Have you ever succumbed to the HiPPO effect? It happens. A lot.
Bad ideas are often the result of gut feel, emotional reasoning and defaulting to the Highest Paid Person’s Opinion (the HiPPO effect, for the uninitiated). Your team might be amazing, but you and your colleagues simply can’t experience your venue or brand in the way your customers do.
It’s a moment many operators can probably relate to. You’ve spent months, maybe years, building a hospitality business you’re proud of. You’ve got the feedback, the awards, the gut instinct that says: “this is working.” But how often do you stop and ask: is that how customers really see it?
We recently sat down with Jayson Perfect, COO of Butcombe Group, for a Hospitality Talks interview. He wanted to sense-check the experience, challenge their assumptions, and ultimately make a good business even better. So they turned to KAM Insight for help. And the impact? Pretty huge, though we say so ourselves!
Which got us thinking… maybe too many businesses still don’t fully grasp why investing in customer research – yes, time, money and effort – is not just a “nice to have” but a genuine game-changer.
This post explores exactly that: the real, tangible benefits of customer research for hospitality operators, backed up by case studies from operators who’ve done it and reaped the rewards.
1. It helps you see the business through your customers’ eyes
Let’s start with the big one. No matter how close you are to your business, you’re not your customer. Let me say that again – YOU ARE NOT YOUR CUSTOMER. You don’t walk into your venues the same way, with the same expectations or barriers. You don’t experience the staff or read the menu or even taske the food and drinks in the same way as a customer would. Research helps you take off the branded glasses and see your offer as it really is.
That’s exactly what Butcombe Group did.
With over 120 pubs, a loyal following, and a top-tier food offer, you could understand if they felt they had it nailed. But the Butcombe team wanted to be sure. KAM conducted in-venue interviews and multiple focus groups to understand how real customers actually perceived their offer — and what might be missing.
“We’ve built a beautiful business – but we needed to reality check whether what we thought we were delivering was matching customer experience.”
— Jayson Perfect, COO, Butcombe Group
What they discovered led to big changes: from a revamp of the drinks offer (including a ginger beer shandy, no less) to the roll-out of brunch, and better venue comms to clarify whether a space was food-led or drinks-led. All sparked and fine-tuned simply by listening.
2. It validates what’s working and uncovers what isn’t
Customer research isn’t just about fixing problems — it’s about confirming what’s landing well and identifying where there’s room to evolve.
As Jayson Perfect put it:
“I’m not naive to the fact — neither are we as a business — that you need to ask your customers whether what you think you’re doing is actually translating into their experience.”
One of the most reassuring findings? Customers really did love the pubs, with standout feedback for the teams in particular, described as trusted, knowledgeable, and warm. This validated Butcombe’s investment in training and internal comms, and reinforced the importance of retaining that team-first culture.
But the research also revealed areas where expectations and experience weren’t quite aligned – particularly around the drinks offer. While food was a clear strength, drinks-led visits weren’t always being supported in the same way. Customers wanted more no- and low-alcohol options, more variety in cocktails and wines, and clearer signals around whether a venue was geared toward drinking or dining.
“We went from having one zero beer while we were having this discussion, by the way… we now have five no- and low- variants within our business. And that’s really thanks to your research.”
— Jayson Perfect, COO, Butcombe Group
It’s a powerful example of how research can highlight where to double down — and where to pivot. Not everything needs fixing, but understanding how guests experience your offer in practice is the key to continuous improvement.
3. It helps you localise your offer
One-size-fits-all doesn’t work in hospitality — and research helps you work out the differences that matter. For Roxy Leisure, expanding across the UK meant needing to stay true to their brand and make it relevant locally.
By listening to audiences in different locations, they were able to refine their tone of voice, highlight different parts of their offer, and give each new site the best possible launchpad. Without local insight, they’d have been flying blind.
4. It protects (and builds) your brand equity
Your brand is more than just a logo or a tone of voice — it’s a gut feeling your customers have about your venues. It’s what they expect, what they say, and whether they’d bring their mates next time. But here’s the thing: brand equity isn’t static. It needs to be protected, nurtured, and challenged regularly.
