The purpose of this project was to gain an in–depth understanding of the market, using customer insights for improved customer service to increase sales and margins. For this, it was critical to benchmark and understand the perception Zambian customers had of the brand, to determine what to keep and what to revise. Problems included Builders having a cluttered brand and messaging strategy, the South African marketing teams’ approach to Zambian customers and their spending, customer behaviour and competitors.

Our full research project included tools like focus groups facilitation, data analysis and findings design. The purpose of this research was to inform strategic decisions and enable measurable results. Local Zambian team members were an invaluable resource during the research with their local knowledge, networks, resources, and language facilitation. We could be agile when a marketing opportunity was identified in field, and the research schedule was adapted which contributed significantly to the results of this project.

The foundation of in-depth research from the Builders Way internal communication process provided a full picture of the brand, the Customer Promise, and informed key strategic decisions in that market, yielding some quick wins. Through the Builders Way, they were already using dialogue to communicate, test and action projects, messages, and initiatives.

We used a mixed style of message testing for customer segmentation allowing us to understand how the brand was understood according to certain research questions. Reliable marketing segmentation and data around their customers informed the research’s segmentation. We then acquired data from the existing business segmentation to better understand the audience preferences. The Zambian audience segmentation was done with secondary and primary research via surveys, from South Africa. The in-country research could explore all the main ideas in qualitative format, allowing us to gain a deeper understanding and test the brand’s campaign message.