8 best examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning

Real examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning

Marketers love theory, but brands grow on execution. The best examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning show exactly how a clear picture of “who” leads to a sharper “why us”.

Let’s start with several real-world cases and what they did differently.

Example 1: Apple vs. Dell – when psychographics beat demographics

On paper, Apple and Dell often target similar demographics: adults with disposable income, knowledge workers, students. The split shows up when you look at psychographics and identity.

Apple’s target audience analysis centers on people who see technology as an extension of self-expression and creativity. Their positioning leans into:

Design as status signal
Simplicity over customization
Ecosystem lock-in as convenience, not constraint

That’s why Apple’s advertising rarely talks about processor speed. It talks about creativity, privacy, and lifestyle. The brand is positioned as the premium choice for people who want tools that “just work” and look good doing it.

Dell, by contrast, has historically focused on IT decision-makers and cost-conscious buyers. Their analysis emphasizes:

Total cost of ownership
Security and manageability for IT teams
Customization for specific business needs

Same product category, very different target audience analysis in brand positioning. Apple optimizes for emotional value; Dell optimizes for rational value. Both are logical outcomes of who they’ve decided to prioritize.

Example 2: Nike vs. Allbirds – segmenting by values and lifestyle

Nike serves a huge market, but its core target audience analysis is anchored in people who are motivated by performance and achievement. The brand positions itself as the ally of athletes and strivers—“If you have a body, you’re an athlete.”

That positioning comes from:

Behavioral data: high engagement among competitive athletes and fitness enthusiasts
Psychographics: drive, ambition, willingness to push through discomfort
Cultural insights: sports as a vehicle for identity and aspiration

Allbirds, on the other hand, analyzed a different slice of the footwear market: environmentally conscious urban professionals who want comfort and low cognitive load in their wardrobe. Their audience cares about:

Sustainability and carbon footprint
Comfort for all-day wear
Understated, minimalist aesthetics

So Allbirds positions itself as the everyday shoe for eco-aware, comfort-first consumers. The examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning here are clear: Nike’s messaging is about performance and winning; Allbirds is about ease, sustainability, and quiet status.

Example 3: Starbucks vs. Dunkin’ – price tolerance and daily rituals

Starbucks did not just decide to be expensive coffee. Their target audience analysis showed:

Urban and suburban professionals willing to pay a premium for experience
Desire for a “third place” between home and work
High smartphone adoption and loyalty program engagement

That led to a brand position as an affordable luxury and social space, with heavy investment in mobile ordering, loyalty, and store ambiance.

Dunkin’ (formerly Dunkin’ Donuts) looked at a different core audience:

Commuters who prioritize speed and price
Blue-collar and middle-income customers
People who see coffee as fuel, not a lifestyle statement

Dunkin’ positions itself as fast, straightforward, and value-driven. The examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning here show up in everything from store formats to menu design. Starbucks optimizes for lingering; Dunkin’ optimizes for throughput.

Example 4: Peloton – from fitness hardware to community identity

Peloton’s early success came from a sharp target audience analysis:

Time-poor professionals who can’t or won’t go to the gym
Higher-income households able to finance a premium bike and subscription
People who respond to social accountability and competition

Peloton positioned itself as a connected fitness community rather than a hardware brand. That’s why the product experience emphasizes leaderboards, instructors as micro-celebrities, and social features.

This example of target audience analysis in brand positioning also shows how things can change. As macro conditions shifted and demand normalized after the pandemic, Peloton had to expand beyond affluent early adopters, experimenting with lower-cost devices, app-only access, and more mainstream messaging.

Example 5: Patagonia – audience defined by activism, not just outdoor use

Patagonia’s target audience analysis goes far beyond “people who like hiking.” The brand zeroed in on:

Environmentally conscious consumers with above-average income
People who see purchases as political and moral choices
Outdoor enthusiasts who value durability over trends

That led to a bold positioning: Patagonia is for people who care about the planet first, product second.

