The future of media is segmentation
Who are these people?
I started in the creative department. Then, one year, I just transitioned from “Regional Creative Director” to “Regional Media Director”. That year I made an earthshaking discovery: media people bought television based on descriptions such as “Women 19-54” or “Adults 19-34”. I thought, first, that all this time, when we had been creating spots for “Young adventure-seeking single adults” had been a complete waste of time. Our spots could have easily hit a 19-year-old girl or a 50-year-old woman. Who knows? I also thought to myself: who are these people? In what universe would a 19-year-old girl be a 50-year-old woman?
I’m not going to go into some boring summary of the many changes that technology has accelerated or into some boring self-centered account of some of the projects I’ve been involved in. Nope. Let’s look forward.
As we move forward, I propose that segmentation is the future of marketing.
Proper segmentation should include these three factors:
👉 Segments should be homogeneous within themselves but different enough from other segments that different creative makes sense. If you’re selling jeans, for example, it would be great to come out with segments that include “people who want to look cool” and “lower-income moms who need to make their kids’ clothing last”.
👉 Segments should be big enough to make a difference in your business. If you sell 1,000 Ferraris a year, a segment of 150 people could make a difference in your sales figures. If you sell 300,000 Teslas yearly, a segment of 15,000 people is useless.
👉 Segments should be addressable. If you sell “Self-cooking pasta” and defined a segment of “Gourmet Campers” but have no way to reach only Gourmet Campers, that segment does not exist.
Bottom line, your segments should be self-contained, big and reachable.
Segmentation and Marketing
Marketing is huge, way beyond advertising or any sub-discipline of advertising. So, how does segmentation help?
This is marketing:
Segmentation will help in three immediate areas:
1️⃣Specialized product formulations – this is what gave birth to such products as Gatorade, Coca Cola Light and Amstel Light, for example. In each case, there was a segment that was large enough to sustain sales, but which would benefit from having a specialized product. Often, because the products are so specialized, they are also typically not discounted and have higher profit margins.
2️⃣Messaging – The most obvious application is messaging. This goes from the creation of very focused messages to the use of highly targeted channels. Two examples:
👉 If you have a blindingly fast computer chip, its computers can be advertised to gamers, businessmen and video editors with different messages but all stressing the same advantage: processing speed.
👉Influencers in the car business such as Supercar Blondie and Doug deMuro have massive subscription bases but reach two very different car fan groups.
Better message/consumer adequation will increase response and conversion ratios. Any quick calculation will show the potential return.
3️⃣Media – the crumbling of the cookie (the slowest ever announced death of a product) will create media buys that go back to the original, pre-cookie way of buying digital: demographics, behavior, psychographics and product consumption. The way to incorporate these four elements is to systematically quantify them in ways that make sense for your product or brand.
Unless you have facts…
… you’re just a guy with an opinion, as the saying goes. And, segments, purchasing drivers, affinity, and all the other factors should be solidly evidence based. There are also major databases in the market that will help identify segments, their size, key drivers and more.
Would you like a free, professional discovery call with no time limit, no hard sell and no pressure to see if we can help you improve your sales and margins? If you do, grab some time here: www.calendly.com/performist-us/60
