Context is King: Understanding how to win in occasions

Blog Chris Bromham – Senior Client Consultant

Imagine your colleague at work asks if you want a snack or a drink. Now imagine that same question when you are at home with friends, at a bar on the weekend or just out and about. In most cases, your answer would vary. At work you may want a healthy snack, or an energy giving soda and at the bar you may fancy a refreshing beer and some crisps. In the drinking and snacking sectors, the occasion sets the context for brand choice. Most people will answer the question ‘what’s your favourite drink or snack?’ with ‘it depends’. They have a repertoire they choose from depending on who they are with, how they are feeling, where they are, what they’re doing or what the time of day is.

The challenge for brands is to be more ‘available’ than competitors in these choice moments. This is what Byron Sharp refers to as mental availability in key Category Entry Points (occasions in these sectors). How can brands face up to this challenge?

Contending with category blur

Let’s take a closer look at repertoires. Within these sectors, categories can blur because consumers tend not to think in straight lines of product definitions when choosing. This means that consumers can have drinks and snacks repertoires made up of brands from many different categories and these act as close substitutes to each other in different occasions. Each option is easily able to fulfil the need of that occasion. In a repertoire-driven sector, consumers tend to be ‘loyal switchers’ not ‘loyal to one’. Therefore, it’s important for brands to first understand who they really compete with from the occasion perspective.

Smart consumer insights hold the key

To get you closer to the drivers of choice in occasions, we work with our ‘free associations’ and ‘storytelling’ techniques. ‘Free associations’ reveal the breadth and strength associations across and within occasions and open up the competitive landscape. ‘Storytelling’ will bring the occasion to life for you in consumers own, unbiased words. They can link their stories to different occasions and brands, and this helps you to understand strengths, weaknesses and occasion dynamics. The results help us build a framework for growth for your brands based around occasions.

When is your brand the answer to ‘what do you want for a snack or a drink’?  Understanding the dynamics of the occasion will give you the answer. After all, context is king!