Marketing Canvas and Customers

In a nutshell

When working on the Customers part of the Marketing Canvas, you are trying to identify relevant and actionable triggers (you can also call it insights) that you will try to leverage through the other dimensions of the canvas. We have 4 dimensions you can play with for identifying these triggers (JTBD, ASPIRATIONS, PAINS & GAINS, ENGAGEMENT). What matters at the end of this exercise is that you avoid fluffy (triggers), you have built a list of triggers, you have qualified them (functional or emotional), you have identified supporting evidence and you have rated the strength of each trigger.

In the Marketing Canvas

In the Marketing Canvas, we have identified 6 main categories for building your Marketing Strategy: Customers, Brand, Value Proposition, Journey, Conversation and Metrics. Each of these categories have 4 dimensions which means that a total of 24 dimensions (6 by 4) are defining your Marketing Strategy.

Customers is one of the 4 dimensions of the Metrics category. That category is composed of 4 dimensions.

How to use it?

What I have noticed during workshops is that people have difficulties to identify strong insights that could be used for building value propositions that rocks. They usually list insights that are very broad (even fluffy) like customers want quality (who doesn’t?) but could not describe what sort of quality customers are looking for. One example that could help you understand my point is the following:

When designing mobile phones, we know that these phones should be robust but what does it really mean. Glass manufacturer designed glass that could resist a drop from 10 meters but customers were looking for a phone that could resist multiple drops from 1 meter because it is what they are experiencing in real life. You see robustness could be very different!

When working on the 4 dimensions of CUSTOMERS, you can identify a list of triggers that could be functional (What the customer is expecting to get?) and emotional (What the customer is expecting to feel?). An interesting read on benefits/triggers is the article from the beloved brand web site (here).

I have not found a global list with all potential triggers (functional and emotional) that you could choose when working on a specific case. The most elaborated list I have found so far is the one developed by Bain Consulting for B2C and B2B. They have identified elements of value (30 for B2C and 40 for B2B) classified as functional, emotional, life-changing, and social impact.

In the Marketing Canvas, I have only considered 2 categories (functional and emotional), therefore if you are using Bain B2C triggers, you should consider emotional, life-changing and social impact as Emotional triggers.

What I also like in the Bain proposal is their B2B mapping which is something you don’t easily find. In the case of the B2B mapping, you should consider Table Stakes and Functional Values as Functional and Ease of doing business value, Individual value and inspirational value as Emotional for the Marketing Canvas method.

More on Bain can be found here: B2C elements of value and B2B elements of value.

Some Videos

Potential ideas

How to add intangible values to product?

1. Immediacy - priority access, immediate delivery

2. Personalization - tailored just for you

3. Interpretation - support and guidance

4. Authenticity - how can you be sure it is the real thing?

5. Accessibility - wherever, whenever

6. Embodiment - books, live music

7. Patronage - "paying simply because it feels good",

8. Findability - "When there are millions of books, millions of songs, millions of films, millions of applications, millions of everything requesting our attention — and most of it free — being found is valuable."

source: Wikipedia Attention Economy

Method

What you should do is the following:

• Take each dimension and identify triggers that are either functional or emotional;

• List evidence supporting each trigger;

• Rate each trigger from weak to strong in the function of the importance of the customer (the more the customer is demonstrating that s.he is effectively in needs of this trigger through past behavior (doing more than saying), the stronger the trigger).

• Take the top 10 triggers at the end of this exercise and complete the template below.

Template

Marketing Canvas Method - Customer Triggers Template

4 dimensions of Customers

• Marketing Canvas and Job To Be Done

• Marketing Canvas and Aspirations

• Marketing Canvas and Pains/Gains

• Marketing Canvas and Engagement

Marketing Canvas - Pains and Gains

Last update: 23/10/2024

The final edits focus on reviewing the scoring system and refining the Green Clean example.

In a nutshell

The Pains and Gains sub-dimension in the Marketing Canvas focuses on identifying the constraints (pains) that block your customers from solving their problems and the delights (gains) that you can provide by addressing these constraints. By thoroughly understanding the pain points and potential gains, businesses can deliver solutions that resonate with customer needs and create a more positive overall experience.

