Creating an Impactful and Memorable Consumer Segmentation

The Call

Our client was working with a 10+ year old consumer segmentation solution that had all the signs it was time for a refresh – the market landscape had changed, time had passed, and the segments didn’t feel as actionable or relevant as they once did. Knowing they wanted to get it right and make sure they created not only a statistically sound segmentation solution but also engrain the insights into the company culture they partnered with Catapult to develop a fresh and completely new take on their consumer segments.

Our Response

Early on, the decision was made by our client that enough time had passed that they didn’t want to preserve the existing segments. Instead, they wanted a fresh start that aligned with today’s marketplace and consumer. Catapult developed a multi-phase approach to developing, understanding, and embracing the new consumer segments. First, we started with a full team working session to clearly define our goals and uses for the new solution. Next, we paired a rigorous quantitative survey with an iterative and collaborative approach that allowed us to create a multi-platform segmentation solution together.

With the segment definitions in place, we then embarked on a qualitative exploration with key segments to further understand who they are at their core – their needs, motivations, lifestyles, and nuances that set them apart. Finally, the research all came together in a 2-day collaborative working session where we fully immersed the client team in their new segments. We paired insights sharing with a series of immersive activities and activation exercises to ensure the new segments became second nature insights to our clients and their internal stakeholders.

The Celebration

The segmentation solution has been widely embraced by our client’s entire organization. The segments serve as a common thread through all of their consumer research activities and are at the core of their marketing and new product development efforts. Our clients still talk about the exercises and memorable moments of our final collaboration session and refer to the segments as if they are people in their lives that they personally know. The solution is over 3 years old today and it continues to consistently show up in the market as expected. Through our continued work with our client, we take every opportunity we can to check in on the segments when conducting other qualitative and quantitative research. This helps us to spot market or segment shifts as time passes so we can make sure our clients can get ahead of any refreshes needed to keep the segmentation solution relevant and useful within their organization.