How To Write A Great Consumer Sketch

STRONG BRANDS KNOW THEIR CONSUMERS INSIDE AND OUT. They have their consumers down to a tee. They know what drives them and what their aspirations are. Knowing your consumers can drive loyalty and turn them into evangelists. Writing a consumer sketch is another tool in your brand arsenal to gain loyal brand followers.

Target marketing is essential in today’s market. Target marketing helps to focus marketing dollars in the most effective way. Consumers are increasingly less interested in marketing messages. If you catch a consumer that is open to your offering, she may pay attention to you. And if you entice her with a compelling message, she may buy your product or service. Communication efforts aimed at those who aren’t open or interested in what you have to offer will be wasted. If you have limited time and money (like most of us), then identifying the right consumer target is critical.

At the beginning of any branding project, I always ask: “Who’s your target?” The answer usually begins with a broad demographic description – like moms with kids, dog owners or guys 18-24. Target marketing is not just about finding a segment of consumers that would be interested in your product. It’s goes way beyond demographics and deeper into the psychographic profile of your consumer. It’s about finding consumers with a specific lifestyle that makes them more receptive to your brand and brand message.

I sometimes work with consumer brands in the green space. It’s not enough to say that I am targeting the ‘eco-conscious consumer.’ This description is too broad. Who is this person? Is she a mother who only buys organic foods for her family, expensive designer wood toys for her kids, and organic clothes at the local green store? Or is she a young cost conscious 20-something single woman who recycles and upcycles, but only buys organic foods when it doesn’t break the bank? These are two very different eco-conscious consumers. Articulating the psychographic of your target will help you determine how to message and reach her.

Writing up a consumer sketch will help you develop your brand positioning and assist you in the development of your communications.

Well, how do you write a consumer sketch? The first thing I recommend is to do research with your consumer. I usually recommend doing qualitative research over quantitative research. You could conduct a quantitative segmentation study to identify the consumers that are best suited for your brand. This, however, is costly and time consuming, and it further limits your ability to ask the whys underneath the numbers. If you have a decent budget, you can hire a moderator and conduct qualitative research to better understand your consumer by asking deeper probing questions. If you’re constrained by a small budget, but you have eager and passionate co-workers, you can DIY it by talking to consumers yourself.

Before you talk to consumers, write out a discussion guide. Write down all the questions you’d like to know about your consumer, your category and your brand. Make sure you start with general background information about her lifestyle. This will help you when crafting your consumer sketch. You may also have other objectives you want to cover in this research – like understanding the product experience or uncovering consumer pain points. This should be explored in more depth after a broad discussion about her lifestyle and her general attitudes and behaviors about the product or category.

Once you’ve done your research, you will have a much clearer idea of who your consumer is. Use this research along with these steps to help you develop and write a great consumer sketch:

Step 1 - Write a brief description of your consumer.

Sketch out your consumer profile by including her demographics, psychographics, lifestyle, and attitudes towards your category and brand. Include the answers to these questions:

• What’s her name and age?
• Where does she live?
• What does she do for a living?
• What does she do for fun? What does she care about?
• Where does she shop? What brands does she buy?
• What kind of media does she use? What types of shows and movies does she watch? What kind of music does she listen to?
• How does she relate to your category? What matters to her? Why does it matter?

Use these questions to help you create a pithy description that brings this consumer to life. The point is not that you are targeting this exact consumer profile, but rather, it’s a way to bring to life the type of brand loyalist you want to attract. You want everyone who markets your brand, from your internal teams to your agencies, to understand who you want to reach. When someone reads this, they should say, “I totally know who this person is.”

Step 2 - Give a name to this type of consumer.

Come up with a shorthand for the type of person your consumer is. This name should telegraph her essence.

For example, remember the two eco-conscious women I described above? Perhaps your consumer target is a Green-ista Mom – a mom who believes that buying only the most expensive and best-designed eco-products will do. She might spend a lot of money buying new but she always expects to consign it later. That is different than a Thrifty Reclaimer – someone who likes to buy used goods on Craigslist and at Goodwill, and prefers products with up-cycled material - all at a good deal. She buys products on the cheap with the intention to donate or give away later.

Naming your consumer describes what drives your consumer in three words or less. Remember – you can make up words or phrases. You may not find Green-ista in the dictionary, but the word conjures up a compelling image of this consumer.

Step 3 - Tell me what is written on her t-shirt.

If your consumer wears a t-shirt that announces her perspective about life, what would it say? What is her mantra? Our Green-ista Mom might have a mantra that says, “Designer Green & Fabulous.”

Here’s an example of a consumer sketch from a real world brand - Converse. The Converse brand knows its consumers well and does a great job capturing the essence of his individuality and creative spirit. I’m sure the folks at Nike (they bought the company in 2003) have articulated this much better, but if I took a stab at writing a consumer sketch for the Converse consumer, his sketch might look like this:

The Creative Rebel

Chuck is a 26-year-old guy who gets off on being different, irreverent, and creative. He works as a web designer in a cool loft space in the hipster part of Portland (or Tokyo, or Berlin, or Stockholm). He loves people who are original, and makes fun of anyone who follows ‘the man.’ Chuck likes to push the envelope in day to day life, and may break a rule or two – ‘just cuz.’ He likes to hang out with friends at local dive bars and coffee shops. He likes shows and movies that are either intelligent or border on the ridiculous. He watches everything on the Internet because paying for cable sucks. He will however pay to see a movie in the theater and loves to talk about the latest release. Some of his favorite entertainment includes Wes Anderson movies, old Flight of the Concord episodes and Game of Thrones. Chuck loves music, listens to local indie rock bands and uses Spotify to find new music. He prefers to buy local than shop at name brand stores, and he describes his fashion sense as ‘eclectic.’ He mismatches colors and patterns on purpose because it's a statement of his individuality. Chuck's Converse shoes say everything about his laidback, no-nonsense style. His mantra in life would be ‘Be yourself or piss off.’

Here’s a great video that pays homage to the Converse consumer:

This is a film that celebrates you. The Chuck Taylor wearers from around the globe. The young, the old, the artists, the musicians, the actors, the nerds, the nobodies, the up-and-comers, even the famous. Their Chucks are a part of who they are. Every scuff, stain and doodle all help shape their story.

So now it’s your turn. Who is your consumer and what drives her? Write a character sketch for your consumer. Have fun with it. When you have your character sketch, use it to come up with ideas on how to communicate your brand message. Then find the media outlets that will ensure that your message is heard. Good luck and happy sketching!