Attract New Customers Without Alienating Your Old Ones

为应对巨大的增长压力，许多公司都会寻求新的客户类别，而更广泛的客户群似乎总会对业务有利，因为更多的买家意味着更高的收入和更大的市场份额。例如，The North Face在2010年代就遵循这一增长路径，大力发展街头服饰，以吸引传统户外爱好者之外的 “城市探险家”。增加了这一新客户群体后，公司的收入从2015年的23亿美元增加到了2024年的36亿美元。

In response to the intense pressure to grow, many companies seek new kinds of customers. A broader customer base seems as if it should always be good for business: More buyers mean more revenue and higher market share. The North Face followed this path to growth in the 2010s, for example, when it leaned heavily into streetwear to attract “urban explorers” alongside its traditional outdoor enthusiasts. After the company added the new customer segment, its revenue rose from $2.3 billion in 2015 to $3.6 billion in 2024.

然而，开发新的客户群体并不总能带来增长。当新客户的需求、价值观、偏好或身份与现有客户不同时，许多公司就会遇到严峻挑战。有时这种做法甚至会适得其反，因为品牌不仅无法赢得新客户的青睐，还会导致现有客户的流失。品牌的努力非但没有扩大业务，反而损害了自身形象，导致了客户抵制、股价下跌，以及收入减少。

But targeting a new segment doesn’t always result in growth. Many companies experience serious challenges when the new customers have needs, values, preferences, or identities that differ from those of their current customers. Occasionally, it even backfires spectacularly as brands not only fail to win over the new buyers but also drive off their current ones. Instead of expanding the business, their efforts damage their image and lead to customer boycotts, dips in stock price, and reduced revenue.

例如，在2010年代，Kohl’s旗下的百货公司就试图通过减少自有品牌服装的陈列来节省空间，用以增加高端品牌（如丝芙兰和Babies“R” Us）的店面，吸引对价格不敏感的年轻客户。不幸的是，Kohl’s这一通过自我改变来吸引假想新顾客的举动，却让自己对可靠的老顾客的吸引力大打折扣：这家连锁店的忠实顾客对此非常不满，因为他们想要的低价商品被削减掉，让位给了他们不想要的高价商品。从2018年到2025年，公司收入下降了20%，股价暴跌了89%。2021年到2024年间，Kohl’s更换了两任CEO。

Kohl’s, for example, tried to lure younger and less-price-sensitive customers to its department stores in the 2010s by giving more floor space to relatively expensive merchandise from brands like Sephora and Babies “R” Us, shrinking its selection of store-branded clothing to make room. Unfortunately, by changing itself to appeal to hypothetical new customers, Kohl’s made itself less appealing to its dependable old ones: The chain’s loyalists weren’t happy that the low-priced items they wanted had been trimmed to make way for higher-priced things they didn’t. From 2018 to 2025 the company’s revenue fell by 20%, and its stock price plummeted by 89%. From 2021 to 2024 Kohl’s changed its CEO twice.

Landsl’End、Etsy、丝芙兰、百威淡啤、WeightWatchers 和星巴克等品牌也都曾因试图吸引新客户而遭遇反弹。其中一些品牌成功挽回了传统顾客的青睐，另一些品牌则显然未能如愿。不过贯穿其中的故事是相同的：任何时候，当一个品牌通过或试图通过吸引新客户来实现增长时，都有可能导致与现有客户群体发生冲突。而品牌规模越大，其客户群体就会变得愈发多元，出现关系紧张的可能性也就越高。

Lands’ End, Etsy, Sephora, Bud Light, WeightWatchers, and Starbucks are also among the brands that have faced a backlash after attempts to woo new customers. Some of them were able to successfully manage their way back into the good graces of their traditional customers while others proved decidedly less successful. But the overarching story is the same: Anytime a brand grows—or tries to grow—by attracting new segments, it risks creating conflict with the old ones. And the larger a brand gets, the more heterogeneous its customers will become, increasing the likelihood that tensions will arise.

想要避免这一问题，或在问题真正出现时能够解决它，就必须更加深入地了解客户群体间的关系。

Avoiding that problem—or solving it when it does emerge—requires a deeper understanding of the relationships between customer segments.

在学术研究、案例研究，以及与各行业品牌的咨询工作中，我们发现客户群体之间存在着四种基本关系。我们将在本文介绍这些关系的类型、展示冲突是如何以可预见的方式产生，并阐述如何识别和消除这些冲突。无论你的公司是在主动寻求避免冲突，还是已经深陷其中需要摆脱困境，这些策略都能奏效。

In our academic research, case studies, and consulting work with brands across diverse industries, we’ve discovered that there are four basic ways that customer segments relate to each other. In this article we’ll introduce these types of relationships, show how conflict arises from them in predictable ways, and then describe how to identify and eliminate that conflict. These tactics work whether your company is proactively seeking to avoid clashes or is already waist-deep in them and needs a way out of the morass.

