by Kerry Juhl

Consumer Personas are a great tool for bringing your consumer target to life for your organization, to inspire growth ideas, new brand experiences and product innovation.  It is a representation of your target segment based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative data.  It summarizes your consumers’ lifestyle, values, needs, challenges, and preferences, so that it can be easily shared and digested across the organization.

At a high level, here is SIVO’s guide on how to build consumer personas: 

• Collect quantitative data via consumer segmentation: Start by identifying the market your product plays in and divide this universe into consumer groups that have similar characteristics, such as demographics, psychographics, and behavioral patterns.
  
• Identify patterns within the segment: Analyze the segments to identify common patterns, trends, and preferences among the different groups. Look for insights that can help you understand their interests, pain points, and buying behaviors. At this point, teams can narrow their focus by choosing one or a few consumer segments that are most likely to need and have the potential means to purchase the product or service that you offer.
  
• Dig deeper with qualitative research: Once the consumer segments have been identified, conduct qualitative research, to delve deeper into the consumer mindset and better understand what makes them unique and relevant to the business. Using techniques such as focus groups, in-depth interviews, in-store shop-alongs, or in-home ethnographic research, you can uncover the underlying motivations, emotions and values that drive consumer behaviors and purchase decisions. This deepens the teams’ empathy and intuition about the consumer segments.
  
• Create consumer personas: Develop distinct personas that represent key segments that are important and relevant to your business. The personas should not portray one specific consumer but should be a semi-fictional representation of an ideal customer within a segment.  Overall, the persona should include a name, age, job, hobbies, mindset, goals, challenges, and a brief back story.  Note: Psychographics, goals and purchase motivations are most important in understanding what problems the persona has that your company can solve.  
  

Building your Consumer Personas 

Key information that should be considered when building consumer personas includes:   

• Demographics: Age, gender, location, marital status, education, income 
• Psychographics: Interests, values, attitudes, lifestyle, personality traits
• Goals and Motivations: What they aim to achieve, what drives their decision-making 
• Pain Points and Challenges: Obstacles they face, problems they want to solve that are related to your market
• Buying Behavior: Where and how they shop, preferred channels, factors influencing purchase decisions, in relation to your industry or category
• Media preferences: Preferred media channels, social media usage, favorite websites, online communities

Check out these other SIVO blogs on consumer targets and  consumer segmentation, to better understand the inputs and context for consumer personas. 

Making Consumer Personas Interesting

The goal is to bring the consumer to life in an interesting and inspirational way. This information needs to be interesting and easy to read so that it gets internalized by the organization. Here are a few tips: 

Keep it Brief:  A good persona should be 1 to 3 pages in length.  Ideally, there would be a 1-page summary and if needed, 1 to 2 follow-up pages with actionable details and insights. 

Use Visuals: A persona should be visually interesting.  Use photos, graphics, or infographics to bring the consumer persona to life and make them feel more tangible and relatable to your team. 

Use Narratives and Quotes: Storytelling is an important part of building your persona. Use the data to create a short 1-paragraph narrative that describes the consumer persona – who they are, what they need, and their underlying motivations.

Include a Key Consumer Insight: It is important to include a one-sentence insight that describes the underlying motivation that would make them potentially interested in buying your product or service.

With the data summarized and visualized into clear and succinct personas, it is easy to understand and empathize with your consumer target, i.e., the segment of consumers that will inspire your growth ideas, marketing communications, promotions, distribution plans and new product innovation. Your team can now tailor brand messaging, content, and product offerings to align with the needs and preferences of key consumer targets. It is also easy to socialize the learning across the organization and agency partners in an efficient and effective way. 

Maintaining Relevance of Consumer Personas

Consumer personas are foundational marketing and insights deliverables that will inspire your teams’ growth ideas and guide your agency partners for years. For this reason, you need to invest in ongoing maintenance to ensure continued relevance to your organization. Depending on the volatility and competitive dynamics within your market, you will want to: 

The success of your consumer persona profiles depends on the quality of your research, the depth of your understanding and getting it to land within your organization and with agency partners. Regularly leveraging the personas while also iterating and improving upon them will help you stay in tune with your consumers and maintain a competitive advantage in the market.  

