There’s a pivotal scene in the movie “Big” when Tom Hanks’ character runs into the president of the toy company where he works while both are shopping at F.A.O. Schwarz. The boss is surprised to see Hanks there on a weekend. When Hanks says he comes often to play with the toys — the conceit of course is that his character is really a kid trapped in a man’s body — the boss looks at him appraisingly and grants, “You can’t get this from a marketing report.” Hanks guilelessly replies, “What’s a marketing report?” The boss nods his head empathically and shouts, “Exactly!”
I was thinking about that scene while reading yesterday’s AdAge article about the “humble” line review. Basically the gist was that in this era of social media, marketers should not forget the importance of the time-honored tradition, the line review. What I’m wondering is, had some companies actually stopped doing line reviews? I’m sure it’s possible but certainly not probable and most importantly, not recommended.
As a new product developer in consumer goods, line reviews are an integral part of what I do. Preparation for these “dog and pony shows” sometimes seems just short of the planning it must’ve taken to launch Operation Overlord. Forests are decimated at the amount of data that must be compiled and otherwise articulate humans are reduced to quaking, quivering jelly. To some, the detailed evaluations of product prototypes may seem esoteric but line reviews are a necessary rite of passage for new products. Internal line reviews given to Sales by Marketing or by Marketing to management yield valuable insights required to make any necessary modifications before presenting to the client or customer. Line reviews are the equivalent of a compass. If the products are true to the company mission, they’ll point the way to profits.
In another scene in “Big”, Hanks is vigorously manipulating a prototype during a line review. All of the other participants are merely reading a marketing report re the toy line but he is actually playing with it like the kid he is. Screwing up his face when he finds out that it transforms from a robot into a building, he cries, “What’s fun about playing with a building?! Couldn’t it turn into a giant bug or something?” Now that’s the kind of thing you’d only learn in a line review; you can’t get that from a marketing report.
