Let’s say the quiet part out loud.
Most companies have a shockingly weak understanding of their ideal customers.
Not vague. Not “room for improvement.” Weak.
And I don’t mean they lack data. They often have plenty of data.
What they lack is understanding.
I see this constantly—across operating companies, scale-ups, incumbents, even firms that pride themselves on being “customer-centric.” Ask a few basic questions and the cracks show immediately.
Who is your ideal customer, really? What is the best, most potential customer segment or segments for your brand and business? Why?
What outcome are they actually trying to achieve? What matters to them while they’re trying to achieve it? What are they trying to avoid? What frustrates them? What do they fear going wrong? Who do they want to become as a result?
Cue the silence. Or worse: generic personas, demographic fluff, and surface-level “needs” that every competitor could copy-paste.
Here’s the brutal rule of the market:
If you don’t understand your customer better than your competitors, your chances of satisfying them better are close to zero.
Most ICPs Are Defined at the Surface. That’s the Problem.
Most companies stop at who:
- company size
- industry
- job title
- age, income, geography
That’s not an ICP. That’s a mailing list.
When I ask companies about their ideal customer/consumer, I hear profiling like this. most of the time:
"Our ideal consumers are active women aged 25-45 who care about health. They like yoga and eat healthy." That's about it. Then they want to sell this "segment" food products, wellness services, functional beverages, subscriptions, or whatever.
This kind of understanding might work for media buyers who look for the right places to advertise, but it certainly does not uncover why these people choose.
An actual ICP lives at a deeper level.
Because people don’t choose based on who they are. They choose based on what they are trying to get done, how they want it done, and why it matters to them.
If you serve both buyers and end users (which many businesses do), the problem multiplies.
Retail buyer ≠ end consumer. Procurement ≠ daily user. Economic buyer ≠ emotional user.
Different outcomes. Different risks. Different definitions of “success.”
If you don’t understand both—and how they diverge—you’re designing products, experiences, and messaging that satisfy no one particularly well.
The Four Layers Most Companies Miss
To truly understand your ICP, you need to go beyond profiles and into choice logic.
We break it down like this:
1. WHO — The actor
Not just role or segment, but identity within context: Where they sit, what pressure they’re under, what success and failure look like in their world.
2. WHAT — The outcome
What are they really trying to achieve? Not “buy software” or “choose a supplier,” but the result they want in their life or business.
Outcomes can be:
- functional
- emotional
- social
- professional
- existential
Most are a combination.
3. HOW — The experience
This is the most neglected layer, yet the space where lots of innovation take place.
How do they want to go about achieving the outcome?
- Fast or thorough?
- Guided or autonomous?
- Low risk or high upside?
- Simple or sophisticated?
This is where pains and gains live:
- What frustrates them?
- What slows them down?
- What must not happen?
Two customers can want the same outcome—and choose entirely different brands based on how they want to get there.
For example, two brands offer the same outcome, but in totally different ways. You can fly London to New York in economy or first class. Same destination, very different experience.
4. WHY — The deeper motivation
This is where most companies stop asking questions far too early.
The why is rarely visible on the surface. You uncover it by asking “why?” repeatedly—until you hit something human:
- fear
- pride
- safety
- autonomy
- belonging
- competence
- control
This is where relevance is born. This is also where most great brands build their differentiation and stickiness, because when you deliver meaning, you matter.
Identity Transformation Is the Highest-Value Layer of All
There’s one more dimension most ICPs completely ignore:
Who does the customer aspire to become?
People don’t just buy outcomes. They buy identity progress.
- “A smarter leader” (The Economist)
- "An everyday athlete" (Nike)
- “A responsible buyer” (Patagonia)
- etc.
If you don’t understand the identity your customer is moving towards, you’re competing on features while someone else is competing on meaning.
And meaning wins.
Why This Matters More Than Ever
We’re in a choice-saturated economy.
Customers don’t lack options. They lack clarity. And clarity only comes from brands that get them—deeply, precisely, uncomfortably well.
That level of understanding feeds everything:
- strategy
- innovation
- positioning
- brand
- messaging
- sales
- pricing power
Without it, you’re guessing. With it, you’re designing choice.
Data Isn’t the Problem. Interpretation Is.
This is where many organizations get defensive.
“We have surveys.” “We have dashboards.” “We have personas.”
Good. That doesn’t mean you understand your customer.
Understanding can come from great triangulation:
- qualitative insight
- behavioral signals
- cultural context
- category dynamics
AI can help accelerate this. Customer interviews can deepen it. But tools don’t replace thinking.
Insight isn’t collected. It’s constructed.
A Simple Question for Leaders
Here’s the test I leave leaders with:
Do you understand your ICP so well that you could predict their choices better than anyone else in your category?
If not, ask yourself:
- How will you out-innovate them?
- How will you out-position them?
- How will you out-market them?
- How will you justify a premium?
You won’t.
Because in a choice-driven market, relevance isn’t a slogan. It’s earned through understanding.
And the brands that understand best don’t just compete.
They become the most relevant choice.
Tobias
Interested in developing a richer understanding of your ideal customers and using these insight to drive choice-led growth? Email us at hello[at]originalminds.co
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