Getting to Know Your Consumers Step 1 Discovery

Getting to Know Your Consumers

Step 1: Discovery Phase Research the current situation: diligent research can produce insights your client is lacking. Researching the competition and evaluating their product. Step 2: Definition Phase This involves synthesising all the ideas and research and developing the key values, benefits and attributes of your product. What influence can you use from other designers’ work? Step 3: Creative Phase Use resources, technology, marketing but combine this with a solution that engages the senses. Step 4: Production Phase Create your product using effective feedback to support your creative process

The success of a design depends on having a good understanding of who you are trying to reach. . .

Types of research • Primary research and secondary research. • Qualitative and quantitative research • • Who would need this? • Why would they want this? • Why would they need it? • Who might aspire/desire to have this? Demographic and Psychographic profiling • Demographic more quantitative • Psychographic more qualitative

Sources of Data – ‘Primary Research’ • Qualitative • Interviews • Focus Groups • Observation • Quantitative • Questionnaires • Surveys • Opinion Polls

Visual Analysis: Consumer profile boards • Lifestyle • The brands they buy Written Analysis: Written consumer profile • Who are they? • Age, gender, social status • Needs, desires, aspirations

Consumer-profile boards • Who are you talking to? • Why do you want to target them? • What are their needs, desires and aspirations? • What and who influences them? • What is their demographic group? • What is their gender? • What is their educational background? • What is their occupation/economic status? • Geographical location? • What is their marital status? • What is their family size? • Can you define their lifestyle • Can you define their attitude and behaviour?

24% of S 2000’s are owned by Mortgaged Family households 27% of Civic Type R sales are made to this group MEDIA 24% of Accord diesel sales are to this group, as are 23% of Civic 06 diesel sales Daily Newspaper – The Times/Daily Mail Sunday Newspaper – Sunday Times TV Channel – BBC 1/E 4 Cinema – Medium Users Internet Usage – more than 30 hours a month Mortgaged Families account for 22%of CR-V sales 13% of Mortgaged Families drive a Civic 5 dr whereas only 7% drive a 3 dr Brand Metrics Nick (40) is an IT consultant working in London whilst Gemma (38) is an account manager at a small market research company based in Woking, just up the road from their semi-detached home in Camberley. They moved when their daughter Rebecca was born as they needed more space and are just thinking about moving again now that the children are getting older. They have 2 children, Adam, 10 and Rebecca who is 8 so Gemma works from home a few afternoons a week to ensure she spends enough time with them. Gemma has a day off as they have just got back from a family holiday in Florida; this is the first time that the kids have been to America and so it has been an exhausting – and expensive – 2 weeks. They paid for the holiday up front but have used their Tesco Visa and American Express Blue credit cards throughout the trip pay for the sightseeing, eating out and shopping while they were away. They will pay them off as soon as possible but are pleased with the purchases they made managing to get Nike trainers, Calvin Klein jeans and some Abercrombie and Fitch clothes at half the price they would pay in the UK. Nick has a BMW 3 series company car as he drives a lot to see clients, while Gemma has a Civic 5 door. They are thinking of upgrading soon to a 4 x 4 or a people carrier as they seem to have so many belongings to cart about, although Gemma would far prefer an S 2000! As they have been away for 2 weeks the kitchen is a bit bare so Gemma goes to Sainsbury’s to stock up. She gets an Old el Paso kit for dinner tonight along with some ready meals for the nights when Neil gets home late and new Innocent fruit smoothie cartons for the kids lunchboxes. She grabs some weight watchers snacks for herself as well as getting a top from Sainsbury’s TU range that looks like one she saw in Red magazine last month and a copy of the Daily Mail. Mortgaged Families 21% Honda Customers 12% UK Households “I use my car to go to work” 29% are aware of Honda OTHER NEIGHBOURHOODS Expenditure is often at odds with financial security as they tend to overspend rather than save or invest. They are aspirational and relatively brand-conscious, generally they shop in Debenhams and Next for day to day clothes but treat themselves in places like House of Fraser and try and opt for the “Designers at Debenhams” where they can. CSi “I am a regular cinema-goer” 76% have knowledge of Ford Mortgaged Family households Their home is full of all the latest gadgets, technology and labour saving devices, everyone in the household has an i. Pod and mobile phone (the children have pay as you go vouchers and have to buy their own if they use up their monthly allowance), and there also 2 computers, one for Nick and Gemma the other for the kids. They have the full sky package and a vast selection of DVD and Cd’s. They have high speed broadband access at home via NTL and will spend a couple of hours a day surfing the web, emailing friends, and banking online. They have enforced parental controls on the children’s computer as they are wary of them viewing the wrong sites and think they are far too young for chat rooms. “We usually have family meals at the weekend” Mortgaged Families have the highest desirability of all Honda groups for BMW (43%) and Audi (42%). A Town Like Theirs This group live in large commuter towns with easy access to major shopping centres and retail parks. They are modern towns with large areas of new development which have a wide range of supermarkets both in and out of town. There is likely to be a large shopping mall in the high street, which has been recently developed to contain all the major chain stores. They may also contain leisure facilities such as cinemas and sports centres. “I am prepared to pay more for good quality wine” “I often refer to the internet before making a purchase” “My car should be equipped with all possible safety features” HOW TO APPROACH They will pay a premium for added value, but price is a consideration. Modernity and functionality score highly with these consumers

