SUUNTO – Insight, service design, internationalisation
Venturing into a new business area with the help of deep user insights from four markets
Venturing into a new business area with the help of deep user insights from four markets
SUUNTO – Insight, service design, internationalisation
The business target
Adventuring into the new
The pandemic has accelerated interest in outdoor sports, particularly cycling. Suunto, the adventurer’s favourite brand, identified gravel cycling as one of the genres with the biggest potential and recognised that it matches well with its adventurous branding. Suunto was also in the process of partnering up with Hammerhead, an inspirational cycling computer brand.
As the category was new to Suunto, there was a desire to understand this new consumer group at a deeper level in order to find new business opportunities for their future products. Our task was to identify the right target group, understand their needs, motives and barriers, and study future user needs.
Adventuring into the new
The pandemic has accelerated interest in outdoor sports, particularly cycling. Suunto, the adventurer’s favourite brand, identified gravel cycling as one of the genres with the biggest potential and recognised that it matches well with its adventurous branding. Suunto was also in the process of partnering up with Hammerhead, an inspirational cycling computer brand.
As the category was new to Suunto, there was a desire to understand this new consumer group at a deeper level in order to find new business opportunities for their future products. Our task was to identify the right target group, understand their needs, motives and barriers, and study future user needs.
How to achieve a holistic understanding of different types of gravel cyclists needs, motivations and values?
Gravel cycling, a cycling discipline described as riding a drop-bar bike on unpaved roads and trails, is a fast-evolving sport that is recognised as having promising business potential for Suunto. The needs of the gravel cyclists’ aren’t just physical – they’re holistic, including aspects of social and mental wellbeing and self-actualisation. This needed to be recognised in future business development.
We identified what could be a unique advantage and a set of key selling points that Suunto can offer as a new challenger in the cycling scene. We also recognised how Suunto can differentiate themselves by targeting a specific, growing user segment, whose needs are yet to be perfectly matched to what is available on the market.
How to achieve a holistic understanding of different types of gravel cyclists needs, motivations and values?
Gravel cycling, a cycling discipline described as riding a drop-bar bike on unpaved roads and trails, is a fast-evolving sport that is recognised as having promising business potential for Suunto. The needs of the gravel cyclists’ aren’t just physical – they’re holistic, including aspects of social and mental wellbeing and self-actualisation. This needed to be recognised in future business development.
We identified what could be a unique advantage and a set of key selling points that Suunto can offer as a new challenger in the cycling scene. We also recognised how Suunto can differentiate themselves by targeting a specific, growing user segment, whose needs are yet to be perfectly matched to what is available on the market.
The insight process in a nutshell
In order to develop products that are relevant now and in the future, we used a multi-method approach. By combining foresight, quantitative and qualitative research and service design methods, we gained a comprehensive understanding of gravel cyclists’ needs – today and tomorrow.
Kuudes Next Foresight Model
We dug deep into the genre and competitive landscape. We recognized the most relevant trends in the category using the Kuudes Next methodology.
Quantitative research
With 2000 consumers in 4 markets, the study included motive-based segmentation of the target group.
Qualitative research
A study with 17 interviewees from 10 different nationalities was conducted together with the Suunto team in order to get deep insight of underlying motivations.
Service design
Based on the research results, we created four gravel cycling personas and value proposition for each of them to understand what benefits Suunto could deliver for these target users.
“Our engagement with Kuudes was research-focused and I liked their holistic approach using foresight and qualitative and quantitative research to derive usable, easy-to-understand insights. Having a service designer on the team also helped turn these insights into actionable recommendations.”
– Hannah Lewis, Global Customer Immersion Lead, Suunto
From insights into concrete tools
To make sure that the research results didn’t end up as random insights that need interpretation, the information was crystallised into concrete tools. Gravel cycling personas, the behavioural archetypes of gravel cyclists, were designed based on the research results but they were also adjusted to support the strategic objectives of Suunto.
The personas, which should always be based on real insights, help to understand the emotional and behavioural triggers behind potential customers within a specific market. Finally, a value proposition for each persona was created to understand what benefits Suunto could deliver for certain kinds of target users, from both product and business perspectives. The personas and value propositions are useful tools to help the whole organisation empathise with current and potential new customers.
From insights into concrete tools
To make sure that the research results didn’t end up as random insights that need interpretation, the information was crystallised into concrete tools. Gravel cycling personas, the behavioural archetypes of gravel cyclists, were designed based on the research results but they were also adjusted to support the strategic objectives of Suunto.
The personas, which should always be based on real insights, help to understand the emotional and behavioural triggers behind potential customers within a specific market. Finally, a value proposition for each persona was created to understand what benefits Suunto could deliver for certain kinds of target users, from both product and business perspectives. The personas and value propositions are useful tools to help the whole organisation empathise with current and potential new customers.
Setting up for success
Our research enabled a common vision of the current and future state of gravel cycling and laid the groundwork for Suunto’s knowledge for insight-driven product development and helped them access a new area of business. By combining foresight, quantitative and qualitative research, service design and previous data, we gained a comprehensive understanding of gravel cyclists’ needs – now and in the future. Also, our close cooperation and fluent communication with the client played an important role in ensuring the success of the project.
As an outcome of the project, we identified the hygiene-level features that are needed, what makes Suunto recognisable in the category, and what would be their differentiating factors and positioning. We also made a recommendation about the potential target group.
We set Suunto up for a solid start in this new category, and with a deeper understanding of the end users in their back pockets, they boldly decided to take the leap and make an ambitious entrance. They made their collaboration with Hammerhead public and launched a global site for cycling that was developed based on our insights. The insight tools we developed are now used in various teams across the company to ensure that customer-centricity spreads throughout the organisation and is always the starting point of product development.
“I thoroughly enjoyed working with Kuudes. The team is incredibly knowledgeable and have in-depth expertise when it comes to understanding customer’s motivations and mindsets, and recommending how to tackle complex business design problems. The team members were a pleasure to work with. They were collaborative, had great communication, and they are nice, open-minded people to work with.”
– Hannah Lewis, Global Business Design Lead, Suunto
For more information:
Jari Danielsson
CEO, Kuudes Nordic
jari.danielsson@kuudes.com
+358 40 730 9612
