Protected: FCB Grid
Richard Vaughn developed the FCB Grid technique while working at advertising firm Foot, Cone and Belding in the late 70s. He originally developed the grid to stimulate ideas in advertising - subsequently it’s been used in areas like marketing and product development. An excellent overview of the original FCB concept can be found here.
The FCB Grid is a two-dimensional space representing the entire ‘product continuum.’ The vertical axis represents the level of ‘involvement’ required of the consumer, high vs. low. An example of a high involvement product would be a house or car; a low involvement product might be a candy bar or sandwich.
The horizontal axis represents how the product appeals to the consumer, thinking (rational) vs. feeling (emotional). A product that appeals to thinking might be a computer. Cosmetics are an example of products that appeal to feeling. Here’s the model FCB chart, geared for advertising:
Adapted for marketing purposes, the idea is to assess the market for a product by placing all competitor’s products on the grid in relation to yours. This is also a valuable way of determining ‘holes’ in the market, which can trigger ideas for new product applications.
EXAMPLE: One example Michael Michalko relays in “Thinkertoys” is the first Apple PC. Until then, if you plotted the mainframe and minicomputers from DEC, IBM, etc on an FCB grid, they would all be clumped in the upper left quadrant - high involvement - thinking products. The first Apple PC, in contrast, was a much lower involvement product that appealed more to feeling. The first MacIntosh, with its point and click interface, appealed to feeling even more.
Another similar example - plot all commercially available robots on an FCB grid and you’ll see a similar high involvement-thinking cluster. Now place the Roomba on the same grid - definitely a lower involvement product that appeals more to feeling.
