Successful brands never recklessly gamble their brand equity. Just because Chicken Little says “the sky is falling” doesn’t mean it is. You need a little free-range testing.

Remarkably, people risk everything to launch a new venture and never bother to ask their customers what they want. These people may as well take their seed capital to Vegas and put it on red. Procter & Gamble is one of the biggest brands ever created. They don’t go on hunches. Before any major new brand or brand change they test.

Self-delusion is perhaps single fastest company killer. Test groups keep us from drinking our own Kool-Aid. When Oldsmobile came out with the ‘This is not your father’s Oldsmobile’ campaign, they immediately lost 27% of their market. Why? Because it still looked like your father’s Oldsmobile and it offended the fathers! They were drinking their own Kool-Aid.

Never assume you know what your customers want. Ask them. Then shut up and listen. If you listen very carefully they may quietly, inadvertently tell you their secret—the secret to your success. Be smart, do this, and build your brand the right way.