I’d never been to a focus group before so I was intrigued and excited when our client Greencore, invited me along to a session to discuss a new Weight Watchers product.

Because of the nature of the product, the groups were made up entirely of women between the ages of 21 to 50, all of whom were on a diet or had been at some point recently. Most of them had children and were generally rushed for time. The client, group facilitators and I sat in a separate room and watched as the panel of testers discussed the products, brand and how both fitted into their lives.

It was interesting to see how dynamics between the different groups varied. Particularly how stronger characters within the panels steered the conversations and outcomes. For example, one lady admitted to raiding her fridge at 5pm everyday, just as she was feeding the kids. She filled up by snacking and picking at food: people seemed to like this idea and before I knew it the whole of that group (nine women) agreed that they did the same thing every day. However different groups provided different outcomes; women of different ages and in differing situations in life had different eat habits and dieting experiences. It gave a good insight into Greencore’s particular market.

After asking around the office, people had had differing experiences with focus groups. I understand that sending a product to market without any kind of research or public perception would be marketing suicide, but what are the alternatives?

My colleague works for a market research client, insight agency Nunwood and was explaining this fantastic new technology her client had recently launched. Apparently a camera is attached to your head to follow your eye movements as you enter a shop, tracking your line of vision and brain activity is measured to monitor responses to what is being seen. This new technology sounds exciting and seems to provide concrete evidence of what people actually look for, where they look for it and how they respond to what they are seeing. Combine this with the insights of a traditional focus group and you’re onto a winner – we’ll finally figure out what people want and why!