Content Prep- Segmenting Potential Customers and Building Initial Value Propositions

Please use these questions to guide your preparation.   You do not need to turn in your answers

[UConn] = requires a UConn NetID to access.  [MM] = readings from Iacobucci 2018 Marketing Management. [VPD] = readings from Osterwalder et al 2014 Value Proposition Design

Christensen et al 2007- Finding the Right Job For Your Product

  1. Christensen at all argue that rather than segment based on product or customer characteristics, marketers need to segment based on “job”.  What is their definition of a “job”? How is it the same or different from the definition of “job” in Value Proposition Design?
  2. How do the authors distinguish between segmentation based “job” and “needs-based segmentation”? (hint see bottom p,42).
  3. The authors also argue the best way to identify sources of new growth is to “look for jobs that customers need doing”.  The three places, in hierarchical order, that the authors suggest you should look are: (1) ___________, (2) ___________, (3) ____________
  4. The authors state that “if your customer is a business, the job it needs to do is generally obvious: _____________”.  Yet selling based on this is often harder than it would seem, because _____________. A good research approach to address this is _______________.
  5. If your customer is a consumer, what do the authors mean by a job being “knowable” versus “ill-defined”? Map the authors’ suggestions for useful research tools most useful along a “knowable/ill-defined” job continuum.
  6. To synthesize insights from research, the authors suggest developing a ____________, which distills the job, and describes (often in matrix form) the ______ and the  ________  that constituted the basis for choosing one product over another  (hint see p 44)

[VPD] “Canvas” (Section 1.3), “Design” (Sections 2.2, 2.6)

  1. “Fit” (Canvas 1.3 pp. 40-62)
    1. Define “fit” and the three kinds of fit.
    2. Describe three market contexts where you will need to develop multiple customer profiles and value propositions.
    3. Use the movie theater value proposition example to outline four general steps you might take to design a new value proposition for a particular customer segment
  2. “Starting Points” (Design 2.2- pp. 86-103)
    1. Contrary to popular belief, great new value propositions don’t always have to start with the _______.  They do however have to end with addressing ________ that customers care about. (hint, see p. 88)
    2. Explain the difference between “push” vs “pull” in value proposition design.
    3. Describe the steps in a “push” design approach
    4. Explain the criteria for identifying high-value jobs
  3. “Design in Established Organizations” (Design 2.6 pp 158-165)
    1. Explain the “invent-improve” spectrum for innovation in existing companies.