet up in the Los Padres National Forrest about 1.5 hours north of Los Angeles).
Arriving at the Apple Store, I took my seat at the Genius Bar. A guy named Garret came over and asked what the problem was.
I told him. It took him 2, maybe 3 minutes to fix it (the problem was due to something I neglected to do, not something wrong with the computer).
Cost of the online support = $0
Cost of the Genius Bar = $0
Quality of the personnel = Excellent
Some statistics.
There are 1 billion iPhones on the planet
There were 61 million iPads and 26 million Mac and MacBook units sold in 2022.
Apple sold 82 million AirPods and 53 million Apple Watches in 2022.
Apple Music has 88 million subscribers; Apple TV+ has over 75 million.
You think Steve Jobs was on to something?
Apple is the largest corporation on the planet by market capitalization.
In fact, their market cap of almost $3 trillion is bigger than the GDP (gross domestic product = in short, the country’s production) of:
Italy
Canada
Spain
Turkey
Mexico
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Australia
To name a few.
And look at this current graph of their stock.
Graph courtesy of Yahoo Finance
Why do they have the largest market capitalization in the world?
As you can see from above, their service is excellent. The quality of their products is world class. I mean they dominate markets.
But there’s one more thing that is at the core of Apple’s success.
“Apple is one of the most successful technology companies worldwide. Apple made that possible through product unit innovation and market research to understand its customer’s needs.”.
“… Its research is done through a variety of customer satisfaction surveys. As a result, these surveys have paved the way for new product development and modification of existing Apple products.
“The iconic tech company has made impressive changes to its products based on consumer feedback.…”.
The largest company in the world by market cap attributes it’s success, in large measure, to surveys of customers and prospects – something On Target Research has been doing successfully for more than 25 years.
Have you surveyed your public lately? How about prospects for your products or services?
You may not reach a $3 trillion market cap, but surveys drive sales and income.
“We are having our best year ever!! On pace for a 50% growth in revenue! You did a great job for us and we are pumped!” ~ President NEDC
Call or email us today.
Best,
Bruce
Bruce Wiseman
President & CEO
On Target Research
www.ontargetresearch.com
Br***@br**********.net
1-818-397-1401
What did Kellyanne Conway know?
There was an interview of Kellyanne Conway toward the end of the 2016 presidential election cycle. “Everyone” of the polls predicted that Hillary would win the election.
Everyone knew it and the polls showed it. As one example, here’s a headline to a story from CNN on October 23, 2016, that showed Hillary up 12 points 2 weeks before the election.
New poll shows Clinton over Trump by double-digits
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7776173333.
Well, everyone knew it except Kellyanne Conway. Kellyanne felt Trump would win and said so. Why? Well, before Kellyanne officially took over the Trump campaign she owned and operated a survey company called The Polling Company.
Kellyanne, knew her survey technology. She knew that respondents will often answer survey questions with a “social” answer.
As he comes into his office one bright Monday morning, Dr. Lawrence Jessup, DDS, walks by his office manager, 27-year-old Margie Swanson, sitting at her desk looking at a computer screen.
“Good morning, Margie,” says the good doctor. “How are you this morning?”
“Fine, Doctor Jessup, just fine.”
Fine is a “social” answer to the question.
Margie had a fight with her boyfriend last night. She is hungover.
“Fine” is a social answer to the question.
And that is what Kellyanne could see in the responses to the surveys being conducted by other polling firms. You have to be a pro to discern the difference between social answers and real answers to survey questions. Kellyanne is a pro and could see that the pro-Hillary or “anti-Trump” responses were social answers.
A pro can see beyond the social answers and discern the true feelings of the respondent.
The real key to this is done by creating survey questions that prompt answers that cut through the social veneer. Kellyanne knows how to write those questions.
And so do I. With more than 30 years conducting surveys for companies in virtually every sector of the American economy as well as Europe, Australia, and Mexico we know surveys.
We know how to create questions that will get you honest answers from your clients and / or your prospects. We also know the proper technology of survey tabulation that finds the “hot buttons” you can use in your marketing. The “buttons” from these surveys also enable us to create positioning surveys, the results of which create an instant familiarity and understanding of your brand.