You see this in moves like encouraging customers to repair rather than replace gear and donating profits to environmental causes. Those are not random stunts; they are direct expressions of a tightly defined audience and a clear position.

Patagonia’s growth also tracks with broader consumer shifts. For example, surveys from organizations like the Pew Research Center show rising concern about climate change, especially among younger adults. Patagonia’s audience analysis anticipated and then rode that trend.

Duolingo started as a free language-learning app for anyone. Over time, usage data revealed distinct segments:

Casual learners using it like a game
Students supplementing schoolwork
Immigrants and expats learning for work or family

By 2024, Duolingo’s brand positioning leans heavily into fun, bite-sized learning that fits into everyday life, especially for casual learners and students. The app’s tone, mascot, and notifications all reflect that.

Their target audience analysis in brand positioning is ongoing and deeply data-driven. They run constant experiments on user behavior, retention, and learning outcomes, then refine their personas and messaging. It’s a living example of target audience analysis in brand positioning as a continuous process, not a one-time workshop.

Example 7: B2B SaaS – HubSpot’s “growing businesses” focus

In B2B, the best examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning often come from companies that resist the urge to “sell to everyone.” HubSpot is one of them.

Instead of going after massive enterprises from day one, HubSpot built its brand around:

Small and mid-sized businesses without large marketing teams
Founders and marketers overwhelmed by complex tools
Companies wanting an all-in-one system rather than a tech stack of point solutions

So HubSpot positioned itself as the easy-to-use, all-in-one growth platform for growing businesses. Their content, pricing tiers, and product design reflect that audience: strong onboarding, education-heavy marketing, and clear packaging.

As they’ve moved upmarket, the target audience analysis has expanded, but the core position still speaks most clearly to that original segment.

Example 8: Telehealth brands – segmenting by access and anxiety

Telehealth exploded during COVID-19, and the brands that stuck around did it by understanding their audience beyond basic demographics.

For example, many telehealth platforms identified key segments such as:

Rural patients with limited access to specialists
Busy parents managing their children’s health
People with anxiety or stigma around in-person mental health visits

Research from sources like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and CDC has documented both the rise of telehealth use and persistent gaps in access to care. Brands used that data to position themselves as:

Convenient, private access to mental health support
Specialist access without long-distance travel
Family-friendly care that fits around work and school

These real examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning show how health brands tailor not just messaging, but service design and appointment models to specific needs and barriers.

How to actually do target audience analysis for brand positioning

Looking at examples is helpful, but you still need a repeatable way to do this for your own brand.

Think of target audience analysis as answering four questions:

1. Who are they, really?

Go beyond age and income. Strong examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning always include:

Demographics: age, location, income, education, family status
Psychographics: values, beliefs, aspirations, fears
Behaviors: purchase frequency, channels used, product usage patterns

Use a mix of:

Customer interviews and surveys
CRM and analytics data
Social listening and review mining

If you’re in a regulated or health-adjacent space, lean on credible secondary data from sites like Harvard or government health sources to understand population trends.

2. What problem are they actually solving?

Consumers rarely buy what you think you’re selling. Starbucks sells a break from the workday. Peloton sells accountability. Patagonia sells alignment with values.

Ask:

What job is the customer hiring this product to do?
What are they switching away from (status quo or competitor)?
What’s the emotional payoff?

The best examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning translate these answers into a tight, memorable promise.

3. What alternatives are in their head?

Your competition is whatever your audience would do if you didn’t exist. That might be:

A direct competitor
A DIY workaround
Doing nothing at all

Apple isn’t just competing with Windows laptops; it’s competing with the idea of “good enough” hardware. Telehealth isn’t just competing with local clinics; it’s competing with not seeking care.

Your analysis should map:

Which alternatives your audience considers
Why they choose or reject each one

4. Where can you credibly be different?

Once you know your audience and their alternatives, you can choose a position:

Premium vs. value
Specialist vs. generalist
Convenience vs. depth of features
Status and identity vs. pure utility

This is where the examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning we covered earlier become templates. You’re not copying Nike or Patagonia; you’re copying the discipline of choosing a lane that matches your audience and your strengths.

