Map insights across the consumer journey.

The best products today are doomed to fail without a strong understanding of the end-to-end consumer journey and ability to insert the right messages at the ideal touchpoints. Consider a successful challenger brand that in addition to identifying a white space in a category, is able to use it’s understanding of the consumer’s journey and the “job to be done” at each inflection point (e.g., finding recipe inspiration, planning a social gathering, stocking the pantry) to build go-to market plans without struggling to force fit its planning into a legacy customer session. The most successful brands are ones that not only uncover powerful consumer insights but also map the end-to-end journey and invest at the right inflection points. This enables go-to-market decisions to be made through the lens of the consumer, rather than a default channel structure.

Integrate total demand planning.

Integrated Communications Planning and traditional “customer planning” must evolve from being compartmentalized and department-driven to a cohesive, coordinated, cross-functional capability. The goal is to apply a common view of the consumer journey that connects all relevant mediums and packages decisions about how to reach, educate and influence purchase into a truly integrated demand plan.

By being hyper-focused on demand moments and mediums in concert, manufacturers can develop more effective tactics. Proctor & Gamble recently launched a highly compact, concentrated Tide liquid detergent to meet the underserved needs of urban shoppers living in tight spaces. Priced the same as its ubiquitous 96-load jug, the so-called “Eco-Box” is about the size of a shoebox and weighs less than eight pounds. Most notably, the product is sold exclusively through online retailers like Amazon, Walmart.com and Target.com , where its carless city-dwelling shoppers are already turning to stock up on groceries and household goods. This type of innovation is more easily facilitated when go-to-market strategy is dictated not by an antiquated customer segmentation but by a rich understanding of the consumer and her journey.

Rethink your customer segmentation.

A large manufacturer recently conducted a study on where, how and why shoppers fulfill CPG needs online. What’s striking about the research is not what it uncovered about barriers to buying perishable items or openness to impulse purchases – valuable content in its own right – but rather the implications for the company’s customer segmentation.

As part of the study, the team looked at how shoppers engage with various fulfillment models (e.g., 2-day shipping, same-day delivery, buy online and pick up in-store). At first the team found a messy and fragmented landscape, with different groups of shoppers making different types of trips across a broad set of online and offline retailers. However, looking at shoppers based on how they fulfill unlocked a whole new way to think about customer as an organizing construct. Through the lens of fulfillment, the team conceived a new shopper segmentation that could be overlaid with customer segmentation. For example, the study found that high-value shoppers frequently used “click & collect” to bridge online and offline behavior. With that insight, the company could prioritize customers offering an omni-channel experience and rethink how it organized resources to service those customers.

The pathway to rethinking customer segmentation can lead to being able to prioritize differently. An example is RXBAR’s first sales call wasn’t to Whole Foods or the nearest health store but rather to the founder’s own CrossFit community – which became the company’s exclusive channel. Only after four years did they open the doors to mainstream channels, starting with Trader Joe’s, based on their understanding of the target consumer’s journey.