Quantify how brands match up with consumers over the long-term
Now that we have learned to create more effective segmentations – ones that take into consideration growing consumer complexity, as well as the important situational contexts – let’s switch gears and talk about how we can leverage this learning to attain greater growth for our brands over the long-term, as well.
Segmentations usually accentuate differences, but here we will look across the market for similarities and common threads that connect people. The goal: To build a brand that is more widely accepted, resonates, and positively impacts people.
The first step is to cross the consumer segments with the situational contexts to identify your brand’s opportunity (or demand) spaces. By examining your brand’s positive or negative impact across both consumer types well as need states – it helps us both synthesize a lot of information and identify ways to appeal to different consumer segments at the same time.
In Chart 3, we see an example of what this type of intersection looks like based on non-alcoholic beverages. Across the top we have the Consumer Segments, which are defined on broad category and non-category attitudes and personal values. And along the side we have the beverage need states, which boil down different consumption occasions into focused needs, like having a treat, or having a moment of connection with others.
Chart 3. Identifying opportunity spaces
When we cross these two systems together, we can group some of the intersections into common themes. For example, when choosing beverages for a Special Treat, both Experimental New Agers and Well-Being Explorers tell us that something that is operative for them in those situations is making an ethical statement about what they choose.
This crossing of segments with need states is really wonderful in its own right, in that it helps us to synthesize a lot of information in one view. However, by leveraging commonalities across segments or need states that are otherwise distinct, it also gives us some very tactical advantages to help us grow our brand beyond any core target segments or need states that may have been identified from earlier opportunity sizing. In this case, Experimental New Agers were identified as a priority segment based on value modeling, while Well-Being Explorers were considered secondary. But knowing that Ethical Moments were common to both gave us an entrée to talking to and ultimately appealing to Well-Being Explorers.
