1. 2012
Sabrina Fruehauf
The Solutions Group
MKT 534
Kellstadt Graduate School of
Business
THE UNVEILING OF
LATENT NEEDS – AN
EXAMPLE

2. Table of Contents
1. Prologue
2. Background
3. Procedure
a. Uncover latent needs
b. List and classify problems
c. Prioritize Customer needs
4. The new category
5. Appendix

3. 1. Prologue
Without sounding condescending, there may be a high likelihood of women’s fitness and weight
loss being the next big thing. Most women know they want and need to lose weight and stay in
shape but seldom do they know the right method for them. Personal trainers can be quite pricy
and without anyone’s help it can become frustrating. If you take a women’s magazine like
“Shape”, “Glamour” or “Women’s Health”, 80%-100% of what they talk about is how to look
better and healthier. Taking it one step further by going online, you discover that there are
thousands and thousands of online forums that provide a platform for women to exchange their
stories and seek advice. What all of the platforms have in common is they combine bits and
pieces of good and bad recommendations and it seems like every fitness expert has got
something else to add. What all the women have in common is they want to look and more
importantly feel better but most often they have tried enough and are at their wit’s end (and in
some cases, there is a bit of laziness involved but my theoryclaims that this is not the root
problem). A known fact is that every woman is genetically different and therefore requires
different types of exercise and diet adjusted to her body index.
What is missing is the lack of personal advice and the fact that women have trouble making their
exercise a habit and building it into their everyday life without having to hire a personal trainer.
A couple of things are critical here. A plan taking into consideration their current shape (height,
weight, BMI, etc.), their daily schedule, a partner that has the same measures and the same goals
and someone that has the same measures and managed to accomplish their goals and is willing to
share the success story with others.
2. Background
Conventional strategies like Perceptual mapping, Conjoint Analysis and Value Curve will only
get you so far. They all share assumptions about the industry being given, categories being
familiar or attributes and brands being known. When looking at the product life cycle, studies
have shown that about 85% of spending is used for the Growth, Maturity and Decline stages,
whereas only 15% is left for the introductory stage. Companies tend to be reluctant to spend
money on Research & Development during this first stage as the returns can’t be readily
identified; instead the returns that may come from the investments lay further out in the future. In

4. order for new ideas to revolutionize the world however, investments need to be made in the
“unknown”. You need to allow for a bit of chaos when trying to uncover latent needs and turn
away from conventional stage gates.
When new categories form, customers have no familiarity with the category. Customers usually
have trouble articulating their needs and it is pivotal to listen to the customers instead of trying to
push new technologies into the market. If sufficient latent needs can be uncovered and a
technology found to match those needs then a new category is born. Nutritional waters like
vitamin water or facebook as the mother of social networking are only a few exemplifications of
successful unveilings of latent needs.
This begs the question of how do you uncover latent customer needs?
A latent need defines a need that has potential without being visible. The main difference to
conventional strategies is that customers can’t tell us about latent needs. They have to be
discovered first. There are three steps to do so which will be described in detail as follows:
3. Procedure
a. Uncover latent needs
The first step requires an ethnographic observation of “jobs-to-be-done” and problems
encountered. This step is also called an anthropological approach as it involves a very thorough
surveillance of consumers in their natural habitat. Sometimes these observations can be coupled
with selected conversations to maximize the findings and insights. Consult with multiple
observers that were being qualitatively trained to allow for different interpretations. You can
either use current customer filters or new technology filters. Some techniques that turn out to be
valuable for observation are a digital or video camera, a tape recorder for conversation, a sketch
pad, a book or magazine to disguise, permission forms if you enter someone’s property and
appropriate clothing to blend in.
It is important to always keep in mind what you are looking for: namely the problems, the
hassles, the frustrations and the stressors that customers encounter going about their lives. The
key is to observe natural human behavior and how humans deal with the stressors. The follow-up
question would be what products or services could help them get their job done. How do
consumers go about achieving “outcomes” and tackling the “problem” is essentially what you’re

