Sam McNerney

Founder of McNerney Insights & Marketing. Frmly @Publicisna. Bylines @sciam @washingtonpost

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

I asked 153 Americans (18+) to read The Giving Tree and rate how close the boy and the tree feel after each page.

https://t.co/PhXU0FBOGD

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

Hey @paulg — after reading The Brand Age, I asked 150 Americans to place 15 products on a graph:

good quality ↕ bad quality

people buy it for the product ↔ people buy it for the brand.

https://t.co/sx7lnjFQzI

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

@adamboxer1 @Doug_Lemov Going AI free is like Socrates arguing that schools should ban written language, no?

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

Last year, I committed to taking every survey I encountered.

From March 2023 to 2024, I completed 199 surveys, averaging 0.35 per day.

https://t.co/vyIEIYdDvs

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

I'm creating a survey to find the most annoying thing in the United States right now and I need some priors. What's the most annoying item on this list?

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

How I lost $1,600 in respondent fees by asking a “Dress Question.”

https://t.co/SYzZfSeF8L

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

@Aella_Girl I recently conducted a survey among a representative sample of LGBTQ+ respondents (n=1,100) that included a question about use with a few of these drugs. Happy to share question format and priors.

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

Opinions can be blurry — like a damaged VHS tape image — or clear — like a 4k ultra HD screen.

https://t.co/5ACTvPITH4

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

The only thing worse than an incompetent TSA agent?

A competent TSA agent.

They’re the reason my family and I ran into some trouble at the Zurich airport last summer.

We arrived from Bosnia – a non-EU country – and needed to go through security b...

https://t.co/Iuzb8A8NIl

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

You hear about this guy who froze to death in the walk-in freezer of a pizza joint?

Weird stuff is always happening behind the scenes at restaurants.

https://t.co/8bLm03ZMkS

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

"Brand loyalty is really just a polished turd version of 'consumer whore'"

https://t.co/lbUzyj6M2N

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

@tamler @Room9Podcast @BuffaloBills Tamler honest question:

What's it like to only have six Super Bowl titles?

Love,
Vikings fan

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

Option 2 is better.

Why?

Agree-disagree questions measure topics people actually care about.

However, since apathy is the norm for most products, there’s usually nothing substantial enough for people to agree or disagree with.

https://t.co/hnrDYqaKz2

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

Option 2 is better.

Why?

It's a lot easier to recall brands you’re using than brands you may have considered.

Current use is a great predictor of future use.

Many people don't consider other brands (at least not consciously) before buying.

https://t.co/ilIeDCg6Pr

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

Today’s newsletter is about why you should ignore what your customers think and focus on what they do.

https://t.co/ilIeDCg6Pr

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

As I sifted through two year’s worth of customer zip code data, I discovered something rather remarkable. 

Among the over 12,000 zip codes with at least one order, the brand’s highest and lowest performing zip codes were separated by only five miles.

https://t.co/J6p9E3cbBh

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

“When we survey our customers, how do I make sure I’m not biasing anyone?”

This question reminds me of the man with a poisonous arrow lodged in his chest who keeps asking about the arrow – like the genus of wood it was cut from – while he bleeds out.

https://t.co/UVe4iVlKu8

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

There’s one question every DTC ecommerce brand must include in their post-purchase survey:

“What other brands from this category have you consumed in the last six months?”

It sounds dull, but it’s an accurate way to understand who your customers are.

https://t.co/BJH1XVeAC0

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

You’re struggling to ask shoppers what they don’t like about your product – and you don’t want them to dwell on the negative aspects of your product. What question do you ask?

https://t.co/rX3j7rpsNa

[Sam McNerney @SamMcNerney]

Of the 1,000s of survey questions a DTC ecommerce brand could ask prospective shoppers, I believe solutions to conversion challenges can emerge from one:

“Complete the sentence: ‘Before I rule out buying from this brand I need to know more about __________ ?’”