Getting to Know Customers on a Deeper Level
Situation
A premium boat company, selling multiple brands, was experiencing heightened competitive pressure. The market for premium boats is small, the competition is fierce and consumers are largely drawn to brands that reflect their lifestyle. This company needed to understand their target consumer on a deeper, more personal level to fine-tune brand positioning, product development and communications in order to align their brands with the lifestyles that appealed to their target customers.
Listening & Learning
Compendium listened and learned about their client’s unique challenges and objectives, then planned and implemented a series of research techniques that would provide a fresh, unbiased look at what their customers cared about in a luxury boat and what they needed along the shopping journey, including:
- Customer experience online panel, which immersed the team into the everyday lives of their target owners, uncovering new aspects of the ownership experience.
- Shopping experience exercise, which clarified the customer journey and defined specific needs along the purchase path.
- “Create Your Dream Boat” exercise, which revealed what inspires and boat features wants and needs.
- In-depth interviews with super participants drove further clarity on attitudes, behaviors and perceptions.
Leveraging Insights
With these new insights, the client team developed tools to infuse the voice of the customer into their company-wide efforts.
- Pain points uncovered during dealer visits and owner in-depth interviews drove an improved dealer strategy.
- Compendium’s comprehensive report delivered strategic insights and targeted recommendations for product and communication efforts.
- Participant pictures and videos brought the boat owners to life and told their story.
- Distinct owner personas were created for each of the client’s brands, further refining their marketing strategy and target audiences.
Overall results boosted communication effectiveness, demand and sales.
“This research gave us unbiased target audience qualitative data. Something we haven’t studied for years. In a very low-volume and competitive segment, understanding the voice of the customer is a key competitive advantage. We took our findings and integrated them in to every applicable aspect of our operations.”
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