Research Services
customer Segmentation
uncover new
growth opportunities
Sophisticated segmentation research can profoundly impact the future of businesses and their brands. We’ve seen it many times before. We believe that segmentation research must be purpose-built and customized for every industry or product category. We also believe that design and analyses require an investigative and iterative approach. A great segmentation has many purposes, including identifying new growth opportunities and refining or expanding your brand’s target or market share more effectively.
Segmentations are our specialty. Over the years, we’ve developed and executed hundreds of segmentation studies across a wide range of industries and developed best practices and processes to assure that our clients achieve the maximum return on their segmentation investment.
- Attitudinal – groups people with similar attitudes.
- Occasion-based – identifies opportunities for growth based on the occasion when the product or service is used. In fact, one of our founding partners, Stephen Turner, was among the first researchers to conceptualize and pioneer “occasion-based” segmentation.
- Needs-based – groups people based on their pain points, problems, needs, or motivations.
- Shopper – groups people based on their needs, attitudes, and behaviors when shopping for a product or service. Our proprietary SmartMarket™ Shopper Segmentation can easily be incorporated into your research initiatives.
- Marry behaviors + attitudes – when transactional data is merged with attitudinal data to create unique segments. At C+R, this is our Dollars + Attitudes® framework where we use receipt-based shopping data (behaviors) and then overlay survey based data (attitudes).
No matter what type of segmentation research you need, our goal is to produce game-changing insights to fuel your marketing strategy.
The C+R
Segmentation Process
Sharing, Planning, Aligning
We often find conducting in-depth, one-on-one stakeholder interviews extremely beneficial. These interviews provide unique, internal perspectives from the people who will actually be using the segmentation for marketing, communications, promotions, and channel strategies. The results of these interviews can be used to “tee up” an immersive and collaborative kick-off meeting where everyone involved in the study can share what they already know, as well as what they wish to know by the end of the study.
Building Empathetic Insights Around Needs
We know that in order to do a good segmentation survey, it’s essential to understand consumers from their own point of view. That’s why we always recommend qualitative research as a first step. Qualitative research on the front-end assures that the research team understands consumers’ experiences, wants, and needs in their own words. Equipped with this understanding, the research team can anticipate and hypothesize about the segments that may exist and deploy consumer language in the segmentation survey.
working together to find the right segmentation solution
Segmentation data analysis is exploratory and investigative. Once we have data in-hand, we plan several hands-on worksessions with the client team – allowing the team to play an active role in selecting the right segmentation solution for their business. We find that analyzing the data in manageable chunks, over the course of several hands-on work sessions, makes for a more effective learning process.
Developing the Personas and
Bringing Segments to Life
We always encourage our clients to add one of the
following methods for bringing the segments to life. Many times, we will involve C+R’s Storyologists to connect our clients to the segments to build understanding and empathy.
Video Clips that represent people from
different segments—can be collected via online
discussions, webcam interviews, or video
platforms such as VoxPopMe.
Video Sizzle Reels — can be created using video
clips to capture key insights in a compelling
way—either more artistically stylized or more
ethnographic documentary style.
Look Books — a tangible “book” to give to your
stakeholders to use as a segment reference
“guide.”
Animated Videos — these highlight the journeys/
consumer stories in a memorable way for staying
power in your organization.
Social Media Profiles — segments are presented
similar to a social media profile.
Introducing Real Consumers to Represent
Segments — there are several ways to connect your stakeholders with “real consumers” for a deeper understanding of the segments:
Panel discussion — consumers sit on a panel
and stakeholders ask questions.
Speed Dating — this is where stakeholders and
people from key segments meet one on one
and do a quick question and answer session;
stakeholders rotate from person to person,
each representing a different segment.
Walk in Segment’s Shoes — this is where we
take clients into the life of each segment such
as in-homes where people prepare meals, and
the clients join the family for dinner or go on
dine-alongs, etc.
Smart Personas: The Next Evolution in Segmentation Research
At C+R Research, we are redefining segmentation research with our AI Smart Personas Platform—a flexible, AI-powered solution that brings segments to life and extends the research. Unlike traditional static segmentation personas, AI Smart Personas provides you with the ability to converse with shopper segments in real-time, to explore attitudes, behaviors and motivations dynamically.
Why AI Smart Personas?
- Developed from Real Data, Not Hypotheticals – Our AI Personas stem from deep qualitative and quantitative segmentation research, ensuring authentic, reliable insights.
- Customizable Across Any Segmentation Study – Whether using C+R’s SmartMarket™ Shopper Segmentation or your own segmentation study, AI Personas can be tailored to meet business objectives.
- More Than Just Data—An Interactive Experience – Insights teams can engage with AI-driven segments to test messaging, explore market shifts, and refine targeting strategies.
C+R’s AI Smart Personas Platform ensures that segmentation research is not just a one-time study but an evolving, interactive tool that empowers ongoing decision-making.
Smarter Segmentation with AI Smart Personas
AI Smart Personas Platform Overview
AI Smart Personas Demo
Learn how AI Smart Personas can elevate your segmentation research, and C+R’s approach to AI in Market Research.
In the end, our goal is to deliver a “living, breathing” segmentation that clients can embrace and activate throughout their organization.
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Inaccurate data leads to costly decisions. C+R Research delivers unrivaled data quality through expertly designed custom studies and rigorous Sentinel protocols—so you can rely on insights that truly reflect consumer behavior.
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case studies & examples
Now on-demand: shopper segmentation webinar
Empowering Your Strategies with Shopper Segmentation
Expert Knowledge
segmentation
featured resources
Guides
market segmentation research: a comprehensive guide
Webinar
A Timely Conversation about Segmentation Research
Guides
A Primer to Understanding Segmentation Research