客户群体间的关联方式

How Customer Segments Relate

两个关键因素决定了客户群体间关系的性质：首先，每个客户群体从品牌中寻求的价值是独特且独立的（我们称之为差异性价值），还是取决于其他客户群体对品牌的使用（我们称之为协作性价值）？例如，购买Timberland靴子用于蓝领工作的顾客和在城市街头用它们搭配新潮牛仔裤的顾客，追求的就是不同的价值。相比之下，eBay的买家和卖家群体获得的则是协作性价值，因为平台对每个群体的价值都会随着另一群体使用的增加而上升。

Two key factors govern the nature of the relationship between segments. The first is whether the value each segment seeks from the brand is unique and independent (what we call divergent value) or depends on the use of the brand by another segment (what we call collaborative value). Customers who buy Timberland boots to wear to their blue-collar jobs, for example, and customers who stylishly pair them with fashionable jeans to wear on city streets are seeking divergent value. In contrast, eBay’s buyer and seller segments get collaborative value because the platform becomes worth more to each segment the more the other uses it.

其次，客户群体对其他类型客户的敏感度。有些群体并不在意这些：使用John Deere拖拉机从事繁重农活的人，并不关心购买同品牌割草机的市郊客户。但是有些品牌的用户则会互相影响，或是正面，或是负面。Beats头戴式耳机因为许多音乐人和运动员的佩戴而流行起来，而巴宝莉与“chav”（反社会的工人阶级青年）文化的联系却让高端顾客望而却步。当该品牌新的格纹设计受到足球流氓和肥皂剧明星的追捧时，写过巴宝莉历史的作者西亚恩·韦斯顿（Siân Weston）对此写道：“它囊括了关于该品牌的所有糟糕的东西，或者说是‘错误的人群’在购买该品牌。”

The second factor is the sensitivity of the segments to other types of customers. Some are indifferent: People who use John Deere tractors for heavy-duty farm chores are unfazed by the suburbanites who buy lawn mowers. But some brand users are influenced by each other—for good or ill. Beats headphones became popular among the masses because many musicians and athletes were seen wearing them. The association of Burberry with “chav” (antisocial, working-class youth) culture, however, turned off its posh customers. When the brand’s nova check design became popular with football hooligans and soap stars, “it encapsulated everything that was bad about the brand or ‘the wrong people’ buying the brand,” Siân Weston, the author of a history of Burberry, wrote.

这两个因素的四种组合方式形成了我们框架中的基本关系类型：独立群体（差异性和漠不关心）、关联群体（协作性和漠不关心）、引领—追随群体（协作性和相互影响），以及不相容群体（差异性和相互影响）(参阅图表“客户群体间的四种关系”）。

These two factors combine in four ways to create the basic relationship types in our framework: separate communities (divergent and indifferent), connected communities (collaborative and indifferent), incompatible segments (divergent and influenced), and leader-follower segments (collaborative and influenced). (See the exhibit “The Four Types of Relationships Between Customer Segments.”)

虽然大部分冲突会出现在不相容群体象限中，但对其他三种关系类型的理解也很重要，因为它们为品牌提供了在没有冲突的情况下，通过增加新客户群体实现增长的机会。理解客户群体间的关系可以帮你做出关键决策，比如下个目标是哪个客户群体，以及哪些产品和服务会使增长的风险最小化，并最具可持续性。

While most of the conflict emerges in the incompatible segments quadrant, it’s important to understand the other three relationship types as well because they offer opportunities for brands to grow by adding new segments without conflict. Understanding how segments relate to each other will help you make key decisions such as which segment to target next and which products and services will make growth least risky and most sustainable.

独立群体关系。这些客户群体对品牌及其产品所看重的点各不相同，每个客户群体都可以在不影响其他客户群体的前提下寻求自身价值。以耐克为例：跑步爱好者需要精英田径明星上脚的创新跑鞋，以及可以用来记录跑步和辅助比赛训练的应用程序；与此同时，篮球爱好者想要的则是篮球鞋，以及在广告里看到凯特林·克拉克和勒布朗·詹姆斯这样的人出现。跑步爱好者购买耐克的Alphafly跑鞋并不会影响篮球爱好者购买乔丹篮球鞋。无论公司是否在耐克品牌旗下为其他运动提供了独有的产品、体验、数字资产、广告或明星代言人，耐克的消费者都能从该品牌中获得想要的价值。

Separate communities. These segments value disparate things in a brand and its offerings, and each can seek its respective value without stepping on the toes of the other. Take Nike: Its segment of runners wants innovative running shoes worn by elite track stars and apps that can be used to log runs and facilitate race training. Meanwhile, the basketball segment wants basketball footwear and to see people like Caitlin Clark and LeBron James in the brand’s ads. The fact that runners buy Nike Alphafly shoes doesn’t affect basketball players shopping for Jordans; Nike customers get the value they want from the brand regardless of whether it offers products, experiences, digital assets, advertisements, or celebrity endorsers unique to other sports under the Nike umbrella.

建立在独立群体基础上的发展战略具有区隔化优势：由于每个客户群体自成一体，对其他客户群体的影响微乎其微，所以品牌只需以连续的方式去独立争取每个新的客户群体，就能简单实现增长。不过缺点在于这种增长方式的成本相对较高，因为尽管不一定需要自己的产品线，但是每个客户群体都需要特有的营销策略，并且每个群体之外的有机增长潜力有限。例如，耐克在开发一个新的运动市场时，通常会投入大量资源和人才，开发针对该运动的专属产品和营销方法，一般包括专有的沟通策略和新的分销渠道。

A growth strategy built on separate communities has the advantage of compartmentalization: Brands can grow simply by courting each new segment independently, in a serial fashion, since each is self-contained and has minimal influence on the others. The disadvantage is that growing in this way can be relatively costly, since each segment requires its own marketing mix (though not necessarily its own product line), and the potential for organic growth beyond each community is limited. When Nike targets a new sport, for example, it typically invests significant resources and talent in developing sport-specific offerings and marketing approaches, which often include unique communication tactics and new distribution channels.