Jessica(26) is a Graphic Designer working in London whilst Ben (30) is an account manager working for a small to medium enterprise based in Watford. They both live in an attached 2 bedroom house in Harrow. They moved in together after Jessica graduated from Warwick University and Ben received a promotion. With her university debts Jessica struggles to afford long holidays, but enjoys small weekend city breaks every year with Ben. They pay for their holidays last minute to get the best and cheapest deal. Whilst on holidays they use their Tesco credit cards to pay for food, going out and sightseeing. They pay this off as quickly as they can when they get back. For the past couple of years they have rotated between their parents for the Christmas break. They have decided to try something new, and would like to go on a city break in the winter period to experience a new culture and festivities. Ben and Jessica share a Ford Focus. Due to convenience they often eat takeaways at the weekends, but like to cook together during the week. They both regularly attend Pilates classes and have recently joined a cycling club in Harrow. Their home is full of all the latest gadgets, technology and labour saving devices, everyone in the household has a mobile phone and a laptop. “We usually eat out or have a takeaway at the weekend” “I regularly going to the cinema” “We like to explore new cultures and locations while on holiday” MEDIA Online articles– BBC News TV Channel - BBC 1/ E 4 Cinema– Medium users Internet Usage– more than 100 hours a month Social media– Facebook, Twitter Netflix monthly membership

Media Jane- Reads the telegraph and watches BBC news at 6 pm every night. Media Christopher and Olivia watch Fox news and read the New York Times Jane Adler (50). Her divorce is finally finalised after 25 years. Her career as a private dentist began to becoming dull. Lives alone in her Kensington house after her 3 children have now all moved out. Jane wants a new life with new adventure. Lives in the royal borough of Kensington surrounded by city life and technology. Votes Conservative. Drives a cream mini cooper and shops at Waitrose or Marks and Spencer. Jane’s book club believe she needs to get out of the city and find tranquility abroad. Before Jane moves out of her family home into a smaller more remote house in Surrey she wants to see more of the world before it’s too late. ‘I prefer high quality produce’ Christopher and Olivia Beckett (55) (38) As Christopher seeks to sell his property business in lower Manhattan and Olivia feels her role as a mother is coming to an end with the couples only child Emily starting Browns University in the fall. Both Christopher and Olivia are Republican supporters and after the year America has had the couple are looking for adventures away from the city that never sleeps. With trips to the Hamptons the couple drive a range rover to help tackle the NYC snow. Mortgages Jane- £ 5, 000 a month (Royal Borough of Chelsea) Christopher and Olivia - $10, 000 a month (Upper east side Manhattan)

Common segments might be defined by: • Lifestyle • Life Stage • . . . not age group!

they may pay different prices; they may buy in different places; they may be reached by different media; they may buy different versions of products

Segmentation variables Variables are things that ‘vary’ across a population. The segmentation process works by grouping consumers according where these variables coincide • • • Geographic Demographic Geodemographic Psychographic Behaviour and attitude (lifestyle)

NRS Social Grade: The social grade classification created by the National Readership Survey over 50 years ago achieved widespread usage during the 20 th century in marketing and government reports and statistics. Social Grade Social Status A B Upper Middle Class Occupation % of UK Higher managerial, administrative, or professional. 3. 2% Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional. 20. 5% C 1 Lower Middle Class C 2 Skilled Working Class Skilled manual workers D Working Class E Supervisory or clerical, and junior managerial, administrative or professional. Semi-skilled or unskilled manual workers Those at lowest State pensioners or widows, level of subsistence casual or lowest grade workers 27. 7% 20. 9% 17. 6% 10%

Geodemographic E. g. postcode marketing see Acorn http: //acorn. caci. co. uk/

Psychographic • Classifies according to the personality psychological makeup; e. g. risk-averse or risktaking; outgoing, sociable personalities or introvert, shy people. VALS: “A person's tendency to consume goods and services extends beyond age, income, and education. Energy, selfconfidence, intellectualism, novelty seeking, innovativeness, impulsiveness, leadership, and vanity play a critical role” http: //www. strategicbusinessinsights. com/vals/presurvey. shtml

Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation by Young and Rubicam Y&R 4 Cs. pdf

Evolution into ‘Brandographics’ – He is aged between 25 -34, married and has two children. He is a white collar worker in a middle class profession – the socio-economic class B. – He drives a Saab, reads The Guardian, shops with his wife at Waitrose and buys most of his suits at Boden.