Professor Steven Litt Strategy Steven Avatars serve many
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Professor Steven Litt @Strategy. Steven Avatars serve many Marketing-related purposes. They help shift a Marketer into a ‘consumer reality’ mindset so we more carefully, methodically identify barriers & opportunities of every kind eg • Advertising: a nuanced, complete Target description improves message effectiveness, refines the tone & manner, pinpoints which spokespersons they trust, … Hi! I’m Adi! • Promotions & Survey Incentives: likelihood to act on various promotion/interaction opportunities, likelihood to be motivated by certain contest prizes or incentives… • Research Sample Design: how/where to access them • Communication Media: where they get info on certain subjects, the sources they trust, where they gather, … • R&D, Customer Service: Gaps in needs. . . • Research Data Collection: Knowledge of category and jargon, degree of involvement in the brand or category © 2018: Spitfire Global Corp. All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied, duplicated or posted publicly to a website in a whole or in part.
Research Avatars: AMR 2019 My Goals in life: ______ What’s most important to me in life is: ________ My category experience… New to category, new to brand, new to country, repeat buyer, … My level of understanding of this category is…. My level of passion for this category is…. Steven Litt Hi! I’m Pat! My reason for this purchase is. . replenish pantry, buy as a gift, improved status, … I get info on the category through…… friends, So. Me, TV or radio shows, magazines, celebs… The closest equivalent product/service to this is… My challenges or ‘pain points’ include… not knowing…, fearing…, lacking info about… Something odd about my shopping habits is…
Avatars: for APPLIED Marketing Research A consumer reality mindset lets us more carefully, methodically identify barriers & opportunities. It helps in 4+ aspects of Applied Research: • Research Sample Design: how/where to access them • Online? If so, at which sites, when? • Email? Will they respond? Whom do they trust? • On-site? What type of events do they attend? Hi! I’m Adi! • R&D, Customer Service: Gaps in needs. . . • Find all the irritations/shortfalls versus expectations in all parts of the ‘customer journey’ so we can modify or create all-new product/service • Survey Incentives: likelihood to participate in research, based upon: • time of day, medium of contact, incentive provided, … • Research Data Collection: Knowledge of category/brand/terms; this has a huge impact on • types of exercises one uses in Qual research; • response options and skip logic of surveys etc • Maximum survey length • And more!
Avatar for: chemical/fragrance free body lotion Eco-warrior, fair trade activist My reason for this purchase is to replenish pantry stock Buying ethical goods and services I get info on the category through…… friends, So. Me, eco -websites & newsletters, yelp reviews I am New to this brand but not this category My level of understanding of this category is ‘fair’ My level of passion for this category is ‘high’ Hi! I’m Lee! The closest equivalent product/service is to this is facial moisturizer My challenges or ‘pain points’ include not necessarily trusting a multinational brand About my shopping habits: I actually read labels!
Avatar for: chemical/fragrance free body lotion Conservative, careful buyer. My reason for this purchase is to buy for my daughter Buying smartly, getting a good lasting value. I get info on the category through TV & print ads, a friend at gym who is a dermatologist I am an experienced consumer in this category My level of understanding of this category is ‘high’ My level of passion for this category is ‘low’ Hi! I’m Chris! The closest equivalent product is to this is sunscreen My challenges or ‘pain points’ include being afraid of paying too high a premium for meaningless ‘marketing fluff’/ false claims. I detest shopping!
Now create your OWN avatars! My Goals in life: ______ What’s most important to me in life is: ________ My category experience… New to category, new to brand, new to country, repeat buyer, … My level of understanding of this category is…. My level of passion for this category is…. My reason for this purchase is. . replenish pantry, buy as a gift, improved status, … Hi! I’m XXX! I get info on the category through…… friends, So. Me, TV or radio shows, magazines, celebs… The closest equivalent product/service to this is… My challenges or ‘pain points’ include… not knowing…, fearing…, lacking info about… Something odd about my shopping habits is…
Invoke many different Avatars to predict survey response patterns, check skip logic, see if niche consumers’ responses are properly accommodated
Create your own Avatars! They’ll be very useful… • throughout the R&D process • in developing consistent (Target-centered) details for the Marketing Plan • for a more nuanced, complete Brief for Ad Agency, Promotion Agency, packaging graphics designer, the Customer Service team, possibly** for Retail / Intermediary partners • in guiding the ongoing Brand Research Teams! Hi! I’m ZIFF! ** you may not believe it, since building Avatars may seem ‘fun & easy’, but a final, fully embellished ‘Target Avatar’ may be highly confidential ie NOT to be shared outside the organization, including to Retailers (the reason? Retail firms are often ‘leaky’; anything shared by one supplier, ends up in the hands of another supplier – their competitor- within mere hours)
Create your OWN avatars! Category Info: Brand Info: For whom do I buy? ______ How often do I buy? ________ What size do I typically buy? How many at once do I buy? Have they tried my brand? Have they bought my brand? Hi! I’m XXX! How recently have they bought my brand? Have my buying habits changed? If they currently use my brand, where do they buy it? If they currently use my brand, are they a Heavy User? If they currently use my brand, what ELSE do they use? How interested/ informed am I in this category? If they currently use my brand, how satisfied are they? Where do I buy? What signal triggers a buy?