关联群体关系。在这种关系中，即便新增客户来自其他客户群体，随着越来越多的客户使用该品牌，品牌的价值也会随之提升。像Instagram这样的社交媒体平台，领英和eBay这样的双边市场，以及Venmo和Microsoft Windows这样的共享平台，都有具有关联关系的客户群体，比如各种类型的用户都会使用领英求职、招聘、建立关系网、炫耀和分享观点。随着越来越多的用户加入，由于网络效应，平台为所有客户群体提供的价值也会增加，不过每个客户群体中的用户并不关心其他用户的身份。

Connected communities. In this type of relationship, the brand becomes more valuable as more customers use it, even when those additional users come from other segments. Social media platforms like Instagram, two-sided markets like LinkedIn and eBay, and shared platforms like Venmo and Microsoft Windows all have segments that relate as connected communities. For example, various kinds of customers use LinkedIn to job hunt, to recruit, to network, to brag, and to share opinions. Because of network effects, the value the platform provides to all those segments increases as more people join it, but the customers in each segment are indifferent to who those other people are.

随着用户吸引了更多用户，关联群体关系也为品牌提供了成倍增长的机会。但当一个或多个客户群体开始抛弃品牌时，也可能会导致品牌的灾难性崩溃。2013年，视频分享平台Vine在发布4个月之内就成为全球增长最快的应用，拥有超过2亿用户。然而它的消亡也同样迅速。当头部内容制作者（一个关键客户群体）开始离开Vine并转向其他更有利可图的平台时，Vine的许多广告买家（另一个关键客户群体）也随之离开。2016年初，公司的增长速度开始放缓，到了7月，Vine有一半的创作者要么删除了账户，要么停更。到了当年10月，Vine的母公司 Twitter 便宣布将其关闭。

Connected community relationships offer brands the opportunity to multiply their growth as users attract more users. But they can also lead to catastrophic collapse when one or more segments start abandoning the brand. Within four months of its launch, in 2013, the video-sharing platform Vine had become the fastest-growing app in the world, with more than 200 million users. But its demise was fast as well. When the top content producers (one key segment) started leaving the network for more-lucrative platforms, many of Vine’s ad buyers (another key segment) left as well. Growth began to slow in early 2016, and by July half of Vine’s creators had either deleted their accounts or stopped posting. By October the company’s parent, Twitter, announced that Vine would be shut down.

引领—追随群体关系。这种关系是等级化的。无论是因为他们更酷、更专业或是更真实，引领者群体的地位都高于追随者群体。然而，引领者群体的体量并不一定会更大，有时追随者群体的数量和消费能力都会远超引领者群体。引领者群体在使用某个品牌的产品时，就会吸引那些想模仿他们的人。引领—追随战略是一种高性价比获取多个细分市场的方式：当引领者群体成为顾客时，追随者群体往往会自行找到品牌。引领者群体也可以证明品牌的可信度、质量、时尚性或知名度。例如，许多家庭厨师都会因为法国酷彩（Le Creuset）与专业厨师的关联而购买该品牌的厨具。

Leader-follower segments. This relationship is hierarchical. Leader segments have higher status than follower segments—whether they’re cooler, more expert, or more authentic. (They don’t need to be more numerous, however. Sometimes the follower segment vastly outnumbers and outspends the leader segment.) When leaders use a brand’s offerings, it attracts people who want to emulate them. A leader-follower strategy can be a cost-efficient way to acquire multiple segments: When leaders become customers, followers often find their own way to the brand. Leaders can serve as evidence of a brand’s credibility, quality, trendiness, or cachet. For example, many home chefs seek out the cookware brand Le Creuset because of its association with professional chefs.

虽然引领者群体可以包括付费邀请的达人，但它不能完全由受雇于品牌的代言人所组成。想要有效，其中必须包括对品牌表现出偏好或忠诚度的真实消费者。丰田在推出普锐斯时，驾驶该车的名人尽管只是一个小众群体，也都是丰田的实际客户，丰田公司并没有把普锐斯白送给每个有情景喜剧合同的人，所有拍到普锐斯的小报照片都让这款外形奇特的小型混合动力车在其他潜在客户眼中多了几分酷炫感。

While a leader segment can include paid influencers, it cannot be made up exclusively of endorsers bought by the brand. To be effective it must include real consumers who demonstrate an authentic preference for or loyalty to the brand. When the Prius launched, the celebrities who drove the cars were an actual customer segment for Toyota, if a small one—the company wasn’t handing out cars to everyone with a sitcom contract. All those tabloid photos that included a Prius made the odd-looking little hybrid slightly cooler to other potential customers.

引领—追随者战略的风险在于，引领者群体可能会放弃品牌，追随者往往会紧随其后。因此，当品牌服务于引领—追随者群体时，关键是要保持与引领者群体的关联，而不是过于关注追随者。然而品牌往往会把注意力转移到追随者群体上，因为他们比引领者群体人数更多，或能带来更高收入。但这种做法可能会让品牌最终失去引领者和追随者的欢心。

The risk with a leader-follower strategy is that a leader segment could abandon the brand, since followers tend to go out the door right after them. Consequently, when brands serve leader-follower segments, it’s crucial that they maintain their association with the leader segment and not become too focused on followers. Often brands shift their attention to the followers because they’re more numerous or bring in more revenue than leaders do. But that approach could end up repelling both leaders and followers.