5. trying to answer. Customers are by nature not focused on the product or the category. They
won’t articulate the solution but they will naturally engage in a process to help them get there.
Consumers are driven by pull & push of life’s natural rhythms and most often their actions are
habit-driven. The cue-routine-reward curve that was applied by many researchers shows a cue at
the beginning that a person is trying to resolve. He/she then engages in a process to tackle the
cue in order to end up with the yielded reward.
Figure 1: The habit loop, extracted from "The power of habit", Charles Duhigg, February 2012
The example above illustrates the routine loop of a customer that is facing teeth tingling. It
describes the cue (stained teeth), the routine (brush your teeth) and the reward (white teeth).
Another fact that needs to be taken into consideration when uncovering latent needs is that
humans are boundedly rational in their decisions and 60% of consumption is temporarily
oriented. Speaking from a majority of our society, it becomes obvious that most consumers are
mercenaries with almost zero loyalty. They are seeking convenience and a fast satisfaction more
so than staying loyal to one particular brand. When faced with a problem in their daily lives, the
customer cares more about “satisficing” than optimizing, which means solutions that simply
satisfy him are sufficient enough. He/she doesn’t need the ideal solution.
Having laid out the background for the procedure, it is now time to dive into the example of the
latent need uncovered for our client. This first observational process can require quite some time
and money.
As mentioned above, the first step involves the observation of problems encountered in
consumers’ lives. The purpose of the observations is not to provide us with predictability, but to
give us some kind of direction. Our primary target is the female desperate to lose weight. The
job-to-get-done is weight loss and this phenomenon can be observed in almost every second
person’s life. Women are mostly affected. It is striking how many women have faced this issue

6. throughout their lives.1 It can result in depression-feelings of loneliness, sadness or aggressive
behavior towards your beloved ones or close friends. It is fascinating on the other hand how the
simple act of a good exercise can help reduce these sad feelings and make them happier people.
In order to get started, current customer filters were defined to be women. Several trips to the
gym were made; online weight & fitness forums were closely observed and a few conversations
with women were held.
The problems faced were
- I don’t want to exercise but I have to
- I don’t have time to exercise
- I want to look lean and healthy
- I want to eat healthy
- I eat less but I don’t lose weight
- I don’t want to be watched while exercising
- The gym environment makes me uncomfortable
- I don’t fit in my jeans anymore
- My partner told me to lose weight
- I want my kids to have a slim mum and be proud of her
- I want to feel good about myself
- I want to go to the beach but I can’t because I feel embarrassed
- I need someone that can hold me accountable to achieve weight goals
- I need to consult with someone that has faced the same problems and challenges
- I need to consult with someone that used to be in the same boat but accomplished his/her
goal
- I need to overcome my lust for candy and soda
- I need a mentor that can push me and tell me not to give up
- I need someone to motivate me and help me get through the process
- I have tried every diet program and haven’t lost weight
- I need a controlled environment where calories intake is matched against exercise
- I don’t have the money to hire a personal trainer
- Every dietician recommends different diets  how am I supposed to decide?
- I want to share my experiences and progress with friends and family
- I need to find a routine to get me into an exercise habit
- I sometimes eat because I am bored
- I don’t know what type of exercise fits my weight reduction goals
- I prefer to work out at home but need to find the right program for me
- I prefer to exercise with a friend to help me motivate myself
1
Men have too without a doubt, but for this exercisethe focus will be laid on women

7. - I sometimes snack because that’s what I do every day at that time
- I wish there was one simple way of combining exercise, diet and motivation
This is the master list of 30 statements that has been compiled across multiple sources from
about 500 need statements.
b. List and classify problems
The second step involves listing and classifying the list of the 30 “jobs-to-be-done” found in step
one and evaluating them from a qualitative standpoint. The goal is to put the individual problems
into broader categories of needs. Each broad need can have 5 to 50 smaller problems and “jobs-
to-be-done” subsumed under it.
Need 1: Make exercise a habit that replaces a “bad” habit
- I don’t have time to exercise
- I need to overcome my lust for candy and soda
- I don’t want to exercise but I have to
- I need to find a routine to get me into an exercise habit
- I sometimes eat because of boredom
- I sometimes snack because that’s what I do every day at that time
Need 2: Accountability for the progress of your fitness
- I need someone to hold me accountable to achieve my weight goals
- I need a mentor that can push me and tell me not to give up
- I need someone to motivate me and help me get through the process
- I prefer to exercise with a friend to help me motivate myself
Need 3: Get expert’s advice without having to pay for a personal trainer
- I don’t have the money to hire a personal trainer
- I don’t know what type of exercise fits my weight reduction goals
- Every dietician recommends different diets  how am I supposed to decide?
Need 4: Social aspect of sharing success stories
- I want to share my experiences and progress with friends and family
- I want to consult with someone that has faced the same problems and challenges
- I want to consult with someone that used to be in the same boat but accomplished his/her
goal
Need 5: Feel better about yourself by minimizing frustration
- I want to eat healthy
- I eat less but I don’t lose weight
- I want to look lean and healthy
- I don’t fit in my jeans anymore

