#4 Serve the job to be done

Battling soaring inflation and the associated cost-of-living increases, consumers are scrutinizing their purchases — justifying each one based on the value it brings to their lives. To grow in this climate, marketers must craft and maintain strong brand positioning that brings consumers empathy and ultimate value through products and experiences in line with their new real-life context.

Recent GfK Brand Architect data confirms that trust and meeting consumer needs are the core drivers for brand choice, or how likely people are to purchase your brand over competitors’. However, the data also reveals that excellence and uniqueness are key drivers of brand premium, consumers’ willingness to spend more money on one brand than another. Brand premium is a key measure during a recession, since it indicates the financial worth your brand holds in consumers’ lives. This presents an opportunity for your product to find its sweet spot: adding value that justifies its price. Driving brand premium may deliver more rewards than focusing on cost savings: products that add value can charge a higher price if the benefits are worthwhile — a win-win for consumers and your brand.

premium, consumers’ willingness to spend more money on one brand than another. Brand premium is a key measure during a recession, since it indicates the financial worth your brand holds in consumers’ lives. This presents an opportunity for your product to find its sweet spot: adding value that justifies its price. Driving brand premium may deliver more rewards than focusing on cost savings: products that add value can charge a higher price if the benefits are worthwhile — a win-win for consumers and your brand.

GfK Brand Architect foundation research, 2021, > 30.000 consumers

Understand consumers’ behavioral context, and you discover their core needs in the moment: uncovering clues to how your proposition can bring more meaning to their lives. To crystallize these requirements and ensure they serve the moment, marketers must switch gears from focusing on the product, to focusing on the end-job consumers expect these products to accomplish. Positioning opportunities are plentiful in this space, and successful marketers are deliberately searching for them.

on the end-job consumers expect these products to accomplish. Positioning opportunities are plentiful in this space, and successful marketers are deliberately searching for them.

Great brands are built on fantastic products and experiences. Exceptional delivery in the appropriate moment — both of practical value and an intangible connection — secures your product as an indispensable part of an inflation-pressed consumer’s life.