"Jobs to be Done" and "Benefits to be Had": A Powerful Pairing

These feelings provide powerful clues for how marketers can optimally describe the benefits their offer delivers We believe that work using jobs to be done JTBD theory should go hand in hand with an intense focus on quotbenefits to be hadquotJobs to be done is a theory with attendant methodologies that identifies opportunities for disruptive innovation by looking at what role or quotjobquot a product plays for a user Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen and coauthors say quotMost companies segment their markets by customer demographics or product characteristics and differentiate their offerings by adding features and functions But the consumer has a different view of the marketplace He simply has a job to be done and is seeking to 39hire39 the best product or service to do itquot 1Christensen who originated jobs to be done theory devised the theory of disruptive innovation Christensen talks about the link between disruption and JTBD in a recent interviewquotAt its core disruption is a theory about competitive response If I have a new innovation I want to introduce into the marketplace I want to predict if competitors in that market are going to ignore me or going to fight me The theory of disruption helps you understand that quite well But in many ways it39s not a manual for how to grow or how to predict what customers want Jobs to be done is the second side of the same coin How can I be sure that competitors won39t kill me and how can I be sure customers will want to buy the product So it39s actually a very important compliment to disruptionquot 2But what generates preferenceThe interviewer probes the limits of JTBD asking quotHow about really hardtodefine traits like taste and style Can a clothing designer at the high end apply jobstobedone theory to color for example Or are there some things that are beyond the reach of the theoryquot Christensen replies quotI think you39re right I cannot apply the concept of disruption to choices of preference It doesn39t have anything to say about preferencequotPreference is of course crucial especially in markets where there are a plethora of products that can do the job If a brilliantly designed product is marketed poorly it will not sell If its benefits and value are not clearly communicated it will never reach its potential as a solution for people39s jobs to be doneamp160We explored this topic indepth in a recent whitepaper 39The Future of Food Are you Ready for the Millennials39 where examples of this are abound in the Food and Beverage category as millennials are challenging manufactures to offer products that solve for a much wider variety of jobs than in the past while at the same time seeking emotional benefits to help guide their preferencesCreating a new product offer is only the beginning of a process that must ultimately include communicating the benefits of the offeramp160Marketing must happen We need to be prepared for itFeelings that drive preferenceIt39s true that customers quothirequot a brand to perform a quotjobquot But the job they39re hiring for isn39t simply a functional transaction They39re hiring for an emotional connection and an experience That39s where the opportunity comes to create conditions for preferenceWhen needs are fulfilled people have emotional reactions Our focus is on finding emotional connections the brand can own and claim in the form of a benefit These benefits connect a user to an offer and allow a brand to go beyond functionality and create a lasting bondThese bonds are powerful quotOn a lifetime value basis emotionally connected customers are more than twice as valuable as highly satisfied customers These emotionally connected customers buy more of your products and services visit you more often exhibit less price sensitivity pay more attention to your communications follow your advice and recommend you morequot say Harvard Business Review authors Alan Zofra and Daniel Leemon3Emotions to be understoodIt39s the brand39s ability to deliver on that emotional experience that causes it to be preferred over the competitors We structure our research to accurately identify the experiential needs that consumers seek Then we translate that understanding into recommendations for brands to both deliver the right functional jobs and maximum emotional benefitMaruMatchbox offers aamp160solution for exploring identifying and validating emotional drivers that can enhance brand and product preference within the JTBD framework Our focus is on leveraging the power ofamp160communitybased learningamp160to translate the emotional outcomes of jobs into benefits that can in turn drive and explain preferenceThese investigations fit seamlessly within our innovation learning streams which deliver iterative ongoing learnings that are multimodal and technology enabledquotJobs to be Donequot and quotBenefits to be Hadquot a powerful pairingJobs to be done is a great innovation frameworkamp160Jobs to be done combined with a focus on benefits to be had is even more powerfulamp160We39d love to talk to you about our approachamp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp8212amp82121Finding the Right Job For Your Product Clayton M Christensen Scott D Anthony Gerald Berstell and Denise Nitterhouse MIT Sloan Management Review Spring 20072Innovation guruamp160Clayton Christensen39s new theoryamp160is meant to protect you from disruption Oliver Staley Oct 2016 QZcom3amp160An Emotional Connection Matters More than Customer Satisfaction Alan Zorfas Daniel Leemon Harvard Business Reviewamp160 August 29 2016Click the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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"Jobs to be Done" and "Benefits to be Had": A Powerful Pairing

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Tommy Stinson

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"Jobs to be Done" and "Benefits to be Had": A Powerful Pairing

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