K-Shaped Categories:
Find and Activate Top Quartile Spenders

What is a K-shaped category?

In category after category, a small group of consumers drives the majority of revenue — often 60–80% of total spend.

These “top quartile buyers” behave differently, think differently, and ultimately determine which brands accelerate and which ones fall behind.

In this fast-paced 25-minute session, we’ll share what Langston has uncovered from millions of survey responses and hundreds of category studies:

• The dominant pattern behind outsized spend in every major consumer category

• The five personality traits that consistently predict top-quartile buyers

• How income and “category wildcards” amplify spend

• Why most brands unintentionally build for the wrong audience

• How to identify, understand, and activate the high-value consumers who actually drive growth

You’ll also learn how quant + qual + CRM integration reveals who your top spenders really are, and how to design products, messaging, and brand experiences that convert them into long-term loyalists.

If you want to grow faster and more profitably, you must win with the consumers who shape your category.