Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) is a consumer-centric framework that helps businesses understand the underlying motivations behind why people choose products or services. Rather than categorizing customers only by demographics, JTBD looks at the functional, emotional, and social 'jobs' that consumers are trying to accomplish in a given context.

Put simply, people don’t buy a product just to own it – they ‘hire’ it to perform a specific job in their lives.

In the CPG space, this approach can be a powerful lens for evaluating brand extension opportunities. Imagine developing new flavors for a snack brand. Traditional methods might involve scanning emerging food and beverage trends or competitor moves. But JTBD starts with a different question: What job is the consumer trying to get done when they reach for a snack at 3 p.m.?

How JTBD Reframes Product Development in CPG

When applied to CPG strategy, JTBD can inform everything from product innovation to packaging format. It asks:

• What are consumers really trying to achieve in their moments of use?
• What pain points or unmet needs exist in their current routines?
• What adjacent jobs could we fulfill that align naturally with our brand?

For example, a fictional sparkling water brand might identify two distinct jobs its current consumers want to satisfy: ‘elevate a daily hydration ritual’ and ‘replace high-sugar soda with a flavorful alternative.’ Each job could guide different brand extension paths – such as a premium botanical line for the first job or a more intense flavor profile targeting soda-switchers for the latter.

The Role of Market Research in JTBD Discovery

Discovering the right jobs requires robust consumer research. SIVO’s market research strategies – including qualitative interviews, ethnographies, and usage diaries – are often used to uncover the motivations, frustrations, and contextual drivers behind behavior. These methods help clarify the "why" behind purchase decisions and uncover jobs consumers might not even articulate directly.

When new brand extension ideas are evaluated through a jobs lens, product teams can better prioritize those that align with authentic use cases and reinforce the brand's core promise. This leads to stronger brand growth, higher trial and repeat rates, and more meaningful consumer relationships.

In short, applying the Jobs to Be Done framework isn't just an academic exercise – it's a practical tool for building brand extensions that serve a real purpose and drive long-term value.

Today's CPG landscape is saturated with trend talk. From adaptogenic ingredients to keto-friendly claims, food and beverage trends move at lightning speed. While tuning into these movements can surface new ideas, relying too heavily on them for brand extension decisions can be risky – or even misleading.

Trends offer clues about what's gaining attention, but they rarely explain why consumers care. That’s where Jobs to Be Done delivers real differentiation – by grounding innovation in the persistent needs and emotions that influence buying behavior over time.

The Limits of Trend-Driven Extensions

When a CPG brand extends into a trend without understanding the underlying job, it can lose relevancy. A brand known for family-friendly meals might fumble when launching a line of protein-packed smoothies because it’s chasing a high-protein trend – not fulfilling the job its consumers associate with the brand.

Consider this fictional example: A legacy cereal brand jumps on a plant-based trend and releases a health drink. The product launches with significant marketing support but struggles to gain traction. The issue? Consumers don’t trust the brand for on-the-go nutrition – they trust it for comfort and routine. The extension fulfilled a trend but ignored the brand’s core job in people’s everyday mornings.

How JTBD Anchors Trends in Context

JTBD doesn't suggest abandoning trends – instead, it puts them in context. This framework helps brands:

• Separate signal from noise: Is this a trend aligned with a long-standing job, or just a short-term fascination?
• Apply trends with relevance: How could this trend help our brand serve our consumers better?
• Evaluate fit: Does this trend-based extension make sense for the job consumers already ‘hire' us to do?

For instance, if research reveals consumers buy a certain protein bar for the job of “satisfying hunger on a packed schedule,” then adding a bite-sized, format-flexible innovation makes more sense than veering into plant-based candy. The decision aligns with both the job and potentially supports a relevant trend – say, portion control or portability.

Making Strategic Choices for CPG Innovation

Using Jobs to Be Done doesn’t mean eliminating creativity – it means channeling creative energy into brand extensions that are both feasible and fit-for-purpose. When market research reveals the hidden drivers behind consumer behavior, CPG brands can connect trending ideas with real needs. That’s the difference between following a food movement and leading with intentionality.

In volatile categories where shelf space is limited and attention spans are short, JTBD helps brands innovate with purpose – identifying brand extension strategies grounded in insight, not just instinct.

Connecting the Dots Between Core and Adjacent Jobs

In the context of CPG innovation, “adjacent jobs” refer to related needs or tasks that aren’t currently addressed by your core product offering – but closely connect to why customers are buying from you in the first place. Identifying these jobs can spotlight powerful opportunities for brand extensions, especially in the form of new flavors, formats, or usage occasions.

The key is to step beyond the traditional demographics and into the context of use. When consumers buy your food, beverage, or household item, what larger job are they hiring it to do? And what unmet needs (or low-satisfaction alternatives) exist around that?

