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.