Audi enc e Rese arch

Before an agency can target an audience they need to know who the
audience is and what their likes and dislikes are. There are many different
ways of defining an audience, from the simple ABC of UK social class
(whereby the C2Ds are the 'mass market'), to the streets where people live,
or an elaborate lifestyle classification system such as VALS.

Advertisers need to classify individuals as belonging to a group, in order to be

able to discuss them, or analyse their needs. Audiences can be classified by
age, as in this example:

• Mil lennia ls - Under 25 in 2003, tech savvy, grew up in

prosperous times, media saturated and ethnically diverse. Will
possibly be the biggest ever spending generation in history
• Gen X -ers - 25-38in 2003, grew up during economic downturn
so more cynical than the Millennials, although also very media
savvy. Individualistic.
• Boomers - 39-58 in 2003, avid consumers, want to deny aging
process, focused on self-actualisation of Maslow's hierarchy of
needs
• Matu res - 57+, practical and pragmatic, very money conscious,
conformist

Or by income - here are some of the advertisers' acronyms from the 1980s
(when labels ending in ie were all the rage) which have crept into common
parlance

Yuppi e Young Urban Professional

Yummie Young Urban Mother
Dinkie Dual Income No Kids
Sinkie Single Income No Kids
Minkie Middle Income No Kids
Pou pie Porsche Owning Urban Professional
Swell Single Woman Earning Lots of Loot
Gupp ie Green-sympathising Yuppie
Bobo Burnt Out But Opulent
Woopie Well Off Older People
Jo ll ies Jetsetting Olders With Lots of Loot
Glams Greying Leisured Affluent Middle Aged
Decc ie DIY decorators who drag, stipple & marble
Slap pie Stripped Pine Laura Ashley People (-???)
Dockney East Docklands (ie paid a lot of money for their flat) London
 Yuppie
Tweeni e Between 5 & 12 years old
Gr ey
Senior Citizens with opinions
Panthe rs
Empt y
Couples whose children have grown up and moved away
Nesters
http://www.fashion-
era.com/1980s_lifestyle_and_fashion.htm#Advertiser's%20Acronyms

For a 21st century profile, check out this story from The Observer on Geezers,
Britain's newest category of consumers.

Then come classifications by ethnicity, location etc. One system, known as

ACORN (a Classification of Residential Neighbourhoods) defines target
audiences based on the type of housing in that street.

• Read more about ACORN here

• A classification of a typical postcode. You can type in your own
at the top.

Once an advertiser has decided which category of audience they are trying to
reach, they must gather data on that category's behavioural choices,
employing a mix of psychology, anthropology, sociology and statistics, thus
turning advertising into a science, of sorts.

Audience research is a vital part of any campaign, and is these days a

painstaking and complex process. Research must take into account current
and predicted trends , consumer values and how these drive po pular
cu lture . The world is constantly changing - changing family structures, the
level of average incomes, and globalisation all have an effect on what people
can and will spend their money on. Audience research is the start of any
marketing campaign, as manufacturers ask the question "What will people
buy?" rather than asking "Will they buy what we sell?".

Research Techniques include

Biogr aphies - some agencies create a biography of the target customer of

the product they are campaigning for, detailing his or her education, status,
lifestyle, aspirations and attitudes towards the world they live in. This is an
extension of the Personality Type theory of Jung which suggests that there
are normal differences between the attitudes and behaviours of healthy
people, simply because they react to stimuli and process information in
different ways. When advertisers create an ad they talk as though directly
addressing that one consumer and their needs. Quite often the ads will
feature a model who resembles the target consumer - or a slightly more
glamorous and successful version of who they perceive themselves to be.
Diaries - it is common practice to get test groups to fill in a diary detailing
their media (and other) consumption habits over a period of seven days.
Whilst this produces a snapshot of listening, viewing, reading (and eating)
habits, it is only as reliable as the test subject. The diary system known as
RAJAR is used to measure radio audiences in the UK, but there is
dissatisfaction with this, and electronic metering devices (such as
wristwatches) look to be the way forward.

• Guardian Article

Ma rk et R esear ch Compani es - before targeting research about a specific

product, agencies will check the data about general trends in the population
as gathered by research companies such as MediaMark. The items people
purchase on their storecards, or using points-gathering cards such as Nectar
give information on consumer habits which can be used by big market
research databases.

Questionnai res - the simple Q&A format which asks a set of questions
designed to indicate likely choices. Read more here. Institutions such as the
Stanford Research Institute pride themselves on the scientific nature of their
questionnaire approach, and offer a "consumer psychographic segmentation
system [which] offers a rigorous and scientific treatment of the psychological
differences and similarities between consumers and analyzes how these
differences and similarities affect consumers' choices". This gives agencies
information about who they are advertising to, and where and how they may
be reached by advertising.

Media Buying

As well as indicating appropriate content for advertising, research dictates

media planning - which media will the ad appear in, and how many times.

Advertising Media - A comprehensive overview from Hairong Li, Michigan

Universtiy

Further Reading

• Brand You - lengthy, but well worth reading article on Account

Planning
• Nielsen Research - informative site explaining how this company
conducts extensive research into US (and other) TV audiences
• BARB - TV audience research in the UK. Less transparent than
Nielsen, but worth the comparison.

Taken from www.mediaknowall.com/Advertising/research.html

Tas ks:

1. What are VALS? Name the 8 segments and explain what each of them
mean.
2. For each segment write down at least one current advert which you
think is trying to appeal or target that segment. E.g. because image is
an expression of an Innovator’s personality and Achievers are driven by
achievement Citizen watches with Kevin Pietersen might appeal to
Innovators and Achievers because its “unstoppable – just like the
people who wear it”.
3. Look at the 1980s acronyms (yuppies etc) and write down at least one
current advert which might be aimed at this group.
4. Read The Observer article on Geezers and summarise its main points.
5. Check out your post code and comment on how accurate you think the
description is. What type of junk mail should you receive?