Just ask our clients.
“Working with Bruce was like working with the Roger Federer of Surveys. The questions evoked exactly what our public was thinking. Now with the button and positioning in place our promotions are like an arrow going through tissue paper rather than a fist into a brick wall. Our copy and imagery say exactly what the clientele is thinking and therefor procures more leads.
You served up an ace Bruce. Thank you.”
We conduct competitor research, survey your customers, survey your prospects all of which enables us to come up with recommendations that will make your cash register sing.
Contact me for a quote. Surveys may be just more reasonable than you think.
Best,
Bruce
Bruce Wiseman
President & CEO
On Target Research
www.ontargetresearch.com
Br***@br**********.net
1-818-397-1401
Some things have changed.
When I was in the 5th grade, our teacher, Mrs. Christian, had every student know and recite the capital of all 48 states in the United States. (Yes, 48. Alaska and Hawaii were not admitted as states until 1959, after my 5th grade challenge).
It was here I learned how to spell Mississippi and that Baton Rouge, not New Orleans, was the capital of Louisiana.
Today, a fifth grader has it much easier, they simply have to know the 17 kinds of gender identity.
According to a psychologist and sex expert, they are:
AFAB (Assigned Female at birth).
AMAB (Assigned Male at birth).
Cisgender
Transgender
Cishet
Non-binary
Intersex
Genderqueer
Gender-fluid
Gender Non-conforming
Gender-Expansive
Agender
Gendervoid
Bigender
Omnigender
Pangender
Two-Spirit
(If you want the definition of these terms, they are here:
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/relationships/a36395721/gender-identity-list/)
Some things have changed. Not the least of which is education.
Transportation has changed: Electric vehicle sales will increase 25% this year.
Investing has changed. Cryptocurrency is an entirely new investment category today. The word new to the lexicon.
Speaking of cryptos, Banking is changing as 86% of the central banks on the planet (including the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank) are in the process of testing (and in a few cases now) implementing digital currencies into bank accounts (They are called CBCDs – central bank digital currencies). Cash will be gone. Central Banks and governments will be in full control of the zeros and ones in your bank account.
Government has changed. It used to be that politicians – left or right – were patriots, committed to the country’s security. But in the last Congress, California Congressman Eric Swalwall was sleeping with a Chinese spy named Fang Fang. Despite being aware of Swalwall’s sexual proclivities, Dame Pelosi appointed him to the …wait for it… the House Intelligence Committee.
Congressman Eric Swalwell and Christine Fang AKA Fang Fang.
Shopping has also changed a good deal due to the so-called pandemic.
Online shopping, up 31% during the pandemic, has continued to soar. Online sales were $3.3 trillion in 2019 and expanded to $4.9 trillion through 2021 and are expected to reach $7 trillion by 2025.
So, if you sell your product online you are on the right track – boost your SEO and maybe test some pay per click. If not, get there.
And customer’s buying interests have changed as well. There is currently a strong new interest in eating out. If you own a restaurant, promote to your customers.
“People are spending more on experiences and less on material things. And more on their health versus things that were very popular pre-pandemic, such as clothing and other fashion items. With the closure of spas and salons, purchases of self-care items have also been on the rise, giving some beauty retailers a much-needed sales boost.”
…
“The pandemic has definitely changed consumers behaviors, priorities, and purchasing habits, which directly lead to changes in the business world. And we can expect many of these changes to be permanent.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jiawertz/2021/01/31/changes-in-consumer-behavior-brought-on-by-the-pandemic/?sh=6f8a7585559e
Have the interests of your customers changed? Even a little?
When was the last time you surveyed your customers and got their opinions on what you sell? Or your prospects? Get their hot buttons, get any changes in their attitudes, likes, dislikes about what it is you sell.
Start the new year with a survey of your clients or prospects or both and boom your sales in 2023 and beyond.
Send me an email or give me a call using the contact information below. The economical pricing may surprise you.
Very Best,
Bruce
