Consumer persona strategy: how to build love for CPG food brands
By Vanessa Doll
A common fear among my clients when developing a positioning strategy is targeting too specific a demographic with the branding or packaging design and potentially alienating others. But a clearly defined target audience helps identify the values and lifestyles that give a brand personality, approachability, and appeal. Consumer persona strategy can help refine brand personality, tone of voice, and specific messaging.
Knowing how to identify, classify, and utilize personas for your CPG food brand is essential. Consumers generally fall into two broad categories: traditional consumers, who make purchasing decisions based on price, convenience, and availability, and experiential consumers, who value experiences over products.
What are the two types of CPG food consumers?
Traditional consumers prioritize practical benefits such as price, convenience, and availability, while experiential consumers place greater value on the experience surrounding a product. These two categories provide a useful starting point for defining the audience your CPG food brand should target.
Food products naturally lend themselves to practical positioning because they are consumable and frequently purchased. But certain products are designed to enhance an experience, from exotic ingredients to indulgences. There may be a white-space opportunity to speak to a more experiential consumer with your product, but don’t force it.
How should CPG food brands prioritize consumer needs?
CPG food brands should prioritize consumer preferences according to the needs their product solves best. Most new brands provide a unique solution to an old problem or improve upon an existing option, so understanding which consumer need matters most is critical to effective positioning.
Many consumers overlap within the two categories. They may want a convenient and affordable product that also helps them share a special moment with their kids. Understand their preferences in order of priority, and be realistic about where your product will likely be most successful.
Does targeting a specific demographic limit your CPG brand?
No. The “target” demographic is where you aim, not the only place you hit. A clear definition of your ideal audience helps your messaging connect with the people most likely to buy, while secondary audiences can still discover and enjoy the product.
It’s tempting to speak to everyone when consumer behavior can shift depending on the situation. But broad messaging can make a brand less distinctive. If one consumer is consistently the more likely target, your messaging should reach that person instead.
What should a CPG consumer persona include?
A consumer persona is a fictional depiction of a shopper representing a combination of drivers that lead them to your product. Each persona should embody a specific segment of your target market, combining demographics such as age, gender, income level, and education with psychographics such as lifestyle choices or hobbies.
For example, Jennifer is a single Millennial Mom with two young school-age children who works full-time as a paralegal for a downtown law firm in Chicago. We can ascertain from this that she is active on social media, middle income, and busy. She values convenience, price, and healthful items as she feels pressure from social media messaging to show up as a good mom. Can your product provide solutions to these three pain points?
Or would your product better suit Jimmy, a single college-age kid who loves to party with his buds and game? He is also on social media and has limited income, but more interested in convenience and flavor than finding nutrient-dense options for picky kids.
Why can consumer behavior change by situation?
Consumer choices are made on a sliding scale and can be affected by anything from the time of day to the retail environment. It’s tempting for that reason to talk to both Jimmy and Jennifer. But if Jennifer is the more likely target consistently, your messaging should reach Jennifer instead. Jimmy can still find your product independently.
How should brands use consumer personas in positioning?
Use brand personas to guide your discovery phase when determining positioning or a brand personality. They can also be useful when revisiting current equities or positioning during a refresh.
A persona gives your brand a clearer understanding of the consumer it is trying to reach and helps keep positioning, personality, and messaging focused. It should guide the brand without becoming so narrow that it prevents secondary audiences from connecting with the product.
Let consumer personas be the foundation for your brand love. Real people will follow.
Have a pet food brand? This article explores more insights on consumer behaviors.
Vanessa is Partner & Director of Relationships at Freshmade. From bar owner to account lead, strategist to agency owner, she’s spent years in the trenches with leading CPG brands modernizing and optimizing their positioning to maximize growth.
Freshmade is a CPG Branding and Strategy Design agency focusing on food branding and package label design. We design for digital, from campaigns to websites, and have an in-house photography studio. Our goal is to accelerate growth for our clients through mouthwatering, thoughtful brand building and design. Notable clients we have designed CPG packaging for include Bolthouse Fresh, Evolution Fresh, Hartz, Publix, Mastronardi (Sunset), Annie Chun’s, Factor, and many more
