Shopping for
Knowledge
By Tanner J. Boden
A lot of the nuances of marketing cannot be learned by
reading or sitting behind a desk. A great way for marketers to expand their
knowledge is through knowledge mining. Knowledge mining is a form of
observational study often conducted at the local supermarket. (Schulz, 2012) Knowledge
mining allows marketers to gain consumer insights that can later be used to
create breakthrough ideas in unrelated product categories.
Insight can be gained by really analyzing a product
category. Some of the things that observers may determine are what are
essential, smart, or dumb ideas in a particular product category. The
observation may be anything from a smart consumer benefit to strong packaging.
The key insights gained by knowledge mining can then allow the marketer to
ultimately determine what drives purchase decisions. (Schulz, 2012)
Breakthrough ideas in a product category often come from
knowledge mining done in a completely unrelated field. Coca-Cola has seen how
effective knowledge mining can be and frequently holds marketing summits that
focus on knowledge mining. All 2,000 Coca-Cola personnel are gathered together
for about three days during these summits. All three days are spent looking
into industries other than soft drinks. (Schulz, 2012) During a
knowledge mining project for my marketing class, I saw a great example of
information gained from knowledge mining being put to good use. Ritz recently
introduced their Fresh Stacks line of crackers. Fresh Stacks have smaller packs
of crackers that are gravity fed to an opening on the bottom of the box. Fresh
Stack boxes are surprisingly similar to fridgemate boxes of soda. My believe is
that the origins of the Fresh Stack boxes came from knowledge mining done on
soda. Knowledge mining is a great way to create a competitive edge.
Knowledge mining is an incredibly powerful tool that can
help to gain insights in one product category and successfully apply these
insights to another.
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