Segments with Soul
.Shifting the Focus:. From Data Points to Deep Human Understanding, at Scale
The rise of big data and highly targeted media has made behavioral and demographic metrics increasingly central to segmentation. Big data connects us to real behaviors, and demographics make people super findable.
But do these tools truly reveal why people make the choices they do?
Many of the segmentations I’ve encountered recently seem to be pushing people into rigid boxes, missing the deeper emotional and psychological drivers behind their decisions.
There is undeniable value in identifying consumers based on their actions, but have we tipped the scale too far—prioritizing what they do over why they do it?
“We’ve got our segments; we know who they are and which products they’re using. But we don’t really GET them – and I’m struggling to convince people to truly use them in their planning.”
– Subscription services client
Beyond the Brand
Segmentation is ultimately about understanding people.
While it must align with business objectives, are we limiting our potential by focusing too narrowly on category and brand perspectives from the onset? People don’t walk around thinking, "How can I consume this brand today?" They have aspirations, challenges, and real-world goals. Brands should aim to enable these.
Human values provide a powerful starting point. By understanding how people navigate their world, we can connect their higher-order motivations to category needs—ultimately explaining why they engage with specific brands.
A values-based approach allows us to build segments that truly click. It enables brands to engage more meaningfully, ensuring internal teams genuinely get who they are speaking to, designing for, and supporting.
Real People, Smarter Segments
Creating more human-centered segmentation starts with real conversations.
This isn’t rocket science, but the key is to move beyond surface-level goals and uncover the deeper motivations behind behavior. These insights then inform richer survey design and segmentation analysis.
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Have real conversations to uncover deeply relevant human truths
Design more human surveys covering two critical areas:
Values-Powered Category Motivations
Desired Brand Outcomes (specific to your offering)
Analysis shaped by both insights, resulting in Segments you can feel
Our Answer: Values-Based Segmentations
Example: Consider a social media platform launching a new service aimed at a highly engaged audience. Our challenge is to position various features effectively.
A traditional, “product first” segmentation framework might identify a key segment interested in posting themselves (let's call it 'Personal Advocacy')—leading the business to focus on offering routes toward self-promotion. But what if they’re only seeing part of the picture?
The risk of a product-driven approach is alienating users whose advocacy isn’t self-focused. A values-powered approach reveals that some users seek to raise the voices of others, not just their own. Understanding these motivations shifts how a business communicates and even influences product development.
.Why This Matters:. Segments that Stick
Brands that understand why people behave the way they do will foster deeper, more resonant connections, for longer.
A values-driven framework enhances marketing, product innovation, and customer experience design—helping businesses engage their audience in truly meaningful ways.
It's a challenge to start seeing survey respondents as people - after all, they show up as a collection of data points at first look. Engaging a Human Values framework can help bridge the gap, resulting in segments that you can feel and design better answers for. Because while culture fluctuates and behaviors shift quickly, values reflect deeper, underlying motivations that are more core to who people are.
Curious about how .human values. can transform your segments, or help you find new ones that strike a chord?
At One Minute to Midnight, we specialize in uncovering these profound insights that can elevate your brand and audience understanding to new heights.
Reach out to Krikor or Paul and discover how we can empower your brand to connect more meaningfully with your audience, drive greater happiness, and ultimately, achieve lasting success.
We have offices in New York City and London (and Singapore coming soon!) with deep partnerships in 30+ countries around the world. Drop us a line to learn more!
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