Using Unique Audience Intelligence to Drive Brand Growth

We’ve frequently been talking about the benefits of combining survey data and big data. But how does such a market research approach really work? To provide a more detailed look at a specific use case of this approach in action, we’ll walk you through the research we recently conducted when it came to assessing the market of the grocery coffee category space and its brands.

Specifically, we’ll walk through the approach in the mindset of Dunkin’ Donuts® to show you how we can determine a growth opportunity, identify a unique audience, and demonstrate how to increase brand relevance among that audience.

The Research

In order to gain more knowledge on the grocery coffee category and its brands, we sought to understand what brands are poised for growth. Specifically, we found Dunkin’ Donuts provided a means to understand the category from their perspective and learn what customers are likely to switch to their brand from others. Overall, the research needed to identify growth opportunities and profile the target audience of the Dunkin’ Donuts brand and provide guidance on how to message to potential brand switchers for their specific brand.

The Results

A growth opportunity was identified.

Every brand looks to grow in some way or another. But to first understand what kind of audience and message a brand should take to grow, they need to determine which strategy of growth will best guide their efforts—whether it’s through acquisition or retention.

One of the most telling ways to understand if your brand is poised for growth or vulnerable to decline within the category is to pay attention to both behavioral loyalty (actual market share based on purchase data) and attitudinal equity (consumer attitudes and perceptions toward your brand). By combining these two forms of survey data and big data, our approach shows the opportunity you have to leverage attitudinal equity to grow through acquisition or retention.

Focusing on Dunkin’ Donuts, we found they had the opportunity to acquire up to 32% of coffee purchasers from competitors.

The target audience was guided by the growth opportunity and characterized based on specific attributes.

After determining that Dunkin’ Donuts had the opportunity to acquire 32% of competitors’ customers through acquisition, our approach broke down what those customers look like in terms of not only their demographics, but their habits and media consumption as well.

Brand relevance could be increased among this target audience by translating the unique audience intelligence into a marketing activation strategy.

One of the largest benefits of combining big data and survey data is the ability to get more in-depth insights on a specific audience without having to conduct multiple phases of research. In this specific case, building out a personality profile on the target audience, coupled with the demographics, habits, and media consumption meant we could provide exactly who Dunkin’ Donuts needed to target, when, and with what messaging.

In the end, you’ll see this approach is all about providing a deeper, more holistic view of your customer and how to effectively reach them. To learn how you can drive brand growth and relevance through this approach, or to see the process outlined above in more detail, download an infographic of the results below. You’ll also see

• How attitudinal and market share is displayed for a category
• The breakdown of the grocery coffee category when it comes to Dunkin’ Donuts’ loyals, flight risks, and brand rejectors
• Examples of purchase considerations relative to the grocery coffee category and specific to Dunkin’ Donuts’ target audience