Beauty brands need to get over their phobia of real research and come out from behind the two-way focus group mirror, where insights are bound to be limited.

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GutCheck: A focus group can be a critical way to get an understanding of customer behavior and as a result, build better products.

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Focus group research presented in the report, The Smart Way to Display, shows a consumer preference for simplicity in visual displays of energy use.

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For established brands, the format provides a direct way of interacting with customers, turning each day's trading into a consumer focus group.

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Joining an entrepreneurs group or other support group of like-minded people is one way of keeping your energy and focus high.

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To Lanae Erickson Hatalsky of Third Way, an independent policy group, what she called "political reality" means that Congress will focus more on keeping weapons out of the wrong hands instead of a new weapons ban.

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