例如，Carhartt成为一个时尚品牌后，一直都在用心保持对蓝领工人这一核心引领者群体的关注，并继续以他们为目标进行营销，这样，包含大学生、户外运动爱好者和想让自己看起来更亲民的名人等在内的追随者群体都能从Carhartt带来的纯粹感中获益。如果Carhartt开始生产低质量的快时尚服装，或在品牌传播中更多地突出时尚导向的客户群体 ，就有可能会疏远蓝领客户，从而威胁到品牌在这两个群体中的增长。

For example, as Carhartt has become a fashion brand, it has been careful to keep its focus on the blue-collar workers who form the core of its leader segment, continuing to target its marketing to them so that the follower segments of college kids, outdoor enthusiasts, and celebrities trying to look more relatable all benefit from Carhartt’s perceived authenticity. If Carhartt started producing low-quality, fast-fashion garments or featuring its fashion segment more heavily in brand communications, it would risk turning off its blue-collar customers, potentially threatening its growth in both segments.

不相容群体关系。这是最容易发生冲突的关系。不相容群体会从品牌产品中获得不同类型的价值，但是由于它们相互影响，因此无法和谐共存，就像Kohl's的核心顾客群体和它希望吸引的更富裕的新客户群体那样。客户群体间的冲突会对品牌造成严重破坏，品牌应避免试图服务互不相容的客户群体。

Incompatible segments. This is the relationship most prone to conflict. Incompatible segments derive different kinds of value from a brand’s offerings, but because they influence each other, they’re unable to comfortably coexist—like the core customers of Kohl’s and the new, more affluent segment it desired. Intersegment conflict wreaks havoc on brands. Brands should steer clear of trying to serve customer segments that are incompatible.

群体冲突的来源

Sources of Segment Tensions

要避免或解决冲突，战略制定者和品牌经理们必须首先了解冲突的根源，然后才能选择出最合适的方案（了解业务的脆弱程度也会有所帮助，参见边栏“评估客户群体冲突的风险”）。

To avoid or resolve a conflict, strategists and brand managers must first understand where it comes from. Then they can choose the solution that best addresses the problem. (It can also help to understand how vulnerable your business is—see the sidebar “Assessing the Risks of Segment Conflict.”)

功能冲突。当一个客户群体妨碍了另一个客户群体享受品牌的产品或服务时，就会发生这种冲突。下面以星巴克为例，它在发展史上曾多次经历过这种冲突。

Functional conflict. This occurs when one customer segment impedes another segment’s ability to enjoy a brand’s products or services. Take Starbucks, which has grappled with functional conflict many times during its history.

这家咖啡连锁店最初吸引了一大批喜欢它营造的轻松“第三空间”氛围的客户。星巴克咖啡店是人们放松身心、阅读报纸、发送电子邮件，或与朋友聊聊近况的好去处。但是，随着星巴克零售店覆盖到更多地方，它开始吸引到大量不同类型的顾客：上班族希望有一个方便快速买杯咖啡的地方，不会在手工调制饮品上多花时间。上班族会与第三空间的使用者发生冲突，因为他们在根本上寻求的是不同的体验。匆忙进出的通勤者排起长队，使咖啡店对第三空间的使用者不再具有吸引力；反过来看，太多顾客不慌不忙点上制作复杂的特色饮品时，不仅拖慢了排队进度，也让其他顾客在店外更难找到停车位。每个群体都妨碍了另一个群体获得想要的功能性收益（我们将在“避免与解决冲突”部分讨论星巴克找到的解决方案）。

The coffee chain initially attracted a large segment of customers who valued its relaxed “third place” atmosphere. Its shops were a place to unwind, read a newspaper, send a few emails, or catch up with a friend. But as its retail footprint increased, Starbucks began to attract large numbers of a different kind of customer: commuters who wanted a convenient place to grab a quick coffee rather than somewhere to linger over a handcrafted beverage. The commuters and the “third placers” clashed because they sought fundamentally different experiences. Long lines of impatient on-the-go customers rushing to get in and out made the coffee shops uninviting for third placers. And conversely, too many customers ordering complicated specialty drinks in no hurry at all slowed down the lines and made it harder to find a place to park outside stores. Each segment hindered the ability of the other to get the functional benefits it sought. (We’ll get to the solutions Starbucks came up with in the next section.)

品牌形象冲突。人们购买一个品牌的产品不只是为了实用，品牌形象也是价值和自我表达的来源。当一个品牌吸引了新的客户群体，或在试图吸引新群体而做出改变时，就可能会威胁到其他客户对品牌纯粹感、可信度或品牌宗旨的认可。

Brand-image conflict. People buy a brand’s offerings for more than just their utility; the brand’s image also is a source of value and self-expression. When a brand attracts a new segment or makes changes to try to do so, it can threaten the authenticity, credibility, or purpose of the brand for other customers.

