Search and CPG Brands

Consumers don’t spend a lot of time thinking about brands. Certainly not as much as marketers in consumer packaged goods would like them to. Consequently, a consumers’ search behavior focuses more on the behaviors, attitudes and need states a brand is associated with, versus anything about the actual brand. Matt Wilburn from Yahoo describes it this way in a research summary posted on Mediapost’s Online Media Daily:

“It’s not just consumers searching for brand names,” added Wilburn. “That does happen, but this research illustrates that consumers are meeting a broader set of needs through search. They’re searching for products that can answer lifestyle questions like ‘I have hair loss,’ or ‘I’m fighting wrinkles’–and life stage questions like ‘I’m going away to college’ or ‘I just bought a home.’”

Sometimes the most important consumer insights about a brand can be heard by listening to the side conversations about the needs and wants that set the context for the brand, rather than waiting to hear what consumers say about the brand itself.