Targeting moments of change

Health and beauty routines are deeply engrained and deeply personal – we use the same products at the same time, even in the same order, almost every day. So if your brand or category doesn’t already play a role in someone’s daily routine, it’s very hard to suddenly become relevant to that person.

With such habitual behaviour, the best time to influence a consumer’s product choice is when their routine is disrupted through a change in lifestyle or needs.

Moments such as having a baby, starting a relationship or retiring can cause huge disruption to our personal care habits, and represent a big opportunity for brands to target consumers as new routines emerge. Equally, developing tooth sensitivity or getting a haircut could have a major influence on someone’s behaviour towards relevant categories.

Brands need to get in front of consumers at the point when they start to build a new regime in the aftermath of one of these changes, and ensure the right range and message is present.

But how can you reach these consumers? Those who have a new physical need such as maintaining a new hairstyle are more likely to be looking to the market for guidance and advice to support them with this. Ensure your brand is the one offering the solutions these consumers need. On the other hand, those who have had a more major lifestyle change will be more passive in relation to the market. But by effectively targeting these consumers, the gains are more likely to be incremental to the category as a whole.

Using our Life Changes product, we can follow consumers before and after these disruptions. This allows us to understand which transitions are the most lucrative targets for your products, and advise on how to ensure your product and marketing are relevant to the newly forming routines as these transitions take place.