20世纪90年代，蒂芙尼价格相对便宜的银饰开始在年轻、不太富裕的消费者中流行起来，公司因此遭遇了品牌形象冲突。虽然手镯、吊饰和项链的销售为公司带来了可观收入，但其较低的价格和蜂拥而至的买家，威胁到了蒂芙尼在其核心客户群体心中高端专属的形象。如果成为高中情侣互送银饰的首选，蒂芙尼还能继续成为富人客户心中优雅、奢华和精致的象征吗？蒂芙尼最终决定提高银饰价格、推出更昂贵的银饰系列，用行动给出了否定回答。

Tiffany & Co. faced a brand-image conflict when its relatively less expensive silver jewelry became popular among younger, less affluent consumers in the 1990s. While sales of the bracelets, charms, and necklaces drove significant revenue for the company, their lower prices and flocks of buyers threatened Tiffany’s exclusive, high-end image for its core customers. If Tiffany became known as the go-to brand for gifts of silver baubles by high school sweethearts, could it still serve as a mark of elegance, extravagance, and sophistication for its wealthy customers? Its ultimate decision to raise prices on silver jewelry and introduce more-expensive collections suggests it thought not.

用户身份冲突。品牌经常会与特定的用户群体关联在一起。有时这是因为品牌的功能属性，就像创意人士因为苹果产品出色的设计工具而对其青睐有加；有时则是出于更具象征意义的原因，例如大量时髦人士开始饮用蓝带啤酒，以彰显他们恪守本真。一旦这些关联建立起来，品牌往往就会成为消费者对某些身份认同（或不认同）的象征。想表明自己对单板滑雪感兴趣的人会穿着Burton，而不是始祖鸟；想表明自己是真正的户外运动爱好者的人则会使用Yeti保温箱，而不是Igloo。

User-identity conflict. Brands frequently become associated with specific groups of users. Sometimes this happens because of a brand’s functional properties—as it did with creatives who gravitated toward Apple products because of their superior design tools. Sometimes it happens for more-symbolic reasons, such as when a large number of hipsters started drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon beer to signal their authenticity. Once these associations are established, brands often become symbols of consumers’ identification (or nonidentification) with certain groups. If people want to signal their interest in snowboarding, they wear Burton rather than Arc’teryx. If they want to show that they’re real outdoorspeople, they use Yeti coolers rather than Igloo.

当一个客户群体因为另一客户群体与品牌联系到一起，而认为自己无法再通过使用该品牌来有力表明自己属于某一身份时，就会产生用户身份冲突。以滑板品牌Supreme为例，品牌真正的起飞始于它开始吸引到时尚的街头服饰爱好者。为了让自己对新客户群体更具吸引力，Supreme开始与路易威登和 Rimowa 等奢侈品牌合作。但是这样一来，Supreme就不再是滑板爱好者群体身份的可靠象征，他们担心背着 Supreme 背包或穿着印有品牌标志的T恤是否可以表明一个人是真正的滑板爱好者，还是只想花钱购买与这一亚文化的联系。2023年，在滑板爱好者群体开始反对该品牌后，Supreme的年销售额降幅高达 7%，从 5.62 亿美元降至 5.23 亿美元，同比下降了近4 000万美元。

User-identity conflict arises if people in one customer segment think they can no longer use the brand to reliably signal their affiliation with a particular group because another segment has become associated with the brand. Take Supreme, a skateboard brand that really started to take off when it began attracting fashionable streetwear enthusiasts. To make itself more appealing to the new segment, Supreme partnered with luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Rimowa. In doing so it stopped being a reliable symbol for the skateboarder community, which feared that it would be unclear whether someone carrying a Supreme backpack or wearing a T-shirt with the company’s logo was truly a skater—or was just trying to buy a connection with that subculture. In 2023, after the skater segment started to turn on the brand, Supreme’s year-over-year sales fell by nearly $40 million, or 7%, dropping from $562 million to $523 million.

品牌形象冲突和用户身份冲突往往会同时发生，因为客户身份往往会影响品牌形象。但它们也可能独立发生，例如在蒂芙尼的案例中，问题不在于传统顾客害怕与更年轻、对价格更敏感的顾客混淆或联系在一起（因此不存在用户身份冲突的真正风险），而在于品牌的意义开始发生变化（品牌形象冲突）。

Brand-image conflict and user-identity conflict often happen simultaneously, since customer identity often influences brand image. But they can also occur independently. In the case of Tiffany, for example, the problem was not that the traditional customers feared getting confused with or associated with the younger, more-price-sensitive customers (so there was no real risk of user-identity conflict) but that what the brand meant would start to change (brand-image conflict).

意识形态冲突。当一个客户群体的价值观或信仰与另一个客户群体不同或对抗时，就会产生这种冲突。当然，并非所有品牌产品的购买都会受到意识形态的驱动。几乎所有政治派别、国籍和宗教信仰的人都会购买本田雅阁，这并不会引起任何纷争。iPhone、麦当劳巨无霸汉堡和惠普打印机也是如此。但是，越来越多的消费者在寻求购买行为与自身的意识形态保持一致，因此当一个品牌为某种观点背书，或者与代表某种观点的群体行动一致时，就可能会造成紧张关系。

Ideological conflict. This occurs when a segment has values or beliefs that differ from or clash with those of another segment. Not all brand purchases are ideologically motivated, of course. Honda Accords are bought by people of nearly every political faction, nationality, and religion without causing any strife. So are iPhones, Big Macs, and HP printers. But increasingly, customers are seeking to align their purchases with their ideology, and when a brand endorses a certain viewpoint—or aligns itself with a segment identified with a certain viewpoint—it can create tensions.