For example, Green Clean customers may experience pain from the use of harmful cleaning chemicals and the difficulty of finding eco-friendly options, but their gain would be the peace of mind that comes from knowing their home is clean and safe for both their family and the environment.

In the Marketing Canvas

The Marketing Canvas is a powerful tool for entrepreneurs and non-marketers to build a robust marketing strategy. It consists of six meta-dimensions, each with four sub-dimensions, for a total of 24 sub-dimensions defining your Marketing Strategy. One of these sub-dimensions is PAINS & GAINS, which falls under the CUSTOMER meta-dimension.

Introduction

The Pains and Gains sub-dimension is part of the Customer category in the Marketing Canvas. It focuses on understanding the constraints or barriers customers face when trying to accomplish their goals and the delights or positive outcomes they seek from resolving these pains. Identifying these elements helps businesses craft offerings that directly target customer frustrations while delivering satisfying results.

What is « pains & gains » ?

Pains are the blockers or frustrations that customers encounter when trying to achieve their goals. These pains can range from emotional concerns to practical obstacles that prevent progress.

Gains, on the other hand, represent the positive outcomes customers wish to achieve, including functional results (like efficiency or ease) and emotional or societal rewards (like feeling aligned with a cause or living up to their values).

For example, Green Clean customers may experience the following:

• Pains: Concerns over the health risks of traditional cleaning products, or the frustration of spending too much time cleaning.

• Gains: The peace of mind that comes from using eco-friendly products, or the satisfaction of contributing to a healthier environment.

Tools for Identifying Pains & Gains

Identifying your customer's Pains & Gains isn't a guessing game. Several tools and techniques can help you uncover these insights:

1. Customer Interviews & Surveys: Directly asking your customers about their experiences, frustrations, and delights related to your product or service is a simple yet effective way to identify Pains & Gains.

2. Focus Groups: This research method allows for an in-depth understanding of customer's perspectives. Hearing customers discuss their experiences can reveal Pains & Gains you might not have considered.

3. Customer Journey Mapping: This tool visualizes the process a customer goes through to achieve their JTBD, helping you identify potential Pains & Gains at each step.

4. Social Media Listening: Monitoring social media conversations about your brand or industry can yield insights into common complaints (Pains) and praises (Gains).

5. Feedback Analysis: Regularly review feedback from support tickets, product reviews, or any other customer touchpoint. This feedback often directly highlights Pains & Gains.

Let’s consider our example of Green Clean. Through a customer survey, Green Clean discovers that many customers are frustrated by the lack of clear instructions on how to responsibly dispose of the product packaging (a Pain). On the other hand, they find that customers appreciate the fresh, natural scent of their products (a Gain).

Translating Pains & Gains into Action

Addressing the pains that prevent customers from achieving their goals while also providing the gains they desire requires a comprehensive approach. Empathize with your customers’ experiences and remove the barriers standing in their way while ensuring your solutions offer clear benefits.

Questions to consider:

• What constraints block your customers from solving their problems?

• What annoys your customers during their interaction with your product or service?

• What could delight your customers and turn their experience into something positive?

• How can you measure your customers' engagement with sustainability goals?

Statements for self-assessment

For a comprehensive evaluation of your understanding and application of the Pains and Gains concept, rate your agreement with the following statements on a scale from -3 (completely disagree) to +3 (completely agree):

1. You have clearly identified constraints blocking your customer from solving their problem and feel comfortable addressing them.

2. You have clearly identified factors that annoy your customer during the job map and feel comfortable addressing them.

3. You have clearly identified factors that could delight your customer during the job map and feel comfortable addressing them.

4. Your identification method of factors that annoys or could delight your customers does explicitly assess sustainability. (NEW)

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Marketing Canvas Method - Customers - Pains and Gains

Interpretation of the scores

• Negative scores (-1 to -3): A negative score suggests a disconnection in your understanding of the constraints or annoyances your customers face. This indicates a lack of insight into the barriers blocking their progress or the gains they seek, which may lead to ineffective solutions.

