Building Brand Equity in a Crowed Market

I don't have to tell you how choc-o-block today's marketplace is

, no matter what your industry - but what I can tell you is that the key to successful brand development and product sales is by revisiting your products positioning.

In this article I turn some old marketing principals on their head and propose a way to redefine market segmentation and position your product and brand in a way that "really" means something to consumers.

Old school thinking

Traditional marketing has always defined target segments in terms of location, age, sex, lifestyle, buying behaviour. For instance if you are selling drills then targeting "homeowners" sounds like the right way to go about finding buyers. But how do you know that these "homeowners" actually want to purchase your drill? In the mind of the consumer they actually don't want a drill; they want a hole in their wall. Two distinctly different needs!

I argue that to make headway in a competitive arena the marketing should focus on the "job" that consumer's want accomplished, not the product you are trying to sell.

Focus on the "job"

To build brands that mean something to consumers, you need to attach them to products that have a purpose and accomplish the "job" they want done. A classic example is the "job" performed by McDonald's Shakes. By interviewing shake buyers in the United States a pattern emerged showing a surprising number of shake sales were made during breakfast hours. McDonald's discovered that many people who bought these morning shakes were consuming them during their boring commutes - a psychological treat that would last most of their journey.

To these consumers the shakes performed a specific job: they satisfied their hunger, relieved their boredom, could be consumed easily behind the wheel and purchased quickly.

Understanding the "job" a product fulfills can then lead to further product improvement and sales. McDonald's could enhance the "job" their Shakes do by including fruit to enhance the shakes' nutritional value, or sell prepaid cards to speed checkout.

This demonstrates that the conventional way of slicing and dicing consumers into segments overlooks opportunities. By identifying a cluster of consumers united by the "job", in this case "long-distance morning commuters", McDonalds found an untapped segment. They could now go about designing a better shake and also have crucial insight into the best way to promote a new shake.

What does it mean for your brand development?

When you think about it many of today's great brands started out as a "job" built brand. The product did the job, (think Gillette), and consumers talked about it and the brand built equity.

Take the time to look at how you talk about your product on your website and in your marketing materials. Are you emphasizing a product category or are you emphasizing the job your product does uniquely? Look for a niche defined by unmet or poorly met needs and think in terms of product enhancements to capture that "job-defined" segment. Good luck.

If You`d like to learn more about building brand equity please feel free to visitwww.creativebrew.com.au

Building Brand Equity in a Crowed Market

By: Peter Engelhardt

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