2023年，百威淡啤邀请跨性别网红迪伦·马尔瓦尼（Dylan Mulvaney）做了宣传，意在表明公司对LGBT群体的支持，并以此吸引更年轻的消费者。然而这一举动却在意识形态上与其政治上更为保守的核心客户群体相悖。结果就是，一场抵制活动导致百威淡啤的销量同比下降了20%，并把百威淡啤从稳坐 20 年的美国最畅销啤酒的宝座上拉了下来。

Bud Light’s hiring of the trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney in 2023 was intended to show its support for the LGBT community and attract younger customers. But that move was at ideological odds with its more politically conservative core customers. The result was a boycott that led to a 20% year-over-year decline in sales and dislodged Bud Light from its 20-year reign as the best-selling beer in America.

避免与解决冲突

Avoiding and Resolving Conflicts

要摆脱客户群体间的冲突，通常需要将客户群体转变为独立群体关系或引领—追随者群体关系，偶尔可能还需要做出彻底抛弃其中一个客户群体的艰难决定（有先见之明的品牌也可以使用这些策略将冲突扼杀在摇篮中）。正确的解决方法往往取决于冲突根源。

Escaping conflicts between customer segments most often requires nudging them into either a separate-communities relationship or a leader-follower relationship. Occasionally, it requires the difficult decision to jettison one of the segments completely. (Forward-looking brands can use these same strategies to tamp down conflicts before they ignite.) The right approach often depends on the source of the conflict.

分隔群体。这是最常见的解决方法。它可以为每个群体提供所需的空间，使其在不冒犯其他群体的情况下，从品牌中获得自己想要的东西。品牌经理可以采用不同策略创造这种距离，冲突严重时，也可以同时使用多种策略。

Separate the segments. This is the most common approach for resolving conflicts. It can give each segment the space it needs to get what it wants from the brand without rubbing other segments the wrong way. Brand managers can create that distance by employing several tactics— perhaps simultaneously if the conflict is severe.

其中一种流行策略是使用多传播渠道，通过不同渠道向不同客户群体提供定制内容。例如，THE NORTH FACE的Instagram主帐号（@thenorthface）是面向野外爱好者，但品牌还开设了对特定户外运动感兴趣的顾客的账号（@thenorthface_climb 和 @thenorthface_snow），以及几个时尚导向账号（@thenorthface_city 和 @thenorthface）。

Using multiple communications channels, each targeting a different segment with customized content, is a popular strategy. For example, the North Face’s main Instagram account (@thenorthface) is geared toward wilderness enthusiasts. But the brand also maintains accounts for those interested in specific outdoor sports (@thenorthface_climb and @thenorthface_snow), as well as several fashion-oriented accounts (@thenorthface_city and @thenorthface.purplelabel).

品牌还可以通过对产品的开发和差异化来为冲突降温。如前所述，Timberland的靴子既受蓝领工人的欢迎，也受时尚人士的青睐。于是品牌为工人们开发了Pro系列，以更结实的产品来为这一群体提供服务，同时也为时尚人群设计了适合夜店的紫色和粉色靴子。

Brands can also turn down the heat through product development and differentiation. As we’ve noted, Timberland boots are popular with both blue-collar workers and fashionistas. But the brand has developed its Pro line to better serve the workers with more-rugged offerings while creating club-appropriate purple and pink versions of its boots for its stylish segment.

有时，实体空间或网站的设计也可以构建客户群体间的壁垒。星巴克就开发了不同的门店形式，以服务不同的客户群体。它仍然会为将咖啡店作为第三空间的顾客提供舒适的座椅和工作空间，而自助服务亭和得来速咖啡店则会满足即来即走群体的需求。最近，星巴克推出了Reserve Roastery咖啡吧，这是一家拥有经过专门培训的咖啡师的高档咖啡店。这些精品店会特意开在偏僻的地方，以吸引咖啡鉴赏家重拾对品牌的热情。多样化的门店类型也会鼓励不同的客户群体选择最适合自己的空间，从而减少功能冲突。

Sometimes the design of physical spaces or websites can create barriers between segments. Starbucks has developed different store formats to serve its different customer segments. There are still Starbucks locations with comfy chairs and workspaces for those who use coffee shops as third places, while kiosks and drive-through locations cater to the on-the-go segment. More recently, Starbucks introduced Reserve Roastery bars, upscale cafés with specially trained master baristas that are intentionally placed in out-of-the-way locations, to attract coffee connoisseurs back to the brand. The variety of store types encourages segments to select the space that serves them best, reducing functional conflict.

然而，分隔客户群体并非对所有类型的冲突都有效。不同的产品线和分销渠道通常能很好地减少功能冲突，子品牌则有助于解决品牌形象和用户身份的冲突。但在客户群体间创造物理或概念空间，往往不足以解决意识形态冲突。

Separating customer segments isn’t effective for all types of conflict, however. Different product lines and distribution channels tend to work well for reducing functional conflict. Subbrands can help with brand-image and user-identity conflict. But creating space—physical or conceptual—between segments often is not enough to address an ideological conflict.

定义引领者和追随者。在消费者中建立或重建层级体系，能将原本互不相容的关系转变为一种引领与追随的关系。

Define leaders and followers. Creating or reestablishing a hierarchy among consumers can turn a previously incompatible relationship into a leader-follower relationship.

