Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) is a customer-centered framework that focuses on why people buy a product or service – not just what they buy. At its core, it shifts the question from "Who is our customer?" to "What job is the customer trying to get done?" This mindset allows companies to develop solutions that align directly with customer goals, rather than making assumptions based on basic demographics or traditional market segments.

For brands, this shift is powerful. Instead of marketing based on superficial traits (like age or income), JTBD helps businesses understand the context behind decisions. What drives someone to switch smartphone brands, try a new snack product, or explore a different financial service? Often, it’s a job they’re struggling to complete – perhaps one involving convenience, security, or emotional satisfaction.

JTBD in the Context of Brand Strategy

Integrating Jobs To Be Done into your brand strategy allows you to position your brand as a solution to a specific need or goal your audience is actively trying to fulfill. That’s what makes it especially useful for:

• Brand positioning – Clarifying the unique value your brand delivers by focusing on the job it helps customers complete
• Customer insights – Surfacing deeper reasons behind customer behavior, beyond surface-level feedback
• Marketing strategy – Developing messages and campaigns that align with what truly matters to your audience

It also provides clearer direction across product design, innovation, and even organizational alignment – helping stakeholders rally around a single outcome: delivering what your customers truly need.

Why It Matters for Modern Brands

Today’s consumers expect more personalization and relevance. Companies that successfully apply JTBD don’t just create products – they become trusted problem-solvers. For organizations focused on business growth and long-term brand development, this understanding creates a foundation for meaningful relationships with your audience.

In short, Jobs To Be Done offers a smart, structured way to align branding with real-world customer goals. It helps ensure your brand isn’t just visible – it’s valuable.

One of the most common challenges brand teams face is identifying what customers actually need – not just what they say they need. This is where Jobs To Be Done shines. Instead of relying purely on traditional market research methods like surveys that ask what customers want, JTBD dives into what they're trying to accomplish in their lives.

By exploring the context of the customer’s decision-making process, the Jobs To Be Done approach surfaces the motivations, frustrations, and unmet needs that drive choice and behavior. It’s about understanding the "why" behind the "buy."

The Difference Between Stated and Unmet Needs

Consumers often articulate needs in vague or product-focused terms – like wanting a “faster app” or “healthier snack.” JTBD reframes the conversation to uncover the deeper outcomes people are seeking. For example, a busy parent isn’t just looking for a “healthy snack” – they may be trying to get the job of “keeping kids satisfied between activities without guilt.”

This subtle shift in understanding transforms your approach to product development and brand communication. It equips teams to develop more meaningful value propositions and clearer customer journeys.

Common JTBD Insights That Help Identify Real Needs

• Functional jobs: Practical tasks customers are trying to complete (e.g., commuting efficiently)
• Emotional jobs: Feelings or perceptions customers want to create or avoid (e.g., feeling in control or avoiding embarrassment)
• Social jobs: How customers want to be perceived by others (e.g., being seen as innovative or responsible)

By mapping these layers, teams can understand how customers select (or reject) brands based on how well they support these jobs. This is especially helpful when refining brand positioning or messaging.

Example in Action (Fictional)

Consider a hypothetical fitness app targeting working professionals. On the surface, its users want “at-home workouts.” But from a Jobs To Be Done perspective, the real job might be: “I want to maintain my health routine despite unpredictable work demands.” This insight opens the door to features like quick stress-relief sessions, flexible scheduling, and progress tracking – solutions more aligned with the true job.

From Discovery to Action

Uncovering consumer needs through JTBD isn’t just about insight gathering – it sets the stage for stronger marketing strategies, smarter design choices, and better brand alignment. At SIVO Insights, we guide clients through structured research processes – including qualitative interviews and ethnographic methods – designed to surface these real-world jobs.

Identifying the job your brand is hired to do gives you the clarity to innovate and message around what people actually care about. With that clarity, you not only meet customer expectations – you have the opportunity to exceed them.

How JTBD Sharpens Brand Positioning

At its core, brand strategy is about clearly communicating who you are and why your offering matters to your target audience. Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) helps brands zero in on the real-life problems customers are trying to solve – their “jobs” – so you can align your brand positioning directly with those motivations. Instead of generic messaging about features or product categories, JTBD helps you carve out a story that resonates personally with customers’ desired outcomes.

JTBD framework guides you to define your brand’s value proposition in a way that directly supports what your ideal customer is trying to accomplish, not just what they’re buying. This leads to brand positioning that’s more meaningful, distinct, and emotionally relevant.

Aligning Messaging with Customer Needs

Using JTBD insights, you can develop brand messaging that speaks clearly to the roles your product or service plays in your customers' lives. Rather than telling audiences what your brand does, you show how it helps them succeed in their personal or professional goals.

For example, say you sell meal kits. Your product solves more than just “dinner.” With JTBD, you might discover that customers are trying to accomplish: eating healthier despite their busy schedules, getting time back in the evening, or feeling confident cooking for their families. Messaging focused on “quick and healthy dinners for real-life schedules” addresses these jobs more powerfully than “chef-curated meals delivered weekly.”

