Marketing & the 5 W's: a framework for marketing innovation

In my prior post I introduced the wonders of the 5 W's, and how you could benefit from utilizing this foundation of journalism in your efforts to innovate & develop potent marketing strategies. In this post I provide a peak into one of several dozen 5W's frameworks you can use to turbo-charge your marketing efforts.

5 W's Consumer Journey Framework
This framework provides you with a powerful tool for generating a rich inventory of ideas & insights with respect to the customer journey for your product or service.

	WHAT?	WHEN?	WHY?	WHERE?	WHO?	HOW?
Need / demand for product arises
Researching options
Decision-making process
Purchase & payment(s)
Delivery (& installation)
Product usage & maintenance
Product disposal
Repurchase & renewal

(click to download as PDF)


Using the tool couldn't be more straightforward:

1. Create a matrix like the one above, comprised of two dimensions - the 5W's dimension and the consumer journey dimension.

2. Take each customer journey dimension (e.g., demand, search, purchase, etc.) through each of the 5W's, one at a time. Note that some of the Ws will be less relevant to some of the journey dimensions. Within each journey/W box, write as many ideas & thoughts that come to mind.

3. Redo the exercise a few days later and see what additional thoughts pop out of your mind. A little incubation period can reap serious dividends.

4. Now, with your fully blown-out matrix in-front of you, ask yourself the following questions:

• What new channels should I test to increase product awareness, improve product search, selling, & servicing ?
• What additional consumer needs are generated at various points along the consumer journey and how might I meet them?  What complementary products can I offer?
• What new partnerships should I explore to provide greater value to customers at points along the journey?
• What marcom approaches should we test with certain customer segments, within certain contexts, or at different stages along the journey?
• What ways can I improve & influence the search & decision-making process for customers (specific customer segments)?
• What ways can I can improve the {purchase & payment, delivery & installation, usage & maintenance, disposal, repurchase & renewal} experience for customers / specific customer segments?

Use the tool & share your experience
So I'd like to ask each of you to try the tool out on a product or service that you currently sell or manage. After you have run through the tool and the battery of follow-up questions for improving your business, let me know what insights or ideas you were able to generate - I would love to hear about them, and have you share them with the rest of our marketing community.

And of course, please let me know if you have any questions along the way - I am more than happy to answer them.

Have fun, and I'm looking forward to hearing about the innovative ideas & insights you come up with!

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Related posts

• Innovation using analogous people, places & things (powerful tool)

• Using the 5W's for your marketing strategy

• Using the 5W's to reduce customer churn