Your Source for Expert Customer Insights 

At SIVO Inc., we are dedicated to helping our clients understand their consumer targets by designing and executing consumer segmentations, following up with qualitative research and building consumer personas. We can then facilitate activation sessions with your team to develop action plans and strategies that leverage these insights.  

Reach out to us at Contact@SIVOInsights.com or go to SIVOInsights.com today to schedule a discovery call and connect! 

by Cindy Blackstock

Being part of a custom market research firm with global clients, we are often a go-to partner on international research—both qualitative and quantitative. And while all global market research has some challenges, global qualitative research has some unique ones.

From years of designing consumer research approaches, we’ve identified a list of questions we ask our clients to customize research for their needs. But whether you are researching with SIVO, another supplier, or leading research internally for your own organization; here are 5 watchouts when planning global, qualitative research. These apply for both in-person and virtual approaches. 

Everything takes longer than domestic-only market research.  Most global market research consists of multiple countries and languages.  This requires added time to translate all materials such as recruitment screeners, discussion guides, and transcripts. For example, domestically you may receive a recruiting update every 1-2 days. But with the additional time needed to translate the recruiting progress, your updates may occur every 3 days with non-English speaking countries.  And with transcripts needing translation time too, that delays the analysis and delivery of your final report.

SIVO Tip! When planning your research, build in extra time to account for translation needs on both the front and back ends of your research.  This could easily add an additional 2-weeks to a simple qualitative design such as webcam focus groups. 

Expect cultural differences in business norms.  Corporate cultures differ around the world. When working with partners and consumers in other countries you need to expect, respect, and allow for cultural differences. One basic example of this is with interview start-times. As an example, our Thailand local moderator and consumers were consistently in-place and talking well before the official interview start time (making our client feel like they were late to observe the conversation); whereas in Brazil we had many consumers (and even a local moderator for one interview) who joined late. 

SIVO tip! As a client who may be inviting other co-workers or organizational leaders to attend your research, prepare your team that some behaviors—from professionals and consumers—will be different.  You can even remind your team these differences are likely one of the key reasons why you are conducting global research. Embrace it!

Know in advance if you want to adapt stimulus in real time. Particularly when researching marketing messages or communication, a client may learn from a few consumers and want to adapt the stimulus. This could be as simple as learning a word or phrase translated in your stim might be academically correct but needs to be modified to a more culturally relevant word – or it could be re-writing paragraphs of copy.  In either example, you need a translator readily available to adjust the stimulus before the next interview. 

SIVO Tip! Decide in advance if you will want or need to adjust your stimulus in real time.  And if yes, identify the tactical steps and talent needed to achieve this. 

Transcribe every word of the interview. Sometimes for efficiency (budget and time), a translator may only transcribe parts of the interview directly relevant to the brand, product and / or research objectives. But there is a lot of rich learning in the commentary! For example, consumer references to local politics can provide valuable context to their reactions to your product solution or marketing messages.

SIVO Tip! Confirm in advance that your translator understands your expectation that all words will be translated. And if efficiency is a concern, you can always limit the translation to only the ‘best’ interviews.  This can condense your timeline and save costs.

Consider a collective discussion with all moderators and translators. If fielding research in multiple countries and/or markets to inform a global strategy (not a market specific plan); consider scheduling a collective debrief will all moderators and translators.  This allows for discussion on what learning is consistent vs. the differentiated needs by country. 

SIVO Tip! Such a discussion impacts your project timeline and costs and should be included as an expectation at the start of your project.  A good research partner should be able to flex and add this to the close of your project but be aware of the implications to time and budget.

These 5 watchouts when planning global, qualitative research (in conjunction with a qualified and experienced Consumer Insights agency partner) will help ensure that you have a successful project resulting in global consumer insights to inform your business decisions.  

To discuss these tips and any other questions about international or domestic consumer research, please feel free to contact the SIVO team at Contact@SIVOInsights.com for a consultation call.

