What do you mean that’s not rice?
To give you a little bit of the backstory, my wife has been overwhelmingly committed to organic and natural foods for nearly two decades. And, when I say natural, I don’t mean the kind that those clever marketing types advertise as “natural”. I mean the food that was “grown by 14th generation, local farmers in virgin soil and harvested to the ethereal sounds of Enya.” Me on the other hand…uh…not so much.
For the past year or so, she’s upped her game and has been fully dedicated to a “whole food, plant-based” diet. What? Really? What does that even mean? She, of course, started down the “you are what you eat” path and she wants to eat only the vitamins and nutrients that are essential for her health. Okay. That sounds reasonable but cows eat grass and the grass is vegetation. Vegetation is plant-based therefore cows must be plant-based. Time for burgers and steak! For the record, as sound as that logic seems, it’s apparently scientifically, biologically, and botanically flawed.
So, there we are having dinner the other night. On the table is a lovely bowl of white rice. Rice is a grain that comes from a plant and I enjoy rice so it seems like a win for everyone. I grab a giant spoonful, plop it on my plate and take a bite. Hmmm…interesting. She asks if I like it. I tell her it’s a little softer than I expected and doesn’t taste like rice she’s made before. “That’s because it’s not rice”, she replies. “It’s cauliflower rice.” Huh???
Evidently, when you cut, grind, and dismember cauliflower, you can make it look just like rice. But the name “cauliflower rice”, as shown on the package, is a misnomer as it’s just cauliflower and not rice at all. Why would anyone do that? Why not just eat cauliflower or rice or both? Why make one thing look like something else? Do people hate cauliflower’s appearance so much that they can only tolerate eating it if it looks like rice? What else have I been eating that’s cleverly disguised as something it’s not? Who thinks of these things? Those questions are still pending further review.
As I’m learning, even at my own dinner table, things are not always as they seem. With various reports and market intelligence research, it’s easy to begin seeing that same incongruity in our own beliefs as marketers and communicators. We talk about our audiences as belonging to specific demographic profiles or persona groups. We believe we have market penetration or dominance within certain market segments. We think we operate with a clear sense of the competitive landscape. But when we look at the actual surveys, reports, research findings, etc., we sometimes find we’re not eating rice at all. Therein lies the inherent value of conducting unbiased and carefully crafted research. You’re not looking for an answer. You’re looking for insight that will help guide you to an answer.
As you gather and digest the research findings, take a look at the information with untainted eyes. Consider how it differs from or confirms what you thought previously. As you go through the information, I’m sure you’ll find areas you thought were rice but are actually cauliflower.
