Earlier today I had a great chat with mexican restuarant chain Moe’s director of marketing Sara Riggsby for a piece I’m working on about marketing to families (Stay tuned for July 13). Something she took as rote struck me as great organizational insight for the brand’s marketing efforts. Sara mentioned that the company used to have its corporate office house in the back of an actual Moe’s resturant! Imagine the ability of the C-suite to see, hear and smell the real day-to-day of the product and customer experience.

It got me thinking back to a conversation I had last month with Unit 7’s Loreen Babcock about members of her team living with the restrictions of a dietbetic while working on a campaign aimed at the target audience. Babcock mentioned trying out the diet enabled the team to be extremely empathetic to its target audience.

While for reality’s sake the Stanislavski approach to every campaign may not fit in with the crammed schedules – it’s undeniable that it makes a difference from the perspective you have on a product or audience. How many of you have tried on your consumer’s shoes for a campaign?