Introduction of User Personas through a meaningful and accurate segmentation exercise 

User Personas through a meaningful and accurate segmentation exercise 

This segmentation project was delivered for an entertainment business which has over 1000 employees, 250K active users and achieves an annual turnover of over AUD 240 million. It owns a number of companies and brands which operate entertainment and gaming products made available to consumers through partnerships and through its owned digital channels.

This segmentation project was delivered for an entertainment business which has over 1000 employees, 250K active users and achieves an annual turnover of over AUD 240 million. It owns a number of companies and brands which operate entertainment and gaming products made available to consumers through partnerships and through its owned digital channels.

The Problem

The Problem

Throughout the previous 3-5 years, this publically listed, large cap entertainment business had seen an impressive period of rapid growth which had been driven through both organic performance and company acquisitions. The acquisition component brought about new and expected challenges as the business began to consolidate the various brands it had acquired and needed to quickly understand how to use inherited resources more effectively, make better strategic marketing decisions and continue to grow revenue through a Group wide, multiple-brand strategy.

At this point in the company's maturity, user classification had been very much product and revenue centric rather than consumer centric which produced a customer view that was essentially high value (VIP) versus mass. Design workflow lacked collaboration, was directed by individual preference and a ‘design by committee’ approach. The customer was not represented anywhere in the structure or the process.

Throughout the previous 3-5 years, this publically listed, large cap entertainment business had seen an impressive period of rapid growth which had been driven through both organic performance and company acquisitions. The acquisition component brought about new and expected challenges as the business began to consolidate the various brands it had acquired and needed to quickly understand how to use inherited resources more effectively, make better strategic marketing decisions and continue to grow revenue through a Group wide, multiple-brand strategy.

At this point in the company's maturity, user classification had been very much product and revenue centric rather than consumer centric which produced a customer view that was essentially high value (VIP) versus mass. Design workflow lacked collaboration, was directed by individual preference and a ‘design by committee’ approach. The customer was not represented anywhere in the structure or the process.

Problem Definition

Problem Definition

• Product and revenue centric rather than consumer centric
• Customer view was mainly high value versus mass
• Marketing to a mass market with inherited brands
  
• Poor use of resources
• Customer not represented

• Product and revenue centric rather than consumer centric
• Customer view was mainly high value versus mass
• Marketing to a mass market with inherited brands
  
• Poor use of resources
• Customer not represented

Targeted Outcomes

Targeted Outcomes

The Process

The Process

My goal with this segmentation study was to deliver insightful and actionable results that would be adopted across the various functions of the business. Therefore, it was critical to lead a highly collaborative approach at every stage of the process to allow for input into the survey, segment question inputs, selection of a segment solution, and even the selection of appropriate names for each segment. I wanted the process to produce a data driven tool which should speak the language of Product Development, Marketing & Communication platforms as one. I have found that, in Enterprise level businesses, collaboration and alignment between these functions is often challenging but also critical in delivering on long term product engagement objectives (both revenue growth and customer retention) so I wanted to ensure this was adopted properly throughout these functions.

The process was divided into five main categories of activity and each step was actioned in a linear way with the exception of the operational activation and evaluation which was an ongoing iterative loop.

My goal with this segmentation study was to deliver insightful and actionable results that would be adopted across the various functions of the business. Therefore, it was critical to lead a highly collaborative approach at every stage of the process to allow for input into the survey, segment question inputs, selection of a segment solution, and even the selection of appropriate names for each segment. I wanted the process to produce a data driven tool which should speak the language of Product Development, Marketing & Communication platforms as one. I have found that, in Enterprise level businesses, collaboration and alignment between these functions is often challenging but also critical in delivering on long term product engagement objectives (both revenue growth and customer retention) so I wanted to ensure this was adopted properly throughout these functions.

The process was divided into five main categories of activity and each step was actioned in a linear way with the exception of the operational activation and evaluation which was an ongoing iterative loop.

1. Consumer & Category Understanding

1. Consumer & Category Understanding

Our approach to this phase began with needs-based segmentation, which aims to classify customer segments based on a common set of needs (met or unmet) and/or purchase behaviours. A strategy based solely on traditional segmentation, using only demographic and firmographic elements (and not needs) often results in failure because the method does not capture WHY customers buy certain products and services over others. Needs-based segmentation is therefore;

• the most actionable
• more stable over time
• less likely to produce local differences between target countries

Our approach to this phase began with needs-based segmentation, which aims to classify customer segments based on a common set of needs (met or unmet) and/or purchase behaviours. A strategy based solely on traditional segmentation, using only demographic and firmographic elements (and not needs) often results in failure because the method does not capture WHY customers buy certain products and services over others. Needs-based segmentation is therefore;

• the most actionable
• more stable over time
• less likely to produce local differences between target countries

Activities & Outputs

Activities & Outputs

In depth, explorative interviews

My team and I, supported by outsource partners performed a series of highly qualitative, in depth interviews to explore the needs and attitudes towards the category. We used a wide range of question topics which were designed to assess product usage, attitudes towards the organization and a variety of lifestyle aspects tailored to the needs of this sector. Some of the specific topic areas we explored included:

• Brand/product awareness
• Game participation and spending
• Lapsed player analysis
• Game play habits
• Game attributes and their importance
• Advertising and communications
• Game motivations
• Corporate image
• Policy and social issues
• Attitudes toward various types of gaming
• Lifestyle indicators
• Technology
• Social media

In depth, explorative interviews

My team and I, supported by outsource partners performed a series of highly qualitative, in depth interviews to explore the needs and attitudes towards the category. We used a wide range of question topics which were designed to assess product usage, attitudes towards the organization and a variety of lifestyle aspects tailored to the needs of this sector. Some of the specific topic areas we explored included:

• Brand/product awareness
• Game participation and spending
• Lapsed player analysis
• Game play habits
• Game attributes and their importance
• Advertising and communications
• Game motivations
• Corporate image
• Policy and social issues
• Attitudes toward various types of gaming
• Lifestyle indicators
• Technology
• Social media

Online surveys

Using the insights gathered from the interviews, we designed and executed a 25 minute long online survey in order to gather a quantitative dataset. We were careful to gather a sample size that would produce a satisfactory confidence interval and significance level so we could conclude that the results could be scaled to reflect the characteristics of the broader market. The sample size for this study was 2500 respondants and was based on national representative samples and the customer database. The survey covered the following topics;

• Category behaviour and spending
• Context of gaming
• Demographics and customer value
• Gaming online concerns
• Needs and attitudes
• Category drivers
• Brand image
  

NOTE: The target markets were not native English speaking so we also had language and translation challenges to solve with these activities hence the use of supporting local agencies. 

Online surveys

Using the insights gathered from the interviews, we designed and executed a 25 minute long online survey in order to gather a quantitative dataset. We were careful to gather a sample size that would produce a satisfactory confidence interval and significance level so we could conclude that the results could be scaled to reflect the characteristics of the broader market. The sample size for this study was 2500 respondants and was based on national representative samples and the customer database. The survey covered the following topics;

• Category behaviour and spending
• Context of gaming
• Demographics and customer value
• Gaming online concerns
• Needs and attitudes
• Category drivers
• Brand image
  

NOTE: The target markets were not native English speaking so we also had language and translation challenges to solve with these activities hence the use of supporting local agencies.