Should you give your customers what they want?

• January 19, 2011

By Linda Forrest

…rather than what they need?

This question is inspired by Starbucks‘ announcement that Trenta-sized iced drinks are being introduced as a result of customer demand. These 31 oz. caffeinated beverages are still dwarfed by other options on the market – the Super Big Gulp comes to mind – but the supersizing of these drinks begs the question posed in the headline. As you can see in this handy illustration, the Trenta contains more liquid than the human stomach can readily hold.

In addition, it sees people drinking up to 230 calories in the sweetened versions of the drinks contained therein, and because they’re consuming caffeinated drinks rather than the water our bodies need to operate optimally, their nutritive value is almost nil. Yet, Starbucks claims the product meets an unmet customer desire. One could read into its siren logo: Is the company beckoning a customer base with dismal health, weight and fitness with yet another BIGGER option that isn’t good for them?

Ellen Degeneres has a funny take on the introduction of the Trenta.

The principles of agile product development suggest that responding to customer expressed desire with a release that meets their request is the way to go. But what if inherently what they want isn’t what they need?

It’s a dilemma to be sure. And a bit of a chicken and egg proposition: Are businesses making us want more? Or are we asking them for more?

A ready example from our industry is when the client requests that we, on their behalf, either develop materials that, in our expert opinion, won’t serve them well or that they’d like us to undertake activities that we know won’t achieve a desired result. We push back and say that no, we won’t issue that “world’s best” release at 4pm on Friday; sometimes the client concedes, sometimes they don’t. There are plenty of other agencies that will veer hard from best practices in the name of the almighty dollar, but we’re not them. In the long run, clients will be better served by providing them with what they need rather than what they want – though a spoonful of sugar may be necessary in order to make the medicine go down. As effective communicators, we should be able to make a persuasive case, one would hope.

I’d be interested to hear other examples of this situation – have you encountered a scenario where your customer wanted something that you either refused to deliver or you caved against your better judgement? What was the end result?

Photo courtesy of National Post