By Kerry Juhl

Growth. Every business in the world wants to grow, wants to live their purpose, follow their mission, serve their customers, and make money from it. But sometimes it is hard to know what to do, where to go, to find that growth. We ask ourselves questions like…

• Should we improve our products and services?  Or offer new ones? 
• Should we follow our competitors’ actions or do something completely different?  
• Should we invest in more marketing to drive awareness? 
• Or maybe we stay the course and focus on driving efficiency?   

Any of these paths could be the right direction for the business but at some point, teams must put a stake in the ground. That said, strategies don’t come out of thin air. It requires an examination of the world in which the business operates.

Teams need to thoroughly examine their:

• CUSTOMERS – what do customers want, need and value and how do they behave 
• MARKET – what are the industry or category dynamics, the competitive actions 
• OWN COMPANY – what structures, processes, groups are working well, or not 

The output of this examination can be organized into a framework that inspires growth strategies.  Growth Frameworks allow teams to reconsider the world in which they operate – literally putting it into a new “Frame” that will help identify issues and unearth opportunities for growth. The opportunities within the framework offer a “where to play” roadmap for teams, allowing them to pick a path forward and define their strategy for growth.

A Proven Process

SIVO has a tried-and-true process for developing growth frameworks that has been refined over the years and across industries. The SIVO team utilizes a specific process, research approach and expert facilitation to lead business teams to a clear and relevant growth framework. The process can be customized to fit the client organization based on factors such as their existing customer knowledge, the team’s availability to participate in the process and team size. Typically, 5 to 10 client team members work collaboratively, guided through five steps, beginning with the discovery of insights that point to future opportunities and ending with an activation plan that will advance the business.  

The 5 Steps

MINE

1. SIVO recommends starting with what clients already know, by mining existing company, customer, category, and industry knowledge.

BUILD

2. We fill knowledge gaps with custom qualitative research with your brand loyalists to explore their needs, motivations, and perceptions, to uncover key insights.
3. We quantify and prioritize the research findings with the appropriate audience.
4. We leverage expert facilitation to develop and refine the growth framework.

APPLY

5. Once the business team has aligned on the framework, we move the team to application by facilitating the development of an activation summary to outline future steps.

The Resulting Growth Framework

The output of this comprehensive process is a framework that provides teams with an inspiring construct that has easily digestible, business-relevant content and a common language for client teams to rally around, so they can clearly see and prioritize a path to growth. These frameworks can take many forms, including:  

• Consumer Jobs Map – Consumer Jobs Maps (a.k.a. Demand Space Maps) help explain why consumers make the choices they make, highlighting opportunities to deliver on unmet needs.
  
• Category Vision Framework – A category vision framework envisions the category of the future.  Although no one can predict the future, SIVO, in collaboration with the client business team, develops a vision for what the future state of the category will be 3 to 5 years from now.
  
• Customer Value Equation – A Customer Value Equation framework provides an understanding of what customers value about the total brand experience by mapping the key drivers of value and the assets that support those drivers.
  
• Competitive SWOT – A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) framework allows business teams to assess and analyze a current situation from all angles and to formulate future strategies in response to the findings. 

For more definitions and details on each of these frameworks, see SIVO’s Growth Frameworks: A Path to Action & Growth blog.

Applying the Growth Framework

Applying growth frameworks to the business can lead to growth strategies that span across the 4P’s of marketing.  

Product strategies could include Innovation to launch new products that fulfill demand or Renovation to improve existing products to better meet customer needs.

Pricing strategies could include Price Increases that strategically align with consumer preferences or Cost Engineering to improve profit margins by removing attributes that consumers don’t value.

Place strategies (i.e., Distribution strategies) could include retailer and channel distribution strategies or category management negotiations to improve product placement that aligns with customer shopping habits.  

Promotion strategies could include new advertising campaigns that focus on key benefits that align with what consumers need and value or in-store promotions to align promotional activity with how consumers shop the category.

