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
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...
Nine of the ten most valuable companies in America can trace their greatness to reconceiving a market’s boundaries. From ExxonMobil to Apple to Wal-Mart, these firms expanded markets that others saw as static. How can companies in today’s economy – seemingly hemmed in on all sides by hyper-competitive markets – break into new ground?
Although customers may be reluctant to part with certain current approaches, they are consistently looking to alleviate pain points. Pain points are problems that inhibit a customer’s ability to get a job done. They are things that customers find inefficient, tedious, boring, or frustrating.
As parts of the economy begin to open after COVID’s first wave, the term “restart” is often heard. But it is a fictional premise, given that much of the economy has irrevocably changed. Rather than restarting, we are rebooting. For many industries, this is a history-making Great Reboot for business realignment, and the updates taking place will lock in epochal change.
