Refreshing brand positioning begins with a clear understanding of your customer – not just who they are demographically, but what they are trying to accomplish through your product or service. This is where the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework provides a critical advantage.

JTBD shifts the focus from what you're selling to why customers are “hiring” your brand to complete a specific task in their life. A job can be a simple function (e.g., quenching thirst), an emotional mission (e.g., feeling confident at work), or a broader goal (e.g., helping a child succeed). Recognizing these motivations gives you the insight needed to adjust your brand positioning so it speaks to real, often underserved, customer needs.

What is a 'Customer Job' in Market Research?

In marketing research, a customer job refers to the progress a person is trying to make in a given circumstance – using any solution available to them. It's not about your product features; it's about what the customer really wants to achieve. For example:

• A parent isn’t just buying healthy snacks – they're trying to provide nutrition they can feel good about, even on a busy day.
• A young professional isn’t just buying clothes – they’re trying to feel confident and express their identity at work.

When you understand the deeper job your customer is trying to get done, you can tailor your messaging, product offerings, and brand personality to fit that goal – making your positioning far more relevant and emotionally resonant.

Why Jobs Matter More Than Demographics

Traditional brand strategies often segment audiences by age, gender, or income. But these labels don’t explain what customers want or what drives them. JTBD allows you to group people based on their shared intent – whether two 30-year-olds or a 30-year-old and a 60-year-old have the same 'job' to accomplish, your brand can serve them with a unified message.

How JTBD Supports an Effective Brand Refresh

Companies turn to brand refreshes when they sense that something no longer clicks with their audience. Maybe your market has matured, a new competitor has emerged, or your customers' lives have simply changed. JTBD gives you a directional starting point to address these kinds of shifts.

By identifying evolving customer jobs, you can:

• Refocus brand purpose based on real-world needs
• Update messaging to speak more directly to the customer’s goals
• Refine your offerings to better match what people are trying to accomplish

This alignment not only keeps your brand relevant – it strengthens loyalty by demonstrating real empathy through your positioning strategy. At SIVO Insights, our consumer research helps uncover these types of nuanced behaviors, so brands don’t have to guess what people want. Instead, we help you see what people are really trying to get done – and how your brand can help them do it.

Brands with purpose outperform those without. But for that purpose to resonate, it must be grounded in the real-world needs of the customer. That’s where the Jobs to Be Done framework truly shines: it translates deep consumer insights into intentional brand strategy built around what matters most to people.

From Abstract Mission to Practical Purpose

Many brands develop purpose statements that sound inspiring but feel disconnected from actual customer experience. JTBD helps close that gap by rooting purpose in the everyday motivations your customers have – both functional and emotional.

For example, if your JTBD research reveals that your product is used by young professionals seeking peace of mind during busy weekdays, your brand purpose can reflect this emotional benefit – not just the utility of your offering. That clarity not only makes your purpose actionable for internal teams, but also more compelling for your audience.

Aligning Brand Messaging with Customer Needs

Once you know what jobs your consumers are trying to do, your messaging can evolve to reflect those goals. Rather than describing the specs of a product or its generic benefits, you can express your value proposition through the lens of the job it fulfills.

Here’s how using the JTBD framework can guide messaging decisions:

• Shift from “We sell software that organizes projects” to “We help teams reduce chaos and feel in control at work.”
• Instead of “All-natural ingredients,” say “Peace of mind for parents who want snacks that nourish and taste good.”

This subtle yet powerful reframing speaks directly to your audience’s lived experiences.

Using JTBD to Update Your Value Proposition

Your value proposition is the promise you make to your customers – why they should choose you. A brand refresh using JTBD can help ensure that promise matches what people actually care about.

This might mean rethinking not just what you say, but how you deliver your offerings. For instance, if your core customer job is about saving time, you might explore faster service models, simple onboarding, or clear packaging – not just better advertising.

Purpose that Scales Across Teams

One of the overlooked benefits of purpose-led branding with JTBD is internal alignment. When everyone in your organization understands the customer job you solve, decision-making becomes more focused across marketing, product development, and customer service. Teams can rally around a shared goal – helping the customer succeed.

At SIVO Insights, we see how truly transformative this clarity can be. Our JTBD-focused research identifies the real moments that matter to customers so brands can position their purpose as more than a statement – but a strategic advantage. In 2025 and beyond, it’s not just about standing out – it’s about standing for something your audience actually needs.

Strong brand messaging isn’t just about catchy slogans or well-designed campaigns – it’s about speaking directly to what your customers need and expect from you today. As market conditions change and consumer preferences shift, brand messaging needs to evolve to stay relevant. Using the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework offers a clear path to reframe your messaging through the lens of real-world customer goals and motivations.

