On the Job by Anita Bruzzese Are Your Customers Devoted to You

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese Are Your Customers Devoted to You Do you like Gatorade? Sure, maybe you like to drink Gatorade after a big workout, or you give Gatorade to your daughter after shes finished soccer practice. But do you like Gatorade so much that you buy not only the drinks, but the chews and protein bars? Are you so devoted to the brand that you believe consuming it will make you perform better and improve your time in your next marathon? Do you feel so strongly about the brand that you are willing to continue using the product even if the prices go up? If so, you might be what Eddie Yoon refers to as a superconsumer. Such consumers are much more than fans of a product. They dont just buy the product because they love how it tastes they are so emotionally connected to the product that they buy a lot of it, all the time. They love talking about it, writing about it and encouraging others to use it. They are dependable consumers of the product, and keep coming back for more. Yoon, author of Superconsumers: A Simple, Speedy and Sustainable Path to Superior Growth, says that superconsumers although only about 10% of consumers can drive 30% to 70% of sales. Thats important to consider when looking at how the number of products is making consumer loyalty even more challenging. For example, data shows the U.S. population grew 1.1% per year from 1975 to 2008, while consumer spending grew 3.6% per year during that time. But the total number of items in grocery stores soared 5.2% per year for that same time period. While superconsumers can help companies continue to sell during in an increasingly competitive marketplace, these consumers also continue to provide benefits far beyond that, Yoon says. Specifically, these consumers are sodevoted to a productthat they are a willing test audience, providing feedback and insight that takes much of the risk out of innovation and allow businesses to experiment more and take more chances, says Yoon, a principal with The Cambridge Group, a growth-strategy firm that is part of Nielsen. Reaching diverse customers Thanks to Nielsens vast trove of data, Yoon says he and his colleagues were able to pin(read more here)