Reprint: R1403F
When “BeerCo” found its pub sales falling, market research and competitive analysis provided no help. So it sent out a team of social anthropologists to investigate. The resulting data, including field notes, photographs, and videos, yielded insights that prompted the company to revamp its promotional materials and training methods. Sales rebounded within two years and are still growing.
BeerCo’s story shows how the emerging approach of “sensemaking” can illuminate customers’ true needs and facilitate successful transformations of product development, organizational culture, and corporate strategy. Rooted in the human sciences—anthropology, sociology, political science, and philosophy—sensemaking is a five-step process. Companies must:
Sensemaking can help solve some of the toughest business problems and enables leaders to think creatively about what business they’re really in.
In 2006 a major European brewing company we’ll call BeerCo was faced with falling bar and pub sales and, despite muscular market research and competitive analysis, couldn’t figure out why. Customers liked its core product, a standard lager, and store sales were up. But something wasn’t clicking in bars, and aggressive promotions weren’t helping. What was wrong?
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