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In the book Innovator’s Solution, the author Clayton Christensen discusses a very powerful concept of redefining how to segment your customers. Traditionally customers were being segmented based on demographic attributes such as i.e. gender, age or other attributes such as purchasing power i.e. High end customers vs. Low End (value) customers.

However Clayton introduces a new concept of segmenting customers(Segmentation 2.0) based on their “Jobs-to-be-done” or specific “needs”. This is based on the idea that the same customer may prefer two different versions of the same product depending on what is the specific need. To illustrate this the book cites an example of a study done at a fast food restaurant serving milkshakes. The study showed that most of the adults who purchased milkshakes in the morning purchased it to kill time in their morning commute. Also they wanted something that that will not spill on their work clothes. So they preferred thick milkshakes that will last longer and will not spill easily. Many of the same adults preferred a more fluid milkshake in the afternoon because they were typically with their kids when buying the milkshakes and they wanted the kids to drink as quickly as possible so they can go home quickly. This shows that the same adults with similar demographics preferred two types of product depending on what need they were satisfying at that point in time. A traditional segmentation method would have failed to appreciate this difference.

This new way of segmentation presents a big challenge in creating a targeted advertisement for the product. Advertisements are typically targeted towards certain set of customers based on their attributes. It is very difficult to target different needs of the same customer at different times. This requires the advertisements to tell a strong story so that they can communicate to the specific scenarios.

Product placement is one advertisement vehicle that presents this opportunity naturally. Product placement by definition is deep integration of brand or product with the content/script. If the advertiser carefully chooses the script, it can speak to the specific customer need that a product can serve to rather than a specific customer group. Customers viewing these videos sub-consciously associate the product or brand with the specific need that is being met.