• A score of zero (0): A neutral score reflects uncertainty or a basic awareness of your customers' pains and gains. While you may recognize that constraints and delights exist, you are not fully addressing them. More research is needed to develop a complete understanding.

• Positive scores (+1 to +3): Positive scores indicate a clear and thorough understanding of your customers' constraints and delights. You are confident in identifying and addressing the key pain points and gains, and you have the tools in place to measure customer engagement, especially in areas like sustainability.

Case study: Green Clean’s pains and gains

• Misaligned understanding (-3, -2, -1): Green Clean fails to recognize the core constraints or frustrations their customers experience, such as concerns over the environmental impact of cleaning products. As a result, their services fall short of addressing the fundamental needs of their eco-conscious customers.

• Surface understanding (0): Green Clean has a partial understanding of customer pain points. While they acknowledge that customers want safer products, they do not fully grasp the extent of the annoyance or frustration customers feel about transparency in ingredients or sustainability claims. This limits their ability to fully delight their customers.

• Deep understanding (+1, +2, +3): Green Clean deeply understands both the constraints their customers face and the gains they seek. They recognize that their customers are concerned about using harmful chemicals and value transparency, eco-friendliness, and health. By addressing these constraints and providing clear benefits like peace of mind and environmental contribution, Green Clean fosters a loyal customer base aligned with their values.

Conclusion

Identifying and addressing the pains and gains of your customers is essential for delivering products and services that resonate with them on a deeper level. By focusing on removing the constraints that block progress and delivering meaningful delights, you can create long-lasting customer relationships and positive outcomes that extend beyond functional benefits.

Source

1. Value Proposition Canvas by Strategyzer, https://www.strategyzer.com/canvas/value-proposition-canvas

2. Outcome-Driven Innovation, Medium, https://jobs-to-be-done.com/outcome-driven-innovation-odi-is-jobs-to-be-done-theory-in-practice-2944c6ebc40e

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More on the Marketing Canvas

Marketing Canvas - Job To Be Done

Last update: 16/10/2024

I have introduced a new evaluation framework for assessing Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) with a focus on sustainability. This topic is now integrated into the comprehensive marketing strategy assessment.

In a nutshell

"Job to be Done" (JTBD) is a pivotal concept in the Marketing Canvas, helping businesses to understand their customers' needs more precisely. The JTBD concept posits that customers buy products or services to fulfill a specific job or objective that goes beyond mere product functionality, including emotional and social aspects. Businesses must focus not on the product they sell, but on the job that their product is hired to do. A deep understanding of the customer's job can make marketing more effective and innovation more predictable. The JTBD framework involves identifying customers' unmet goals, constraints, and catalysts, which can lead to innovative and unique solutions.

A practical example is Green Clean, an eco-friendly cleaning company. Their customers' JTBD might not just be "getting a clean house," but also "maintaining a safe and healthy home environment," "reducing their carbon footprint," or "setting a positive example for their children about environmental responsibility." By understanding these broader jobs, Green Clean can tailor their services and marketing strategies more effectively.Introduction

In the Marketing Canvas

The Marketing Canvas is a powerful tool for entrepreneurs and non-marketers to build a robust marketing strategy. It consists of six meta-dimensions, each with four sub-dimensions, for a total of 24 sub-dimensions defining your Marketing Strategy. One of these sub-dimensions is JOB TO BE DONE (JTBD), which falls under the CUSTOMER meta-category

Introduction

"Job to be Done" is the inaugural concept in the Marketing Canvas, positioned under the Customer category. It serves as a litmus test to gauge your understanding of the people who buy, use, or may potentially purchase your products and services. Originating from the realms of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, this concept was first broached by Theodore Levitt in his ground-breaking article, "Marketing Myopia". He famously asserted, "People don't want a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole" (HBR, 1960).

Marketing Canvas by Laurent Bouty - Job To Be Done

What is Job To Be Done?