Reach out to SIVO to learn more about Growth Frameworks

SIVO wants to share our proven process for elevating your insights into a growth framework that enables your team to set strategies that put your business on the path to growth. 

Reach out to the SIVO team at Contact@SIVOInsights.com to discuss the approach and growth framework that will be the right strategic fit for your team and your business. 

By Ashton Walz

What is Consumer Segmentation 

Market or consumer segmentation is a market research approach that allows you to divide a brand’s universe of potential consumers into smaller groups or segments based on their characteristics, e.g., demographics, values, attitudes, behaviors, and geography. The segments are composed of consumers who have similar characteristics within a segment and differing characteristics from all other segments. 

Once the consumer population within the market has been segmented, teams can assess and compare segments to understand which segments offer the most potential for growth, i.e., which group is most likely to find value and be motivated by your products or services and respond to your marketing, promotion, and innovation initiatives.

Creating Your Segmentation 

When developing your segmentation, the idea is to create segments that feature members who are as similar as possible to each other but different as possible from members in other segments. To do this, brand teams work with SIVO to define the parameters that will be used to segment the market, i.e., behaviors, attitudes, psychographics, or demographics, location, etc. For instance, if you wanted to segment the breakfast food category, you might want to include demographics (e.g., presence of kids in the household), behaviors (e.g., whether breakfast is eaten in the home or out of home) and attitudes (e.g, level of commitment to healthy eating habits) to help define your segments.

Once a plan is in place, a survey will be developed, and data will be collected from consumers in your defined market. Survey respondents will be presented with a scale to rate the importance of a series of behavioral and attitudinal statements or participate in a trade-off exercise to choose one of four statements that is most important or best describes them.

With the data collected, segments are created using clustering analysis. The ideal number of segments for a typical market is 5 to 8. More than 8 segments can be overwhelming to manage and fewer than 5 may lump too many consumers together.

Once the segments are developed, SIVO Consumer Insights experts will develop detailed profiles or personas, using all the survey data to describe or tell a story about each segment. The profiles/personas highlight the unique attributes and behaviors of the segments for easy comparisons. 

Applications for Consumer Segmentation 

When analyzing the consumer segmentation, it is important to understand the best ways to use this valuable marketing research tool. 

Targeted Marketing Campaigns 

The first primary use is to develop targeted marketing campaigns. By understanding the unique needs, interests, and demographics of each segment, business teams can alter their marketing messages and promotional activities to resonate with specific segments to increase consumer engagement. When marketing communications have been written with a specific consumer segment in mind, consumers feel understood and are more motivated to make a purchase.   

Optimized Distribution in Stores and Channels 

Understanding the consumer segmentation within a market also helps businesses optimize their distribution and sales channels. Different consumer segments may have varying preferences for different store banners or channels.  They might also have different preferences for online shopping, physical stores, or a combination of both. By identifying these preferences and behaviors, companies can allocate resources strategically, focus on the most effective stores and channels, and provide a seamless shopping experience for each segment.

Identify Market Gaps 

Another significant use of consumer segmentation is to help identify market gaps where there are a lack of products or services that are currently meeting the needs of specific segments.  Gaps in the market can then be translated into opportunities to develop new products or modify existing ones to cater to the needs of specific segments. This strategy enables companies to stay ahead of competitors, enhance consumer satisfaction, and build stronger brand loyalty.

Identify Additional/Secondary Markets 

Consumer segmentation allows businesses to identify untapped market opportunities and potential areas for expansion. By analyzing the demographics, behaviors, and preferences of different segments, companies can uncover secondary or adjacent target segments that also align with their products or services. This knowledge enables strategic decision-making and facilitates successful market penetration. 

Your Source for Expert Consumer Insights 

At SIVO, Inc., we are dedicated to helping our clients develop and utilize consumer segmentation that reveals their consumer target. We design custom learning plans that will help you understand which segment of consumers hold the most potential for growth and then facilitate the development of action plans so you can connect with and serve your consumer target. 

Contact us via our website form or email us at Contact@SIVOInsights.com today to schedule a discovery call! 

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