Common mistakes when doing target audience analysis

Even smart teams fall into predictable traps.

Mistake 1: Defining the audience too broadly

If your target is “millennials,” you don’t have a target. You have a census category. Strong positioning comes from focus.

Better: “Urban millennials earning \(80k–\)150k who prioritize sustainability and are willing to pay more for products that align with their values.” That’s closer to Patagonia’s actual audience.

Mistake 2: Confusing aspiration with reality

Founders often describe the audience they wish they had. The best examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning are grounded in real data: who is already buying, who is already staying, and who is already referring others.

Look at your highest-value customers and build from there.

Mistake 3: Ignoring how the audience is changing

Audiences in 2024–2025 are not static:

Gen Z is aging into higher earning power and expects brands to take stands on social issues.
Privacy regulations and platform changes limit third-party tracking, pushing brands toward first-party data and consent-based relationships.
Remote and hybrid work have reshaped daily routines, which affects everything from coffee runs to fitness.

Your target audience analysis in brand positioning needs a refresh cadence—at least annually, more often in fast-moving categories.

Mistake 4: Stopping at personas

Personas are only useful if they guide decisions. If your personas live in a slide deck, not in product roadmaps and creative briefs, they’re decoration.

In the real examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning above, the audience work shows up in:

Product features (Peloton’s social elements, Duolingo’s gamification)
Pricing and packaging (HubSpot’s tiers, Allbirds’ limited SKUs)
Channel strategy (telehealth’s focus on mobile, Starbucks’ app)

Turning your analysis into a clear brand position

Once you understand your audience, you still have to translate that into words and actions.

A practical way to do this:

For [target audience], [brand] is the [category] that [key benefit], because [reason to believe].

For example:

For environmentally conscious outdoor enthusiasts, Patagonia is the outdoor apparel brand that puts the planet first, because it invests profits and product decisions into environmental activism.
For time-poor professionals who want studio-quality workouts at home, Peloton is the connected fitness brand that provides live and on-demand classes with real-time community, because it combines premium hardware, charismatic instructors, and social features.

Use this structure to sanity-check whether your target audience analysis in brand positioning is sharp enough. If you can’t fill in the blanks without hand-waving, you’re not done.

FAQ: examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning

How detailed should a target audience analysis be for effective brand positioning?
Detailed enough that it changes decisions. If your analysis doesn’t affect features, pricing, channels, or messaging, it’s too shallow. The best examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning use a mix of quantitative data (sales, analytics, research) and qualitative insight (interviews, open-ended surveys) to get there.

Can you give a simple example of target audience analysis for a startup?
Imagine a new sleep supplement brand. Instead of “people who have trouble sleeping,” a sharper example of target audience analysis would be: “Women aged 30–50 in high-stress jobs, who wake up multiple times per night and want non-prescription solutions.” That level of detail guides product formulation, packaging, and where you advertise.

What are the best examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning for small businesses?
Local gyms that specialize (e.g., new moms, seniors, or strength training), independent coffee shops that focus on remote workers, and niche online retailers (like plus-size activewear or adaptive clothing) are all strong examples. They pick a specific group and build everything—from hours to decor to product assortment—around that audience.

How often should I update my target audience analysis?
At least once a year, and whenever you see major shifts in performance or behavior. For instance, if a new age group suddenly starts buying your product, or if a global event changes routines (as with telehealth during COVID-19), your target audience analysis in brand positioning needs a refresh.

Where can I find reliable data to support my audience analysis?
Combine your own data (sales, CRM, analytics) with external sources. Government and academic sites like the U.S. Census Bureau, NIH, or Harvard offer high-quality data on demographics, health, and social trends that can inform your understanding of the market.

The best examples of target audience analysis in brand positioning