It is increasingly accepted that a brand is not only the elements such as the logo, website, product, etc, but is also the values, beliefs, mission, purpose, behavior, principles. Using this definition of brand we might rethink how we consider a brand.
Marketers may worry that a social purpose will turn off consumers, or at least divert resources that could have been used to win over buyers directly. But brands on a mission are usually rewarded, not penalized, by their customers.
The segmentation graveyard teems with sorry creatures. Most large organizations – and many small ones – have such a graveyard buried within past market research and strategic plans. Among its disused inhabitants are schemes that: Lack explanatory power for observed behaviors Are incomprehensible due to the dozen-plus variables used to define them Incorporate large “unexplained” buckets for groups that fall outside statistically-derived clusters Have substantial overlap among segments
It has long been a task of marketing to change people’s minds. Perhaps the most difficult task of all as people grasp firmly to their beliefs.
Jobs to be Done is a hot concept. Companies as wide ranging as twitter, Nestlé, Clorox, and Cisco have been using the theory to double down on customer-centricity. Given that I co-authored one of leading books on the topic, this development is good news. However, I’m dismayed to see how people struggle with using the framework for market segmentation. They tend to over-simplistically bifurcate markets, define segments around jobs that are actually universally important, or...
