For years marketers have focused on who the consumer is. Are they male? Female? 18 – 24? Making more than 35K? And the list goes and on and on. Marketing mix models are based on and rooted in demographic data about consumers. Inevitably, this leads to a conversation where a brand manager says ”we need to target the right consumer segments.” After all we don’t want any other segment buying our product.
This has always bothered me. Wouldn’t it be better if everyone bought our product, independent of their demographic information? Look at the iPod. Do you think Apple cares that both 60 year old men and 14 year old women buy the iPod? Of course not; a sale is a sale. There even going to start selling iPhones in Wal*Mart. I’d venture to guess if they focused only on “who” Wal*Mart would not have been a distribution option.
Loopt Screen Shot
Lately, it seems people are catching religion and evolving beyond pure demographics. My feeling is that we’re just about ready to jump on the “where are consumers” band wagon. Tools like Loopt and BrightKite cater specifically this concept. They allow users to see where are other users are. The new version of AOL Instant Messenger and Tweetie apps for the iPhone both offer the ability to see where other users of that app are. The applications and tools are nice, but it’s the sophistication of mobile devices and their adoption by consumers that are enabling this shift to happen. Hell, the iPhone has built in GPS so that you always know exactly where you are.
So why does this even matter? Simple – the demographics become irrelevant on some level. This is a huge win for the consumer. The offers they’ll receive will be high value and designed to generate a sale immediately. Offers won’t be tiered because everyone is in play.
Think about the following scenario.
- You’re in downtown Chicago on Michigan avenue
- You’re just about to call it a day
- As you approach Ohio St. your phone beeps alerting you to a special buy one get offer at the Gap
- While you don’t REALLY need anything specific, how can you pass up a buy one get one offer
- So you saunter into the Gap and end up getting two new t-shirts
- As you leave the Gap, your phone vibrates
- You look down to see a Thank You message from the Gap and an eReceipt from your purchase
We’re not too far away from this happening. Coupons Inc. is already serving up coupons inside of Google Maps. That’s a step in the right direction because Coupons Inc. and Google Maps don’t care who you are – they only care about where you’re going.
We already are operating in a world of RIGHT NOW. It’s the reason that interactive marketers are so excited about twitter. It’s about the here and now. Well where you are is the here and now. How fast will we move in this direction? Are marketers ready? Are consumers ready?
This is exciting.
Interactive marketer, innovator, boat rocker, continuous learner, movie lover, risk taker, dad and all around good guy. I'm always up for a spirited conversation. These are my thoughts and ramblings, not those of my employer.
I would argue that it’s not even where you are — what matters most is: What frame of mind you’re in at the moment. On the most basic level, this frame of mind is expressed by what the user types (or talks, or whatever) into the machine. Note also that the person who types in “bicycle” typically want information about bicycles (such as a dictionary and/or encyclopedia entry) and the person who types in the plural form (bicycles) typically wants to see a list of bicycles to choose / select from.
I talked about something similar to this yesterday in a brainstorm. I think it’s a great idea. I think it would also be great to put a wish list and a needs list into your phone. Then, when you’re out, your phone alerts you to sales of those particular products.
Adam – no doubt this is a huge opportunity for marketers. I do think consumers are increasingly ready, especially with the adoption of the iPhone. While the iPhone is something like 10% of the mobile phone market, it accounts for 70% of web traffic via mobile (don’t hold me to the numbers but they are directionally correct). It’s been a game changer and infusing location based services and apps is just the tip of the iceberg. I’ve already used locale-based services on vacation and at conferences from simple things like finding an ATM or a Starbucks. I could easily envision more value and relevant marketing coming from this. Great post Adam.
I agree, demographics don’t have to be limited to age/income. But it sounds like you still have a strong idea of who you want to talk to, even though this group might include people of various ages and incomes.
@Norbert – Frame of mind is also important. Taco Bell offers at 1:00 am when someone is leaving the bar are probably more relevant at that time
@Deanna – awesome idea. Now we’re talking value. I’d only receive offers and information that matched my interests.
@Adam – I’m going to have a future post about how to combine the concept of Loopt with dating sites for serious power. Imagine being able to walk past a bar and know how many people in the bar are single
@Leah – I want to talk to anyone and everyone that’s in proximity to my offering. Moms, dads, single people, young people, old people, etc.
@Kmiec wouldn’t they also be just as relevant @ midnight – in case someone is in the “leaving” frame of mind? (there might be many indicators of “wanting to leave” – e.g. visiting taxi.org or something like that).
@Cohen I don’t have ANY numbers, but going by my gut feeling such a high number for mobile web traffic via iphone seems quite far-fetched — or do you mean only within the United States? AFAIK, mobile web traffic in the USA is still miniscule compared to other markets (but that is little more than a hunch). I expect the strongest growth markets for mobile web remains in Asia + Africa, with Northern Europe leading WRT “saturation” (all little more than gut feeling, though).
One word Adam – relevancy. I don’t care if the Gap on Michigan Ave. is having a sale if I don’t shop at the Gap. Coach or Cole Haan, now that’s another story…I’d be open to a phone call from the store right then asking me to stop in because they have a new whatever for me to take a look at…as long as it’s relevant and fits in with that list Deanna mentioned. As much as we’ve protected our cell phone numbers, I’d be willing to give it up for RELEVANT marketing messages. But isn’t that the challenge we all face – making our marketing more relevant and memorable?
People are already “gaming” this system with Bluetooth technology/proximity marketing… when you walk by you receive an offer to come inside. When you walk by the bar and are x distance away, you receive a drink offer, when you walk out of a show, you receive an offer to go to the retail store, etc.
In Asia, you get location based messaging as soon as you get off the plane.
What I’d like to see happen is location based technologies synch with other systems/customer information to provide better understanding of where you’re headed *to* vs. where you are right now (i.e. Loopt said you were at x restaurant, so now I’ll offer you VIP entrance to my nightclub vs. a food offer or a free dessert vs. a free appetizer) and data for more relevant offers (i.e. person was searching for t-shirts on their iPhone, so as they walk by Gap, they receive a t-shirt vs. pants offer).
While the phone is becoming less of a personal space, it is still a new space for most. If customers are willing to let us play there, then it is our job as marketers to offer high value, relevant offers.
I’m revising my comment slightly as it contains many “run” vs. “crawl” statements.
Either way, I don’t see run or crawl theories happening effectively until the carriers get onboard.
Until then, whatever your work around is, it will not have enough reach to make the time and technology it takes to do this cost effective.
We have been talking with a number of retailers about scenarios that combine loyalty card data with proximity marketing (using Bluetooth, Free Wifi. Shortcode and eventually custom apps).
The hard part is knowing “frame of mind” as @nmw pointed out. You dont always have a lot to go on, but you might be able to do things like –
- someone has been standing in electronics for longer than usual. Maybe I should send them some help? maybe a coupon?
- this person just brought A, so they might be interested in B. So lets push a coupon to their phone (as the POS).
- if I use a free wifi service, splash screens and sponsors are already offering local ads.
Its an interesting time and there seems to be far more willingness to explore possibilities than there was, even 6 months ago.
The other main challenge is just the range of capabilities – unlike online, you have to address a much more diverse set of device capabilities and so it takes a little more work to make interesting capabilities available to the broadest possible audience.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jerseys
Tennessee Titans Jerseys
Washington Redskins Jerseys