When devising your commercial strategy, it's paramount to understand the problems your customers are trying to solve or what they aim to achieve. This is where "Job-to-be-done" (JTBD) comes into play. Simply put, JTBD is the ultimate objective that inspires customers to buy products, services, or solutions.

The JTBD framework functions as a lens through which you can scrutinize the circumstances or problems that trigger customers to make purchase decisions. Customers are seldom swayed by what an "average" customer might do. Instead, they are more likely to buy products or services that can address a specific problem they are facing. Knowing the "job" that your customers are "hiring" a product or service for enables you to design and market products that precisely meet their needs.

A crucial aspect to remember is that JTBD is not an activity or a task (like listening to music). Rather, it encapsulates the broader purpose for which customers use a product or service.

Job To Be Done

JTBD: An In-Depth Perspective

Imagine a consumer progressing through life as they know it. Then, an opportunity for self-betterment presents itself, a chance to grow. If they find a product that helps them seize this opportunity, they can evolve into a better version of themselves. As Alan Klement puts it, "A Job To Be Done is the process a consumer goes through whenever she aims to transform her existing life-situation into a preferred one."

Thus, JTBD is about comprehending our inherent desire to evolve. This motivation changes slowly, and consequently, Jobs change slowly. However, products constantly evolve due to technological advancements that facilitate better solutions for our Jobs. Therefore, the focus should be on the JTBD and not the product itself or what the product does.

Tony Ulwick, who developed the JTBD concept, lays down nine key principles that govern the JTBD:

1. People buy products and services to get a “job” done.

2. Jobs have functional, emotional, and social aspects.

3. A Job-to-be-Done is consistent over time.

4. A Job-to-be-Done is independent of any particular solution.

5. Making the “job”, rather than the product or the customer, the unit of analysis leads to success.

6. Understanding the customer’s “job” makes marketing more effective and innovation more predictable.

7. People want products and services that help them get a job done better and/or more cheaply.

8. People prefer products and services that enable them to get the entire job done on a single platform.

9. Tying customer needs to the job-to-be-done makes innovation predictable.

A consumer goes along his life as he’s come to know it. Then things change. He is presented with an opportunity for self-betterment — that is, make changes so he can grow. When or if he finds a product that helps him realize that growth opportunity, he can evolve to that better version of himself he had imagined.

“A Job To Be Done is the process a consumer goes through whenever she aims to transform her existing life-situation into a preferred one.”

— JBTD - Alan Klement

Translating JTBD into Action

You must focus not on the product or solution you sell but on the job your customer has hired it for. The product or service they are using today might be satisfactory, but other alternatives could provide a better solution to their job tomorrow.

By observing your (potential) customer, strive to understand the problem they are trying to solve with the product (yours or an alternative). The more critical the job is to the customer, the more value you could potentially add with your solution.

The "Jobs-As-Progress" concept can

help answer several questions such as:

1. What triggers someone to buy a product for the first time?

2. How do consumers use markets to adapt in a changing world?

3. How do consumers shop and switch between products?

Understanding the 'why' behind their behavior can lead to innovative and unique solutions to their problems.

Tool(s) for JTBD

When mapping the key elements of JTBD, it's useful to separate functional outcomes and aspirations. Functional outcomes are tangible and measurable deliverables of a product or service, whereas aspirations carry significant personal value. For example, consider selling drinkable water. Evian promotes life-changing aspirations (live young) as part of their JTBD solution. So, the customer isn't drinking water just because they're thirsty, but because they want to stay young, with quenching thirst being a functional outcome.

In JTBD, we identify:

• Unmet Goals: Future experiences a consumer desires but cannot currently attain. These could be functional, emotional personal, or emotional social.

• Constraints: Factors that prevent consumers from progressing towards their unmet goals.

• Catalysts: Events that create or affect an unmet goal, constraint, or choice set.

Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen encapsulates it well, “Jobs aren’t just about function—they have powerful social and emotional dimensions."

Clayton Christensen, professor at Harvard Business School talks about the job to be done.