Why evolving messaging matters

Many brands face a common issue: their messaging is based on how consumers used to use their product or service. But customer jobs – the tasks they're trying to get done – don’t stand still. Technology, lifestyle changes, and cultural shifts all affect your customer’s expectations. If your messaging doesn’t reflect these new realities, your communication might miss the mark.

Using JTBD to continuously listen to the “why” behind buyer behaviors helps you stay tuned into how your customers define value. And from there, you can simplify and update your messaging to reflect newfound insights.

How to refresh messaging using JTBD insights

Customer jobs help reveal the functional, emotional, and social drivers behind decisions. For example, imagine a furniture company that previously focused its marketing on comfort. If new JTBD research uncovers that customers are now buying based on ease of cleaning (hello, toddler life or pet-friendly living!), messaging should shift from “Feel at Home” to “Designed for Real Life.”

Here are simple ways to apply JTBD to guide your brand messaging:

• Clarify shifting needs: Ask, “What job is the customer hiring our brand to do now?”
• Translate jobs into benefits: Align your messaging with specific outcomes customers want to achieve, like peace of mind, confidence, or time saved.
• Reassess language tone and emotions: Make sure your tone resonates with the way your audience feels about the job they’re trying to accomplish.

Whether you're crafting taglines, social copy, or a campaign narrative, the JTBD lens keeps you aligned with evolving consumer insights while reinforcing a brand strategy that’s responsive to change.

Ultimately, brand messaging shaped by the JTBD framework doesn’t just explain what your product does – it connects with why people need it today, and why they’ll keep choosing your brand tomorrow.

Your value proposition is at the heart of your brand positioning – it defines the benefit you promise to deliver and the problem you solve better than anyone else. To stay meaningful, that promise has to evolve with your customer’s challenges. This is where the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework becomes essential.

What JTBD reveals about customer challenges

At its core, Jobs to Be Done in market research is about identifying the underlying problems your customers are trying to solve. These challenges can be emotional (“help me feel secure”), social (“help me look capable”), or functional (“help me do X more efficiently”). By using JTBD interviews or surveys, you gather actionable customer insights grounded in real-world use cases, not just hypothetical preferences.

For example, consider a fitness app. While the original positioning may be built around staying in shape, JTBD research might uncover that users are actually trying to feel emotionally resilient during stressful times. That deeper job changes the way you articulate your value – now you’re not just a fitness tracker, you’re a tool for mental well-being and daily motivation.

Why brands should revisit their value proposition

When brands rely on outdated understandings of their target audience, their value propositions lose impact. JTBD helps keep your brand rooted in relevance by focusing on:

• Contextual relevance: Are your product benefits aligned with today’s lifestyle challenges?
• Differentiation: Are you solving a job in a way that others aren’t or can’t?
• Customer-centricity: Does your value proposition reflect what they care about – not what you assume they want?

Using JTBD-driven consumer insights turns your value proposition into something personal, timely, and trustworthy. It aligns your offering with the challenges consumers are actually facing, and the successes they want to achieve.

Ultimately, aligning brand positioning with real-world customer needs isn’t just about staying on trend – it’s about deepening trust. And with the right research approach, trust becomes a powerful brand asset that drives long-term growth.

If you’re ready to refresh brand positioning using Jobs to Be Done, don’t worry – you don’t need to overhaul everything at once. JTBD fits naturally into any brand strategy process by offering a structured way to uncover meaningful, ongoing customer insights. Here's a simple, beginner-friendly process to guide your journey.

1. Start with foundational JTBD research

Begin by identifying your current customer segments and gathering insights on what jobs they hire your brand to do. Consider both qualitative and quantitative methods, such as:

• In-depth interviews to explore emotional and contextual motivations
• Surveys to validate which jobs matter most across larger audiences
• Field observations or diary studies to uncover unmet needs in real life

SIVO Insights, for example, combines qualitative depth with quantitative scale to surface the jobs that matter, helping your team move beyond assumptions.

2. Analyze key themes and identify dominant jobs

Look across your data for patterns: are certain jobs more common or more urgent? Are there segments with emerging needs your brand hasn’t yet addressed? Prioritize the jobs that most align with your brand’s purpose and growth goals.

3. Audit your current brand positioning

Next, assess how well your existing messaging, value proposition, and campaign content address the priority jobs. Where are the gaps? What messages no longer resonate in today’s market context?

4. Reframe your brand through the lens of customer jobs

Use your JTBD learnings to revise how you talk about your brand. Make your purpose more relevant by aligning with the outcomes your audience seeks. Update your tone, language, and emotional cues to reflect what your customers actually care about right now.

5. Activate new messaging across channels

Test your refreshed positioning in market – with prototypes, social content, or digital campaigns – and track feedback. The JTBD approach supports ongoing iteration, so you’re never guessing. Instead, you’re continuously refining based on real behavior and real people.

By applying these steps, your brand moves forward with confidence – and clarity.