T&H CX > Our Work > User Experience (UX) Case Studies > Customer Segmentation & Persona Research
Modern Teaching Aids (MTA) is one of Australia’s largest suppliers of educational resources, servicing Early Learning Centres and Schools nationally. As part of a broader customer experience transformation, it wanted to improve acquisition, grow share of wallet and strengthen retention.
While strong brand equity existed within the sector, there was no nationally aligned segmentation framework to guide marketing, sales and experience strategy. Operating across diverse education environments with varied budgeting structures, purchasing roles and channel behaviours added further complexity.
The business needed clarity on who its customers were, how they made decisions and where future growth could be unlocked at scale.
To discover, evaluate and purchase educational resources through channels and processes that suit the needs, budgets and decision-making structures of each education setting.
To define and understand addressable customer segments and align marketing, sales and CX investment around the strongest commercial opportunities.
Modern Teaching Aids (MTA), part of the Modern Star group, supplies teaching materials and classroom resources to early learning centres and schools. The business focuses on finding and developing resources that support educators, inspire children and respond to changing learning needs across Australia and New Zealand.
Education Resources
400+ employees
2022 ongoing
T&H led a national quantitative research program with more than 2,300 education decision-makers and approvers. The research investigated the factors shaping purchasing decisions, including pricing, budget flexibility, category demand and who influences or approves purchases.
We also explored the changing roles of digital, catalogue and sales channels, alongside brand perceptions, satisfaction and advocacy. This created both a national performance benchmark and the behavioural evidence needed to distinguish meaningful customer groups.
The resulting segmentation model was structured primarily by school and early learning centre type, keeping it both statistically robust and practical to use. For each persona, we defined purchasing and approval roles, spending patterns, research and channel preferences, category drivers, commercial value tiers and satisfaction and advocacy baselines.
MTA gained a shared, research-backed view of customers across very different education environments. The personas connected customer mindset and behaviour with commercial potential, giving marketing, sales and CX teams a common basis for planning.
The framework supports more precise investment, more relevant engagement and clearer priorities for lifecycle design and channel optimisation. Rather than treating the national market as a single audience, MTA can use meaningful behavioural differences to guide its growth strategy.
