In demand: the intersection of context and consumer needs, part 4

How demand spaces can enrich other frameworks

We never find a client with a shortage of frameworks. During the initial ‘rewind’ phase at the outset of a new engagement, we are often presented with multiple frameworks: segmentations, need states, trends, innovation territories, category visions, 5Ws, customer journeys, occasions, category maps and brand archetypes – all of which explain an element of the market or how a consumer makes choices.  

They are usually created by a team in the marketing function. Some are created to solve a specific, tactical problem (eg pitch a retailer or fill a product pipeline), whereas others are more strategic, becoming embedded in decision making and part of the common organisational language.  

Framework fragmentation  

We often find frameworks designed for a specific purpose in one marketing function, eg a pipeline developed by innovation can help to answer seemingly unrelated questions faced by another part of the organisation, such as the trade marketers responsible for presenting retailers with a category vision.  

When we work with some of our bigger clients, we are often introducing them to frameworks that they were unaware of, developed by other teams, that can help them with the problem that they are working on. 

This dissemination of frameworks, each used in isolation, presents several challenges: 

• Firstly, the potential of the framework to deliver value and return on investment is limited to the job for which it was designed
• Secondly, with different parts of the business working to alternate ‘versions of the truth’, it is inevitable that silos occur resulting in both duplication and fragmentation and getting in the way of ‘fewer, bigger, better’ marketing

How do demand spaces help? 

Demand spaces are a consumer and customer-centric map of the opportunities available to a brand or business. Underpinned by the drivers of consumer choice and behaviour, and with a scope as wide (eg refreshment, retirement etc.) or as narrow (eg carbonated soft drinks, savings) as needed, they allow marketers to see where current and future growth is likely to come from.  

Good demand spaces should encompass all the potential suitable opportunities available to a brand or business, regardless of the marketing team working on them. This means demand spaces are, in effect, an overarching framework which creates visibility, synergy and direction for the whole marketing function. 

When we see clients using demand spaces to organise their marketing efforts it results in greater intentionality and consistency of effort resulting in more effective marketing investment.  

Creating an ecosystem 

Demand spaces are at their most useful when placed in the middle of an ecosystem of other useful frameworks. They should set the strategic direction of subsequent pieces of work. For example, when constructing a customer journey map, demand spaces should be consulted first to inform which opportunities to explore.  

They should also be developed in such a way that they can enrich the other frameworks in the ecosystem, for example adding extra detail about what’s driving behaviour, or how to win in a particular opportunity. The demand spaces help to make any subsequent marketing execution more customer centric. 

And this enrichment is a two-way street. Demand Spaces can, in turn, be enriched by other frameworks too. When conducting new research, proxy questions can be added to the quant survey to identify which demand space a particular consumer typology, shopper mission or innovation territory belongs in. This means that the demand space can be continually updated as new insight is commissioned and as they get richer over time, they become increasingly useful to other frameworks – and the virtuous circle continues. 

Finally, connecting demand spaces to proprietary, internal databases is another way to add value to both. Customer data can sharpen the spaces and inform how well you are delivering them. And the spaces can provide a lens through which to view your customers helping you to better understand their needs and identify opportunities to provide more value to them. 

When consumer needs and motivations are captured in demand spaces that are then used as the organising framework of your ecosystem, your consumers and customers are placed at the centre of any strategic activities – whether brand, comms, innovation, or planning.

Adam Rowles is a director at The Forge