8. - I want to feel good about myself
- I have tried every diet and haven’t lost weight
- I want to go to the beach but I can’t because I feel embarrassed
- My partner told me to lose weight
- I want my kids to have a slim mum and to be proud of her
Need 6: Raise the comfort of exercising environment
- I don’t want to be watched while exercising
- The gym environment makes me feel uncomfortable
- I need a controlled environment where calorie intake is matched against exercise
- I prefer to work out at home but I need to find the right program for me
Need 7: Raise the simplicity of exercising
- I wish there was one simple way of combining exercise, diet and motivation
c. Prioritize Customer needs
The third step is about prioritizing customer needs by applying a quantitative measure called the
opportunity algorithm. This step includes more of the conventional survey research. A large
sample size is ought to be drawn and surveyed by giving them summary statements that list the
broadly defined needs. The customers are then asked to rate the needs in terms of two factors:
1. Importance to the consumer on a scale of 1 to 9
2. How well each need is presently satisfied through existing products or
services on a scale of 1-9
Essentially we are trying to answer two questions: How important is it to consumers that this
need is fulfilled and how satisfied is the consumer with the current offerings?
Having analyzed the survey results, the opportunity associated with each need can be calculated
by means of the following formula:
Opportunity = (Importance + (Importance – Satisfaction))2
2
Outcome of inner parenthesis can never be less than zero as high levels of satisfaction do not detract from importance

9. After ranking the figures by Opportunity, the results for the client-specific survey are as such:
Figure 2: Prioritization of customer needs for women wanting to lose weight, October 2012
4. The new category
The product or service that can solve for the most number of opportunities in the order of the
opportunity scores represents the new category.
The product that was developed for our client incorporates the following and can be downloaded
onto every mobile device: an algorithm that integrates metrics like heart rate, distance, weight
and age, skin temperature, breathing. Most algorithms built into a treadmill or watches are
misleading as they don’t consider what is going on inside your body. To deliver optimal results
to the person, the measure needs to be as personalized as possible.3
Themeasure is then directly linked to the mobile application that tells the consumer how much
fat has been burnt and how many calories.
So far the product doesn’t really differentiate itself from current offerings, does it?
When a person signs up online, she can list her hobbies, her everyday schedule, whether she
smokes or not, any allergies, medication prescriptions, past injuries and surgeries as well as if
she prefers home work-out or gym, preferred work-out time of the day, and if she likes to work
out by herself or with a partner and most critically, her goals, concerns and habits that include
snacking, watching TV, or just hanging out. Questions could include: What is a feasible
expectation for you? What keeps you from doing it now? What time of day would be the best for
exercise, or what part of your schedule can exercise be best worked in?
Why should the person care? The more the person reveals, the better the end results will get.
That’s why they should really take their time when filling out the questions. Any other fitness
3
Professor Heil, http://www.experienceproject.com/stories/Want-To-Get-Fit-And-Stay-In-Shape/190782

10. studio would take some of these measures, store them in a binder and never look at them again
(if not requested). Existing applications like “My Gym Pal” are popular at first sight but they
leave people completely by themselves and require utter discipline which only a 10 th percentile
of our population can arrange for.
Once all the information is registered, thesystem develops several options for a work-out plan
that accommodates daily schedule and builds around that. By scanning through the thousands of
online forums with millions of experts’ advice, the system is specifically programmed to track
down a habit that may be an easy one to replace. Drastic changes won’t be realistic so that’s why
the system helps to start small. Without intruding too much into people’s lives, simple things like
snacking could be a starting point where the exercise replaces the snack but allows for an apple
as a reward.
The minute the person starts exercising, the device sends a signal to the mobile application where
it comes up as e.g. “Person X is rocking the treadmill”. It shows the exercise goal and the
progress. The exercise buddy (if the person has indicated someone) gets notified and is probably
also on the cross-trainer or on the way to the gym.
The third component that our service encompasses is the social aspect. People like to share their
stories. “It’s Monday night! I just got back from the gym.”
They also like to learn from other like-minded. It takes a good amount of willpower to remain
strong and build an exercise habit but especially with other people having achieved weight goals
and so generously willing to share their experiences, it won’t be as hard. A personal trainer will
also push you and hold you accountable but his service is pricey. Our service combines a
calorie/miles counter like NIKE’s, goals and nutrition statistics application like MyGymPal and
the social aspect of the forums personalized to your needs and habits. People are being held
accountable by their buddy partners, family members or spouses that decide to support during
exercise or someone random from other parts of the world who match their profile in terms of
goals and body statistics. Again, the amount of people willing to share their experiences and give
tips to others in need is incredibly and can be seen across many platforms. Last but not least,
baking exercise into someone’s life will pose as a road to happiness and the woman will feel
better about herself after a few weeks. After all, speaking from experience, exercise with or
without the weight loss will make everyone happier and will make other needs in life completely
redundant.

11. 5. Appendix
1. The habit loop, extracted from "The power of habit", Charles Duhigg, February 2012
2. Prioritization of customer needs for women wanting to lose weight, October 2012