The "The Third Moment of Truth" is a phrase suggested by Pete Blackshaw, of Nielsen BuzzMetrics. On 17 October 2006, he defined it as:
"The third moment is that powerful inflection point where the product experience catalyzes an emotion, curiosity, passion, or even anger to talk about the brand. By opening up that pipeline, we not only absorb insight and deeper consumer understanding but also nurture empowerment and advocacy
The phrase builds on comments by Procter & Gamble's (P&G's) CEO A.G. Lafley at the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) conference. Blackshaw, who is a former employee of P&G, summarizes Lafley's comments by stating that the first moment of truth is "what consumers see on the shelf" and the second is "what happens when they try the product."
Restated:
1. What consumers see on the shelf includes the product's physical design and packaging. What are the complexities that supported the selection of the product for shelf space at retail locations? What are the details of the distribution deal? Slotting fees? How was the sales person trained? Supporting advertising? Other factors?
2. What happens when they try the product, describes first impressions. How hard was it to open the package? How was assembly or setup? Were the instructions helpful? Was something extra required such as batteries, cables, or a supporting item? How long did it take before the consumer could do something useful? How were problems resolved?
3. Will Experience be positive, neutral, or negative? After using the product a few days, do consumers believe that the price was acceptable for the value received? What messages will consumers share? What videos will be created and shown on YouTube? What will Google return for the top 10 entries for a search of PRODUCT_NAME and REVIEW?
Blackshaw is the founder of the consumer feedback portal PlanetFeedback, a site that helps consumers express their opinions about products and services. In addition, Blackshaw has posted The Official CGM (Consumer Generated Media) Glossary which includes:
"CGM represents first-person commentary posted or shared across a host of expression venues, including message boards, forums, rating and review sites, groups, social networking sites, blogs, and, of course, video-sharing sites."
Many product developers and their advertisers and brand managers and PR specialists are investing more to ensure that the consumer's experience with their product is positive because of the increase in consumer generated media (CGM). To positively influence consumers' reactions to your next product or service product launch, what team compositions and strategies will be best?
