Using Consumer Clusters To Ramp Up ROI

Mapping out Consumer Segments

Consumer research is too important to leave it to guesswork. Many resources can be used:

• Proprietary surveys (whether online or in person) of actual consumers
• Syndicated surveys like Simmons, MRI, Scarborough all provide a mix of media, behavior and
demographic information
• Nielsen and Arbitron also syndicated and afford detailed audience behavior data

Other syndicated, custom and more general studies and surveys exist but the key point is: understanding
and getting to the core of who is your customer is vital.

Let’s continue with our hypothetical fast food restaurant scenario and lock in what we could learn from
research and segment the audience in a manageable manner for simplicity’s sake. The result is the
chart below, which offers specific insights into customer segmentation, buying behaviors and the choices
they’re exhibiting:

What have we learned about the restaurants consumers? As the chart above indicates:

• The core audience is fairly young: 43 percent of the revenues comes from people who are 25-35
(our average age as a country is 39)
• The split for 25-35 is very even: 50/50
• The restaurant skews older, with 37 percent of revenues in the 35-50 range
• Overall, the restaurant skews more female (52 percent) than male (48 percent)
• The odd combination of smoothies and green salads is probably explained by moms coming with
their kids, possibly after school
• Women tend to consume more single burgers; men doubles

A similar analysis of this kind can address several other variables that might impact buying behaviors for
example:

• Time of day
• Day of week
• Ethnicity
• Area/Zip Code

Checkpoints:

1. Be aware of your own or a competitor’s advertising activity at any point that might skew results
2. Do same-store comparisons to make sure consumer segments are not skewed by increased distribution or footprint
3. Identify if there is a marked and important seasonality.

The next in the series will address will tackle additional elements of TOE that make up the entire strategic process.

Other articles by Marcelo:

Thinking Physics to increase your ROI (part 1)

Two Guys Walk Into A Bar
???
?In Advertising, Persistence Wins the Day

50 Ways to Kill Your Lover…?

Brand Growth And The Randomness of It All

Boring—It’s How We Shop and Market

Brand Loyalty- The Truth About Cats and Dogs

Media Planning is Like Running the Bulls