Brand Messaging That Reflects Customer Jobs

JTBD uncovers the deeper motivations behind purchases, which gives you the language to speak to those emotional drivers. This approach can help marketers craft:

• Taglines that express the desired outcome your audience is chasing
• Campaigns that position your offering as the tool to complete the job
• Messaging that speaks to different segments based on varying jobs

Positioning your brand around fulfilling key jobs isn't just more customer-centric – it's also a path to differentiation and loyalty. When customers feel seen and supported in what they're trying to achieve, they're more likely to return, recommend, and remain loyal.

Simplifying Complex Decisions

In noisy markets, JTBD-aligned positioning acts like a beacon. It helps customers quickly understand what your brand is about and why it matters to them. Instead of being just another option, your brand becomes the obvious choice for a specific need – which is exactly what strong brand development strives for.

As we’ll see next, many successful brands are already doing this – and it’s changing the way they connect with their audience and grow.

Turning JTBD Into Brand Strategy Impact

Let’s bring the Jobs To Be Done brand strategy framework to life using a few fictional examples. These illustrate how organizations can use JTBD insights to shape clear, compelling brand positioning and marketing strategies that resonate deeply with their target audience.

Example: A Fitness App That Goes Beyond Workouts

Imagine a startup offering a mobile fitness app. At first, their messaging focused on features: custom workouts, expert trainers, and live classes. Adoption was moderate, but user engagement dropped off quickly.

Through JTBD-inspired market research, they learned that a major job their users were trying to get done was “getting back into a routine after major life changes” – like becoming a new parent or switching careers. Users weren’t looking for just another workout; they were trying to rebuild structure and confidence.

By shifting their brand messaging to “Find your new normal – Fitness that fits your changing life,” the company saw significantly higher user retention and engagement. Their positioning now reflected the real emotional drivers behind customer behavior – leading to stronger connection and growth.

Example: A Retail Bank That Helps People Worry Less

A mid-sized bank sought to refresh its brand and appeal to younger customers. JTBD research revealed that younger banking customers weren’t simply trying to manage money – they were trying to “stop feeling anxious about financial uncertainty.”

This insight led to a brand strategy focused on empowerment. The bank launched tools and messaging positioned around “gaining clarity, not just interest rates.” Their rebranded app emphasized peace of mind and financial control, not just transactions – a big shift from traditional banking communication.

Example: Coffee Brand Supporting Customers’ Daily Wins

A national coffee brand competed in a crowded space. Through consumer insights grounded in JTBD thinking, they identified a universal job their customers had: “set myself up for small successes each morning.” Coffee wasn’t just fuel – it was part of a bigger emotional job of starting strong.

The brand repositioned with messaging like: “Start strong. Fuel your best first step.” They leaned into storytelling that showed how customers use their coffee products to take on the day – championing their customers’ daily goals, not just promoting aroma or roasting techniques.

Impact of Using JTBD for Branding

These fictional JTBD branding examples demonstrate a key idea: When you frame your messaging around the job your customer is truly trying to get done, you connect on a more meaningful level. Your brand becomes not just a solution, but a partner in your audience’s personal success story.

The best part? These strategies aren’t reserved for big brands. Any company, in any industry, can use a JTBD approach to strengthen market fit and spark business growth. And that’s where experienced partners like SIVO Insights can help.

Guiding Brands With JTBD-Informed Insights

At SIVO Insights, we believe that the most effective brand strategies are built on a foundation of real human understanding. That’s why our team helps brands leverage the Jobs To Be Done methodology as part of a broader research approach focused on clarity, relevance, and impact.

Whether you’re launching a new product, repositioning a brand, or refining your marketing strategy, SIVO uses qualitative and quantitative tools to uncover the consumer needs and motivations that really matter – and translate them into actionable direction for your team.

Our JTBD Approach in Practice

We work closely with clients to design research engagements that:

• Identify the real jobs customers are trying to accomplish across contexts
• Uncover the functional, emotional, and social motivations behind decisions
• Map unmet needs and opportunity spaces for brand strategy development
• Guide brand positioning, messaging, and innovation through a consumer-first lens

JTBD is often woven into our custom research projects, where we tailor our methods – whether interviews, journey mapping, segmentation studies, or quantitative surveys – to focus on the right questions that uncover customer jobs.

Bringing JTBD to Cross-Functional Teams

One of our priorities is making sure the insights we deliver are not just informative, but useful and energizing across your organization. Our teams translate JTBD research into clear frameworks, strategic storytelling, and design principles that marketers, product teams, and executives can rally around.

Our goal is to help clients move from “insight” to “action” – using a deeper view of customer needs to shape everything from positioning statements to campaign ideas to long-term brand development strategies.

Flexible Support, Built Around You

Whether you’re looking for a full-scale market research initiative or a faster, focused exploration of consumer needs, SIVO can scale to fit the challenge. Our Consumer Insights services can stand alone or integrate with our On Demand Talent bench to extend your team with seasoned brand, insights, and strategy experts.

In a world where brands compete for not just awareness but relevance, JTBD helps you stand out by showing up for what your audience actually needs. And we’re here to help you get there.