Research Inspiration: We Are Only Human

Fallon Planning have posted about an insightful web-community that calls itself ‘Only Human’. The concept is simple, but loaded. Members of Only Human share their stories publicly or anonymously with the community about mistakes they’ve made and lessons they’ve learned the hard way in life.

The stories range from the everyday-useful (don’t go to Ikea without a game plan) to so-wrong-its-right (watching 2 girls 1 cup) to too-close-for-comfort-uncomfortable (leaving my wife and daughter).

The takeaway for marketers from this site goes beyond the appreciation of the web 2.0-iness of the site. It is a powerful resource that can be used as a research tool, uncovering problems or desires for which brands may not know they need a solution.

One silly example: what if Ikea could read about the overwhelming in-store experience and offer downloadable “Game Plan” forms on their site?

We look at this as a portal; a through the looking glass experience that can offer a significant amount of A-HA moments to brands willing to listen to people.