The Rapid Demise of the Purpose Brand Derived from Jobs-to-be-Done

When catchy phrases are hijacked by the wrong people

“Thirty thousand new consumer products are launched each year. But over 90% of them fail…”¹

This is the opening to Marketing Malpractice: The Cause and the Cure, a 2005 article written by Clay Christensen, Scott Cook and Taddy Hall. In it, they recognize what a market really is by suggesting that modern marketers measure markets around “the drill” and not “the hole.” If you haven’t read this before, I’ve left a link in the footnote. You should, because while industries are tied to the drill, the market is actually tied to the hole.

“If a marketer can understand the job, design a product and associated experiences in purchase and use to do that job, and deliver it in a way that reinforces its intended use, then when customers find themselves needing to get that job done, they will hire that product.”

…I’m not going to get into the marketer / innovator debate today. 👆

Building Brands That Customers Will Hire

What is a purpose brand? Allow Clay Christensen to answer that..

“Sometimes, the d…