1️⃣ Have you segmented and targeted your audience by needs and mindsets or are you still using demographics?

When we started our project with the team at JuiceBurst, they’d already nailed their proposition for 14-20 year-olds. As a brand approved by schools, they had a comprehensive positioning strategy (see our JuiceBurst case study).

But that’s quite a specific market to be in, so how do you scale? Instead of looking at a different demographic, we looked first to understand why these consumers liked and bought the brand. What needs JuiceBurst fulfilled for them better than its competitors.

Unearthing the space where physical needs meet emotional needs – for JuiceBurst, this was all about the vibrant taste hit for those seeking a refreshing lift to their palette and mood – gives you a starting point to look to where else, and for whom, that need is not met.

Needs-based or mindset audiences are different from demographic audiences. And what’s more, they are usually considerably larger than demographic audiences. These audiences are united around similar needs, beliefs, passions and mindsets. 

For JuiceBurst, identifying its mindset audience meant no new products were required and no costly rebrand. Instead, the team switched its focus to leveraging its 4 Ps more broadly to tap into those needs – from new distribution in on-the-go moments to a creative campaign aimed at a broader, mindset audience.

Where to start: how do you articulate your target audience? Do you understand the needs that your brand fulfils? What are the mindsets that drive consumers in your category? If you don’t know – it’s time to find out.

2️⃣What does it look like if you flip or ditch the 80:20 rule?

For many brands and businesses, especially those with a face-to-face or direct-to-consumer element, it’s easy to assume that growth is dependent on finding and maintaining heavy, loyal customers. We often refer to this as the 80:20 rule – 80% of your sales coming from 20% of your customers. Closer scrutiny usually reveals this to be a myth.

As the marketing director and brand manager for the famous Bettys in North Yorkshire, we found that so many of the service staff recognised and could name their most frequent visitors.

These very loyal customers are important in many ways – they are often ambassadors and advocates for your brand, they are a good place to start for any research because they can articulate what they love about your brand from a consumer perspective and they are the canary in the coalmine when things go wrong.

But, when we ran a big survey across a 3-month period to understand exactly who was visiting Bettys café tearooms and shops, what we discovered was that the 80:20 rule just didn’t apply. As much research in the field demonstrates* the vast majority of any brand’s sales (especially those in FMCG) comes from ‘light’ buyers. Those who buy the brand occasionally. We discovered that this was true of Bettys – the unknown, rarely seen visitors who were tending to come once or twice a year, or even for the first time, were spending significantly more than those who visited regularly.

So, we asked 'what if'? What if our menus, shop products, communications and staff training were designed around someone visiting Bettys for the first time? What if, instead of relying on word of mouth in the local area, we aimed to make Bettys a first-stop destination for visitors to Yorkshire? What if those who had visited from further afield could still buy a bit of Bettys to enjoy at home?

By flipping our focus, it gave us the permission to develop the Bettys proposition beyond its Yorkshire heartland. From Bettys By Post to bookable afternoon teas (a guaranteed slot without the queues!), from staff training designed to help new visitors feel at home to feedback and data capture forms.

Where to start: articulate what you are doing to focus on those that only occasionally interact with your category. Are you focusing on who those people might be, where they might be and what they might need to hear from you to ensure your brand is top-of-mind when they arrive?