3 Key Ways to Uncover Adjacent Jobs

• Conduct in-context interviews: Sit with consumers in their environment as they use the product to ask what they were trying to accomplish – not just what they liked or disliked. Uncovering emotional or functional unmet needs often reveals expansion paths.
• Map the consumption journey: Break down how the product is discovered, purchased, used, and talked about. Look for friction points or workarounds – these often represent adjacent jobs a new format or flavor could serve better.
• Segment by job, not just demographic: Two consumers with different backgrounds may hire your product for the same underlying job. Conversely, the same consumer may need different solutions in different contexts or moments.

For example, a protein bar brand may discover that beyond “nutritious snacking,” a growing number of their customers are using it to “stay full during long commutes.” This adjacent job could open the door for a new on-the-go format or savory flavor better suited to early morning consumption.

By mapping out these adjacent jobs, CPG brands can generate ideas grounded in real consumer behavior – rather than chasing novelty. It becomes less about guessing what might taste good, and more about asking: What job does this extension help people complete more effectively?

Aligning your CPG brand strategy with adjacent jobs is a practical way to guide product development proposals that feel intuitive to shoppers and are supported by real-world motivations.

Applying JTBD to a Fictional CPG Brand: A Yogurt Example

To see how the Jobs to Be Done framework can guide brand extension strategy in practice, let’s walk through a fictional example based on a popular yogurt brand.

Step 1: Define the core job

Customers buy the current yogurt product primarily to “eat a quick, healthy breakfast.” That’s the main job the core product helps complete today – a simple, nutritious, and portable morning meal.

Step 2: Discover adjacent jobs

Through qualitative research and in-home usage studies, the brand identifies adjacent jobs the same consumers are trying to complete, such as:

• “Satisfy an afternoon craving without guilt”
• “Pack a snack that my kids will actually eat at school”
• “Get protein after a morning workout without cooking”

Step 3: Explore friction in current options

Consumers shared that fruit yogurts felt too sweet post-workout or that current packaging made it hard to pack in lunches. These pain points signal product opportunities.

Step 4: Generate extension ideas

Ideas aligned with adjacent jobs included:

• Launching a high-protein, non-dairy line aimed at post-workout refueling
• Introducing pouch-style yogurt with wholesome ingredients for kids’ lunchboxes
• Rolling out savory yogurt dips that answer afternoon snacking with better nutrition

Step 5: Prioritize based on job importance and underserved-ness

Using quant research, the team ranked which jobs were most important and least well-satisfied by current options. The kid-friendly packaging emerged as the most underserved, helping guide which brand extension to invest in first.

This fictional yogurt brand’s process shows how you can move from insight to action using Jobs to Be Done. Rather than jumping on trends or guessing what flavor might be next, the team used consumer needs to validate and prioritize new directions.

Within the broader CPG brand strategy landscape, JTBD serves as a map that helps brands avoid detours and dead ends – allowing for more focused, successful product innovation.

Moving Beyond Assumptions with Reliable Insights

Developing meaningful brand extensions in the CPG space requires more than a gut feel. To make sure you're solving the right problem – and not introducing a solution in search of one – it’s essential to validate the jobs you're pursuing with research rooted in how people actually live, think, and choose.

By anchoring brand growth initiatives in market research, CPG teams can distill real, tangible consumer needs into actionable product development strategies. This gives you confidence that your ideas will resonate before you invest in them.

How Research Brings JTBD to Life

• Qualitative research uncovers the “why”: Through individual interviews, in-home ethnography, or shop-alongs, researchers explore the motivations and behaviors tied to specific jobs. This uncovers emotional drivers and contextual nuances that traditional surveys may miss.
• Quantitative research validates the “how many”: Once key jobs are identified, surveys help measure how widespread and important each job is – along with how well existing products are meeting them. This helps prioritize the most promising opportunities.
• Concept testing gauges fit: Paired with JTBD insights, new flavor or format concepts can be tested with specific job segments to assess perceived relevance and uniqueness – limiting risk before scaling innovation.

Let’s say a beverage company thinks “help me reset after energy crashes” is an adjacent job worth pursuing. A mix of focus groups and digital surveys can confirm how many people experience this need, what they’re using today, and how dissatisfied they are with current options. If gaps emerge, this signals a green light to prototype a new solution.

SIVO’s approach ensures this entire process remains grounded in the human experience. We help brands make sense of complex signals by combining empathy-driven discovery with data-backed clarity. Whether exploring flavors, formats, or entirely new categories, the goal is the same: design brand extensions that serve real people – not abstract ideas.

As CPG innovation accelerates, JTBD anchored in research will remain an essential strategy for launching products that feel intuitive, targeted, and welcome in consumers’ lives.