Companies sometimes see consumers as numbers and not people. By neglecting their needs and desires, companies struggle to create real connections along the consumer journey which can lead to top line growth problems, marketing inefficiencies and poor retention rates.

In practical terms, consumer centricity is no more complex than turning an organisation’s focus towards consumer needs and desires instead of focusing solely on products, channels and marketing. However, this is not an easy process and many companies get caught in “one size fits all” approaches which lead to different challenges:

Low Marketing ROI: Tracking and improving marketing ROI is a challenge in any company, including those in digital channels. It is hard to become more efficient in media production and communication by finding the perfect balance between volume (lead generation) and margin (acquisition cost). Indeed, it is impossible to strike this balance without knowing with whom you are communicating and what they want to hear.

Difficulty growing: This “one size fits all” approach can damage companies from a channel perspective as well, limiting top-line growth rates. Without understanding each consumer group’s purchasing patterns, you cannot get the best out of each channel and this is especially true when it comes to merchandising and promotion, even in e-commerce.

High churn rates: Different consumers need and want different service levels when it comes to experience. Despite the challenge in differentiating delivery models, service channels and communication platforms to keep your consumer active and interested in your brand, it is ever more important in the digital era.

We ensure that your organization can streamline its efforts through a framework that aligns and drives strategy, planning, resources and execution towards the most important direction for your business: your consumer.

Improving efficiency: We support companies to improve their marketing funnel efficiency, commercial team performance and logistics service level by converting “one size fits all” processes into tailored ones. This is done by relating to the consumer at all steps of their journey, from inspiration to experience and loyalty.

We don’t rely on copy & paste:  we aim to understand the specificities of each value chain’s DNA by segment, including cultural aspects, to tailor our solutions. Whilst we have extensive experience and benchmarks across various industries, they only provide a reference for helping to tackle your unique context.

Creating a living segmentation: we understand that if the consumer centricity mindset is not embedded inside the company and its true value not grasped by the team, then the segmentation will not generate maximum value. Therefore, as our goal is to leave a positive legacy, we strive not only to translate strategy and analysis into tactical and implementable plans, but also to create the governance and processes necessary for longevity by working hand-in-hand with you.

The outcome of this approach is a living segmentation and governance that will:

• Improve resource allocation by giving clarity on the right consumer clusters to focus on, considering market opportunities, your company’s vocation, strategic drivers and resources availability
• Increase your ability to win in competitive markets by differentiating the way you relate to different consumers based on their needs and desires, avoiding “one size fits all” approaches and standing out from the competition. That means identifying which levers are drivers for tailored communication and promotion plans, differentiation in service level and adjustments in the Go-to-Market strategy
• Drive innovation and growth by identifying new market segments and consumer clusters to target

Only by ensuring that the consumer centricity mindset is embedded in the company’s day-to-day activities can the real value of the Consumer Segmentation be harnessed.

From a strategic perspective, we connect the consumer segmentation to your industry, context and business objectives including: growth avenues, targeted consumers, communities, channel discussions, digital, portfolio, culture, etc. This is why, whilst our consumer segmentation support can be stand-alone, it is often embedded in other projects such as Go-to-Market Strategy, Strategic Roadmap, Portfolio Management, Omnichannel, Category Management etc.

Regardless of the context, our consumer segmentation methodology has 3 main deliverables that provide the platform for ongoing success:

1. The Consumer Segmentation: Integration has a team of data science experts, with cross industry experience and state-of-the-art analytics tools. They are fully integrated with the project team to provide the data intelligence boost the project needs. This allows us to create, combine and evaluate different types of consumer segmentations and provide a comprehensive understanding of each consumer group, from both a qualitative (behaviour, journeys, needs, aspirations etc.) and quantitative perspective (expenditure, age, gender, geography, etc).
2. The Strategy & Value Proposition Matrix: We define which consumer segments to focus on and create realistic implementable action plans for targeting each one. This matrix achieves two important things:
   • It connects strategy and execution: by translating the more theoretical strategy discussions (consumer behavior, preferences etc.) into clear value generating actions (portfolio, pricing, communication and experience, loyalty drivers etc).
   • It defines where to focus: by clarifying the needs of each consumer group in the market and prioritizing based on your business’s vocation, strategic plan and resources. This generates a structured decision making process for defining and taking priority actions.
3. The Governance: to bring the Matrix to life and harness its value, it is essential to tie it to a well-structured and balanced governance. It defines the roles and responsibilities of each area for the prioritized actions, making sure there is a responsible defined, a tactical plan and KPIs for tracking progress.

We have applied our consumer segmentation methodology to a wide range of contexts, needs and sectors – either in standalone projects or as part of a wider turnkey solution.  Regardless of the context, there are :