方法之一是通过子品牌在客户群体间标出位置。例如， Levi Strauss公司的旗舰品牌Levi’s是为核心客户群服务。穿着原版Levi’s牛仔裤的顾客是品牌的引领者，正是这些人让品牌吸引了相对不太富裕，却又希望像他们一样的消费者，因为这些引领者更酷、更富有、更时尚。为了让这些追随者能够负担得起该品牌，同时又不会削弱品牌形象，公司以 Signature by Levi Strauss & Co.为子品牌，开始销售更实惠的牛仔裤（子品牌创建于2003年，在沃尔玛有售）。

One way to do this is through subbrands, which can demarcate the status between customer groups. For example, Levi Strauss & Co. serves its core customer segment under its flagship Levi’s brand. Customers who wear the original Levi’s jeans are leaders who make the brand appealing to less affluent consumers who want to be like them because they’re cooler, wealthier, and more fashionable. To give these followers access to the brand without diluting its image, the company sells more-affordable jeans under the label Signature by Levi Strauss & Co. (created in 2003 and available at Walmart).

公司会用位于腰带和口袋上的独特贴标和颜色标签来从视觉上区分产品：品牌标志性的红色标签（于1936年首次被缝制在其牛仔裤上），在低价系列中会被刻意省略。

The company distinguishes its offerings visually with distinct patches and colored tabs on waistbands and pockets. The brand’s iconic red tab, which was first affixed to its jeans in 1936, is conspicuously missing on the lower-priced line.

2025 年，Levi Strauss通过推出蓝标系列，在Levi’s 消费者中增加了一个新的引领者群体。这个使用日本织边牛仔布的高级系列在口袋上配上了蓝色标签，代表了核心引领者和令人向往的地位。下一级是配有红色标签的产品，再往下则是没有标签的款式。

In 2025, Levi Strauss added a new leader segment above the Levi’s consumers by launching the Blue Tab Collection. This premium line of Japanese selvage denims with blue tabs on the pocket has prime leader and aspirational status. In the next tier are products with red tabs, which are followed by those with no tabs.

这样的子品牌层级还能降低用户间产生身份冲突的风险。虽然Signature子品牌的购买者可能并不在意Levi Strauss是否会将所有类型的牛仔裤都放在同一个品牌下销售，但那些注重时尚的消费群体——他们往往看重独特性和与众不同——可能会因此失去兴趣。即便是像指甲盖大小的彩色标签这样简单的东西，也能通过为不同群体建立一个身份等级排序来减少冲突。

Subbrand hierarchies like these also reduce the risk of user-identity conflict. While the buyers of Signature might not care if Levi Strauss sold all types of jeans under a single brand, the fashion-oriented segments—who often value exclusivity and distinctiveness—could be turned off by that. Even something as simple as a colored tab the size of a fingernail can reduce conflict by creating a status ladder for segments.

定价和可获得性也能搭建客户群体层级。例如，许多法拉利的车迷都是追随者，他们会购买品牌的帽子、运动衫和收藏品，却负担不起引领者群体购买的跑车。其他品牌则会为引领者群体提供额外的服务或卓越体验。比如为了规避客户群体间的冲突，家得宝会为其专业工匠群体（引领者）提供额外服务，如专用收银台、通过APP查询库存，以及业余DIY消费者（追随者）无法参与的专属会员项目。

Pricing and availability can also establish a hierarchy. Many Ferrari fans, for example, are followers who buy branded hats, sweatshirts, and collectibles but cannot afford the cars that the leader segment buys. Other brands provide additional services or a superior experience to their leaders. The Home Depot avoids intersegment conflict by offering its professional-tradespeople segment (leaders) additional services like dedicated checkout registers, inventory tracking via an app, and a special loyalty program not available to casual do-it-yourselfers (followers).

在这些案例中，由不同产品线和服务线构建的明确等级体系，既能缓解品牌形象冲突，也能减轻用户身份认同冲突。除非法拉利开始生产更便宜的车型，否则其核心客户群不太可能将戴着法拉利太阳镜的人误认为是真正的法拉利车主。而对家得宝来说，服务分离有助于保护其作为专业家居装修首选店的品牌形象。通过为专业工匠提供 Pro 服务，该零售商能在服务业余DIY新手群体的同时，又不会让人感觉自己失去了专业优势。

In these cases the explicit hierarchies created by different product and service lines mitigate brand-image conflict as well as user-identity conflict. Unless Ferrari starts creating cheaper car models, its core customer base is unlikely to mistake someone wearing Ferrari sunglasses for a true Ferrari car owner. For the Home Depot, the separate services help protect the brand’s image as the go-to professional home-improvement store. By offering its Pro services, the retailer can still serve its segment of novice do-it-yourselfers without seeming as if it has lost its professional edge.

放弃一个群体。这种做法可能会很痛苦，因为这意味着要放弃这个群体所带来的收入。但有时，为避免因没有解决冲突而造成的长期损失风险，这种取舍也是值得的。如果某个客户群体对一个品牌的持续使用会导致该品牌难以吸引或留住其他更有价值的客户，那么巧妙地引导该客户群体离开，往往也是明智之举。

Fire a segment. This approach can be painful because it means forgoing the revenue that a segment brings in. But sometimes the long-term risk of losses from unresolved conflict makes the trade-off worthwhile. If the continued use of a brand by one segment makes it difficult for the brand to attract or retain other, more-valuable customers, it’s often wise to nudge that segment toward the door.

