Case study - Health care
Project scope
ePsy and The Oslo Group assisted a global health-care company to increase profitable
sales by identifying and distinguishing their best consumers from over 1.8 million
Canadian households. The client can now attract and retain valuable consumers
through an integrated process of empirical research and marketing.
The challenge
The company’s internal database didn’t offer sufficient information to obtain
comprehensive customer portrayals. Our strategy was to find the company’s most
profitable consumers, identify what is most important to them and draw on that
insight to strengthen consumer offerings. We wanted to go one step further than
consumer targeting based on merely selecting variables.
Our solution
Choosing from more than 2,000 variables, we segmented profitable households
based on their purchase of company products showing top performance or growth
potential. This resulted in eight distinct consumer cohorts. It was satisfying
to see how spontaneously company employees related to the eight cohorts at a personal
level!
The cohort approach took into account the purchase of multiple products/brands.
A cohort had to satisfy set standards with regards to how the target could be
influenced, the number of identifiable consumers to justify cohort status, and
the ability to reach them.
As each consumer cohort is so distinct, marketers must inspire purchasing by
its members differently. We provided marketing pointers by describing what the
consumer cohorts are like. We enriched the segments with information on consumer
attitudes, interests, technological skill, health and cosmetics focus, and many
more. Purchase behaviour specifics included aspects such as volume, frequency,
habits, saturation and loyalty.
Good cohort building enables intelligent targeting. In view of future consumers,
cohort membership can be predicted. Costs relating to the development of effective
marketing material and its distribution are curbed. The use of product groups
rather than single brands can be promoted.
Of note was the discovery that the company products skewed to only four of the
eight cohorts, indicating overuse of only part of their customer base. Attention
to all eight cohorts brings more opportunity for future product growth. In addition,
the cohort descriptions highlighted up-selling and cross-selling possibilities.
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