Well, we are on Week 5 or Week 6 of lockdown here at Harvest. It feels like forever, though, doesn’t it? I’ve been in this business for a long time, and right now I have the least amount of work that I have ever had. It is a very strange confluence of undeniable anxiety and an uncertain reality.

But this lack of research projects isn’t just happening here at Harvest. I hear that most of my market research colleagues are really slow. That tells me that companies have put research on the back burner right now, which is quite interesting because I feel like now is exactly the time you should be listening to consumers.

In fact, I have had the privilege of talking to some consumers (and a few doctors) since the shut down and one thing is for certain - THEY WANT TO TALK!!!!

Let me give you an example from a one-week online community that I’m running…

I’ve greyed out the exact responses, but this is just the comments to one question that we posed. People aren’t just talking to me, the moderator; they are talking to each other. They are looking for community anywhere they can find it, and we are the beneficiaries, being able to observe the whole thing.

On telephone interviews, I’m experiencing the same thing. People want to share their experiences, and many would gladly stay on the phone with me much longer than I’ve even requested. Sure…sometimes I have to redirect them a bit to stay on task, but that’s because they are excited to share their stories whether we are talking about COVID-19 or not.

And here’s the amazing thing…so far, very few of these projects have added COVID-19 questions!

What?!?! COVID-19 is arguably the greatest disruption to life as we know it ever, and many brands aren’t asking their consumers about their experiences, needs, concerns, etc. Not only that, but some brands aren’t talking to consumers AT ALL. They see this time as a BLIP! It’s a time to be erased from their brand trackers… a time when ad hoc research would yield skewed data.

I guess companies are planning to go back to business as usual when this is over? No changes to strategy? No changes to product launches? No changes to communication? Good luck!

I understand that many companies are reeling themselves, laying off workers, reforecasting for losses, cutting costs, etc. Yet at some point, this is going to be over, and there won’t be time to reset. You are going to need to know what direction to go as soon as they ring the opening bell. Why not take this time to prepare a consumer-focused plan? Retool your communication? Reshape those product launches? The world we step back into is not going to be the same as the one that we stepped out of. This is not a BLIP.

Right now, we have a unique opportunity to understand this new world and to prepare our companies to successfully navigate it. Consumers want to talk, but does your company want to listen?