2022年，游乐园公司六面旗（Six Flags）大幅提高了门票价格，并取消了大部分折扣票计划。当游客人数减少超过20%时，收入也随之下降。对此，时任CEO塞利姆·巴苏尔（ Selim Bassoul）针对外界的质疑解释说，这是公司有意为之。许多购买折扣票的游客在高利润的餐饮和纪念品上花费很少，因此他们并没有带来多少收入。此外，由于接待了太多这类顾客，六面旗也给其他游客造成了不愉快的体验，并导致了功能冲突，结果就是人满为患，等待时间过长，暴力和盗窃事件变多。提价的目的就是劝阻那些没什么钱的顽皮青少年的进入，并为愿意消费更多的家庭提供更好的体验。

In 2022 the amusement park company Six Flags sharply raised its ticket prices and eliminated most discount-ticket programs. When attendance dropped by more than 20% and revenue fell as a result, its CEO at the time, Selim Bassoul, countered the outcry by explaining that the move was deliberate. Many discount-ticket buyers spent little on high-margin refreshments and souvenirs, so they didn’t generate much revenue. Further, by accommodating so many of those customers, Six Flags was creating a less enjoyable experience for everyone else and causing functional conflict: The result was overcrowding, longer wait times, and increased incidents of violence and theft. The price increase was designed to discourage rowdy teens with little to spend and produce a better experience for families willing to spend more.

2023年，也就是涨价后不到一年，巴苏尔的决策得以正名，六面旗的入场人数虽然减少，收入却创下了历史新高。随着投资者开始认可这一战略，公司的股价也飙升了20%。该品牌通过放弃一个客户群体，更好地服务了更为有利可图的群体，从而摆脱了功能冲突。

Bassoul’s vindication came in 2023, less than a year after the price hikes, when attendance at Six Flags was down but revenue reached a record high. The company’s stock price soared by 20% as investors warmed to the strategy. The brand escaped functional conflict by firing one segment to better serve a more profitable crowd.

值得注意的是，有时品牌会故意挑起冲突，以强化自己的价值观或追求更大的战略抱负。例如，当美国汽车赛事NASCAR在2020年的比赛中禁止使用邦联旗帜时，它极有可能知道这样会与一些长期粉丝产生意识形态上的冲突。但NASCAR希望，从长期来看，此举可以产生净积极效应，吸引大批欣赏这一明确声明价值观并为此能在NASCAR活动中有归属感的新客户。芝麻街在2022年播出艾摩（Elmo）接种新冠疫苗的节目时，也卷入了一场意识形态冲突。由于某些决定曾经受到过保守派人士的批评，该节目组很可能明白这一支持疫苗的节目不会受到所有家长的欢迎，但品牌仍旧选择了挑起冲突，以践行更大的教育使命。

It’s worth noting that there are times when brands knowingly stir up conflict in order to reinforce their values or to pursue a larger strategic aspiration. For example, when NASCAR banned Confederate flags from races in 2020, it most likely knew the move might create an ideological conflict with some longtime fans. But NASCAR hoped that in the long term it would have a net positive effect, attracting many new customers who would appreciate the explicit statement of values and feel more welcome at NASCAR events. Sesame Street also stepped into an ideological conflict when it showed Elmo receiving a Covid vaccine in 2022. Having been attacked by political conservatives for some decisions in the past, the organization was most likely aware that this pro-vaccine content wouldn’t be received happily by all parents, but it chose to create conflict anyway in pursuit of a larger educational mission.

然而，品牌从冲突中获益的例子少之又少。在大多数情况下，最好还是避免客户群体间的冲突。

Still, examples of brands benefiting from conflict are more the exception than the rule. In most cases it’s best to avoid it between customer segments.

我们希望这些建议具有实操性，不过需要明确的是，管理客户关系并不是完成清单上的任务就行。我们所建议的，是对品牌看待增长的方式进行一次全面彻底的重新评估。将客户群体视为单一独立增长目标的传统观点已经过时，品牌需要认识到这些客户群体之间是如何通过互动去创造和破坏价值的。

Practical as we hope our advice may be, we want to be clear that managing customer relationships is not a matter of simply checking tasks off a list. What we’re proposing is a wholesale reevaluation of the way brands think about growth. The conventional view of customer segments as independent growth targets is outdated. Brands need to recognize how those segments interact to create and destroy value.

理解客户关系可以帮助公司避开雷区，不过如果品牌勤于观察，它也能帮助我们发现机遇。无论如何，只有认识到客户群体之间的相互依存关系，公司才能推动持久增长。

Understanding customer relationships can help companies avoid land mines. But it can also help brands find opportunities if they look diligently. Either way, it’s by acknowledging the interdependencies between customer segments that firms can facilitate lasting growth.

瑞安·汉密尔顿是埃默里大学戈伊苏埃塔商学院（Emory University’s Goizueta Business School）市场营销学副教授，同时为《财富》100强公司提供品牌、客户体验和消费者行为方面的建议。

安妮·威尔逊是宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院市场营销学高级讲师，同时为金融、娱乐、美容以及时尚行业的公司提供咨询。两人是《增长的窘境》（The Growth Dilemma，哈佛商业评论出版社，2025）的作者，本文改编自该书。

DeepL | 译   张矩 | 校译   孙燕 | 编辑