We spend a lot of time thinking about categories.  Which brands are winning or losing?  How is the category performing versus near neighbours?  How do shoppers come across the category and how do they shop it?

That is important.  But if you’re looking for ways to grow, it’s even more important to think about usage occasions.  In food this means occasions like weekday breakfast, weeknight evening meal and evening snacking.  In Personal Care it may be about the morning ritual, the shower or a night out.

Why does it matter?  First, occasion is the way that consumers approach things.  The food need on weekday evenings, is something easy to put together, that everyone enjoys and that feels wholesome.  The products or categories that deliver that, are just a means to an end.

Second, your brand’s share of an occasion will be much smaller than its share of category.  Kellogg’s will have a high share of breakfast cereals but a lower share of the breakfast occasion, and lower still, of snacking or sweet finish. When you look at occasion, you see more room to grow.

Third, understanding the occasion identifies your real competition, and your allies.  If you’re a yoghurt brand looking at weekday breakfast, you’ll see that toast and cereals are competitors.  Granola, bananas and fresh berries are allies, helping your positioning and marketing.

So, how do you understand occasion?  Here’s some tips.

First, size occasions by volume.  Don’t just conduct a survey asking consumers which occasions are relevant to them.  That may overplay rarer occasions, like barbecues, parties and other special meals.  To understand volume, you need to understand frequency.  That will point you towards the everyday, week-in, week-out occasions.  Breakfast not brunch, weeknight evening meal not effort or recipe meal, lunch at home not lunch out.  It’s worth investing in quality data for this.

Second, paint an intimate picture of the occasions for your decision makers.  If it’s weeknight evening meal, they need to visualise it being prepared by someone who’s tired after a long day.  It may be eaten in relay as people come in and out of the home.  It has to be easy and familiar.  Watching or filming consumers preparing and eating at home helps a lot.

Third, design and signal products for the occasion.  Soreen Lunchbox Loaves are an example.  Designed and named specifically with lunchbox in mind.   Companies sometimes worry that they will pigeonhole themselves.  It isn’t a problem.  If the product is obviously right for a specific occasion, it gets into the trolley.  At home, consumers work out when else it can do for them.

Time and again, thinking about occasion, helps to unlock growth.  The category is important.  The occasion is fundamental.

​Jeremy Garlick is a Partner of Insight Traction Consulting, consulting with FMCG and Retail companies. He was formerly Head of Insight at Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Premier Foods.

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