Segmentation is saying something to somebody instead of saying nothing to everybody…
Levinson and Godin, 1994 Traditional targeting models are outmoded – especially in youth culture. If we really want to target today’s individualistic consumers, then demographics and other less personal approaches need to be part of a more culturally based segmentation approach. We see a lot
of polarized opinions in our industry, where some groups continue to pursue shotgun marketing while others shout, ‘Demographics are dead! Long live the individual!’ Yet neither of these is a useful posi- tion for developing successful youth-focused initiatives that work in the real world. We need to take both the micro and the macro view into account.
Some companies rely primarily on demographic-based segmenta- tion. There’s comfort in concrete statistics that can be organized and analysed, as opposed to the more complex dynamics of psychograph- ics and situational context. Although demographic targeting alone has become a less effective activity, demographics are still an impor- tant part of the way we start to filter for groups within Gen Z.
On the other hand, some advertising industry professionals argue that demographics are dead, and that today’s consumer trends can’t be predicted or understood by typical demographics. We believe that the
‘demographics are dead’ theory is too dramatic and blurs the edges of the truth. It’s a buzz-phrase that might get views when published, and makes some question their approach, but do the proponents of this theory really believe that demographics are useless? Does age, gender, ethnicity or income no longer matter? We can tell you, right now, that they do to those who are in the trenches of youth marketing. Some make the argument that Gen Z has more freely defined identities, leading to consumer behaviours that defy traditional demographics such as age, gender and income. While there is some truth to this argument, it doesn’t make demographics wholly unusable. Rather than kill demographics, these consumer behaviours require them to be redefined in new terms – dictated by the consumer, technology and the present moment.
There is definitely more potential demographic overlap today between the purchasing behaviours of different groups. Take a 40-year-old male and 15-year-old female, for example. Both consum- ers may buy an Imagine Dragons album, a new smartphone and an acai bowl, but there are also just as many differences between them. It makes sense to address those differences by applying demo- graphics. (You can always remove the filter to see the commonalities that different ages and genders share.) Whether a consumer is male, female, lesbian, gay, transgender or queer (LGBTQ) will always
influence their needs and preferences. Add in factors such as age- related developmental changes, and you can see how age and gender will always matter. In fact, rather than pronounce demographics as dead, we need to emphasize complementary filters – not rely on demographics as the primary audience filter.
CASE STUDY Demographic targeting gone BADD (Brand Audience Disconnection Disorder)
In the autumn of 2016, a national clothing retailer came to us wanting to better understand the Gen Z mindset, and to learn why its influencer campaigns weren’t working, despite having partnered with celebrity content creators. The content was great, and even received a moderate amount of engagement, but the brand just wasn’t positioned to capitalize on it. After spending time getting to know the brand, their team and their situation, it became clear that their youth positioning needed some fundamental work if influencer marketing – or any advertising for that matter – was going to positively impact the brand. Up until that time, they had limited their youth targeting to ‘students’, but their marketing just wasn’t hitting home. In other words, they had a real case of BADD (or Brand Audience Disconnection Disorder as we call it around the office). Here is an abridged version of the discovery questionnaire we sent them, along with some of their responses. You can see the challenges the brand was facing at that time.
Client Discovery Questionnaire
Question 1: Can you identify your targeted teen consumers and briefly describe what you know about them?
Answer: ‘Currently, we only have anecdotal insights and feedback from the retailers. We know they prefer style, slim fit, super skinny, top looks/styles, and that parents accompany teens.’
Question 2: Does your brand divide young consumers into segments and subgroups?
Answer: ‘We have not done audience segmentation beyond ‘’teen boys’’. All creative is aimed at teen boys. Messaging has been targeting teens. Secondary messaging has been targeting parents. Currently we do messaging, not
segmentation.’
Question 3: Does your brand have a ‘bull’s-eye’ consumer profile within the youth segment?
Answer: ‘At present, we do not have a ‘’bull’s-eye’’ defined. We know: Boys aged 16–18, we also know parents play a key part for the awareness piece, but we’re unsure how they play into the purchasing decision.’
Question 4: What motivates young consumers who support your brand? What do they care about?
Answer: ‘We do know it’s all about the look, skinny fit. For example: boys want slim fit, mom says “are you sure that is skinny?” Boy says, “YES!” Price and convenience are also key factors.’
It was apparent that the national retail clothing company had trouble connecting because it tried to tackle too large of a cohort with an outmoded demographic segmentation approach. It simply didn’t lead them to any real understanding of who their actual audience was. There was no basis for building a relationship with these potential customers, beyond selling them a particular type of clothing.
We listened, prioritized the foundational issues, and devised a strategy for course correction. By seeking out youth audiences in their own niche cultural environments and effectively leveraging the company’s social channels to talk to them, we were able to help the brand tune in to their frequency. As a result, the brand has now established the segmentation alignment they needed and built targeted relationships that allow marketing programmes to thrive.