That’s exactly what Roxy Leisure set out to do.
As they expanded their footprint across the UK, they knew they had something special — a unique, unapologetic brand of “competitive socialising” that customers loved. But were they landing that brand consistently in each new location? Were local customers getting the Roxy vibe? So they asked.
““The research gave us exactly what we needed—clarity. For the first time, we could see how our brand stacked up not just in isolation, but against the rest of the market. The insights gave us the confidence to back big decisions with real data. It’s been a game-changer for our brand planning.”
Joel Mitchel, Marketing Director, Roxy Leisure
By listening to customers in different cities, they were able to adjust messaging without compromising the brand’s core identity. The research helped them stay bold and consistent, while respecting regional differences.
It’s a great example of how research isn’t about diluting your brand — it’s about sharpening it. Knowing what customers love about your offer means you can double down on it. And knowing what’s misunderstood means you can fix it — before it costs you loyalty, revenue or reputation.
Brand equity is a precious thing. Research helps you protect it — with evidence, not guesswork.
5. It fuels product and menu innovation
If you’re about to launch a new dish or drink, wouldn’t you want to know how it’ll land? That’s exactly what Wingstop did when testing a new Hot Honey Glaze flavour for their wings.
KAM ran back-to-back taste tests with 120 people across two days. Each respondent tasted two unbranded samples and completed a survey rating appearance, aroma, taste, and overall preference.
It was vital that we robustly tested our proposed new Hot Honey Glaze flavour before bringing it to market. KAM’s whole approach to undertaking these tests was very professional and conducted on a timely basis with pre-recruited customers and non-customers to a specific demographic profile. I look forward to collaborating on future projects.”
Head of Marketing, Wingstop
The result? The flavour tested well and was greenlit for trial across stores. No guesswork, no internal bias — just real data from real mouths.
6. It makes your loyalty programme actually… work
Loyalty is a hot topic — and many brands have schemes in place. But how do you know yours is driving value, rather than eroding margin or being ignored entirely?
At Butcombe, one of the core research objectives was to test how well their loyalty offer was understood and how it was influencing behaviour. What they found led to a rethink of how it was positioned and delivered.
Because a loyalty scheme only works if people know about it, understand it, and feel it’s worth something.
7. It gives you licence to innovate and experiment
Research doesn’t just confirm ideas — it can create space for bolder moves.
At Borough Market, the team wanted to understand how behaviours had changed post-pandemic. Were people still shopping or just socialising? Were they sitting, standing, grabbing or grazing?
“The insight is essential for informing the roll out of our long-term strategy and communications approach.“
Director of Communications, Borough Market
The insight will help shape the next phase of their future strategy – all while preserving what makes the market iconic. Without that insight, they risked guessing and losing relevance.
8. It saves you money long-term
Yes, research costs money. But not doing it can cost more. Think about the cost of:
- Rolling out a menu no one wants
- Launching a loyalty scheme that doesn’t drive loyalty
- Running a campaign that totally misses the mark
- Refurbishing a venue based on assumptions
- Scaling without knowing what to replicate
By investing up front in getting it right, you reduce the chance of getting it wrong at scale.
So what’s stopping you?
If you’ve never done formal research before, it can feel a bit intimidating. But it doesn’t have to be.
You don’t need to start with a 10,000-person survey. You can start by talking to 20 of your customers, or running a focus group in your venue, or tracking how people move through your space. Every data point helps.
Whether you’re a street-food start-up or a national pub group, the core goal is the same:
👂 Listen.
🔍 Learn.
🎯 Act.
If it worked for Butcombe Group – and Roxy, JW Lees, Borough Market, Wingstop and Yard Sale Pizza – it can work for you too.
Final thoughts
In hospitality, the margins are tight, the competition is fierce, and the customer’s voice is louder (and more online) than ever.
So don’t just assume you’re getting it right. Ask. Test. Measure. And evolve. Because the best brands aren’t built on guesswork — they’re built on understanding. And it all starts with asking better questions.
If you’re not sure how to help then give us a shout. No pressure. We’d love to help you discover your options, what you can do yourself and how KAM can help. Or have a look at other work we’ve done.