“When you start to understand the why, your mind is then open to think of creative and original ways to solve the problem.”

— JTBD - Alan Klement

Marketing Canvas - Job To Be Done

“Jobs aren’t just about function—they have powerful social and emotional dimensions.”

— HBR

Statements for Self-Assessment

For a comprehensive evaluation of your understanding and application of the "Job to be Done" concept, rate your agreement with the following statements on a scale from -3 (completely disagree) to +3 (completely agree):

1. You have clearly identified functional unmet goals and feel confident in addressing them.

2. You have clearly identified emotional personal unmet goals and feel confident in addressing them.

3. You have clearly identified emotional social unmet goals and feel confident in addressing them.

4. Your Job To Be Done is compatible with the concept of sustainability. (!!NEW!!)

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Marketing Canvas Method - Assessment - JTBD

Interpretation of the scores:

• Negative ccores (-1 to -3): These scores indicate that you disagree or strongly disagree with the statement, meaning you lack confidence in your understanding of the given dimension (whether functional, emotional, or sustainability-related). This suggests a significant gap in comprehending your customers' JTBD, potentially leading to missed opportunities for better alignment with their needs and expectations. A thorough reassessment is necessary to improve your understanding of these dimensions and adjust your strategies accordingly.

• Score of zero (0): A neutral score suggests that you are uncertain or only partially aware of your customers’ unmet goals in the specified area. While you may have a surface-level understanding, it lacks depth or clarity. This indicates a need for further research and analysis to enhance your understanding of how your customers' JTBD is evolving.

• Positive scores (+1 to +3): Positive scores indicate that you agree or strongly agree with the statement, meaning you have a clear and confident understanding of your customers' functional, emotional, or sustainability-related unmet goals. Higher scores demonstrate a well-developed knowledge, enabling you to tailor your products and marketing strategies effectively to resonate with your customers' JTBD.

The Green Clean use case

Imagine an eco-friendly cleaning company, Green Clean. The JTBD for Green Clean's customers extends beyond "getting a clean house." It might also include emotional and social goals, such as "maintaining a safe and healthy home environment," "reducing their carbon footprint," or "setting a positive example for their children about environmental responsibility." Understanding these broader jobs helps Green Clean more effectively align its services and marketing strategies with their customers' needs.

• Misaligned understanding (-3, -2, -1): A negative score reflects disagreement with the statement that Green Clean understands how sustainability fits into their customers' JTBD. If Green Clean focuses solely on the functional aspect of cleaning and fails to recognize the importance of environmental concerns, it shows a significant disconnect from the broader aspirations of its customers. This lack of understanding limits their ability to connect with eco-conscious consumers and may lead to missed opportunities in marketing and service development.

• Surface understanding (0): A neutral score indicates uncertainty or a limited grasp of how sustainability factors into their customers’ JTBD. Green Clean may recognize that some customers care about sustainability but does not fully understand how central this is to their decision-making. For example, the company might be aware that environmental responsibility is part of their customers' goals but fails to grasp the emotional and social significance of this aspect. As a result, their understanding of how deeply customers prioritize sustainability remains superficial, causing them to miss out on fully resonating with their audience’s aspirations.

• Deep understanding (+1, +2, +3): A positive score indicates agreement with the statement that Green Clean has a clear and deep understanding of the sustainability-driven goals in their customers' JTBD. Green Clean recognizes that sustainability is not just a peripheral concern but a core driver of their customers' decisions. The company understands that their customers seek to make environmentally responsible choices that align with broader personal values, such as reducing waste and contributing to a greener future. This deep understanding allows Green Clean to align their business with the emotional and social drivers behind their customers' JTBD, fostering loyalty and trust.

Sources

1. The Christensen Institute

2. Strategyn

3. The innovators Toolkit

4. JBTD - Alan Klement (www.alanklement.com)

5. The Fundamentals of Jobs-to-be-Done Theory (customerthink)

6. Know the Two — Very — Different Interpretations of Jobs to be Done 

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