Chapter 6

Defining the Target Audience

Nothing is more important to
building effective media plan
than the target audience
Defining the Target Audience
 Make sure creative and media buying
are working in tandem, on the same
audience.
 “right” target seems simple but takes
careful planning to make most of your $$$
 Late ’90’s Chef Boyardee changes target
to teen boys, largest consumers – double
digit decline sales
 Bad move – mom was the buyer; when
they changed it, sales rose
Start with Right Objectives
 Knowing who the user is, is important but
don’t start there.
 Ask “what behavior do you want to
change.”
 I.e.: marketing objective is increase user
base; you need new users
 If your media plan targets heavy users,
will you reach the goal?...No.
 So, outline objective before figuring
out the target.
Start with Right Objectives
 Assess strengths and weaknesses of your
brand
 I.e.: grow brand by 5%
 Get current users to use it more
 Get new users from competitors or by growing
brand
Start with Right Objectives
Again….
 Start with business goal
(typically growing a brand by xx percent)
 Ask how are you going to get there?
 Assess your brand vs. the competitors and
the category
 Now, you can define the target audience.
Tools for Defining the Target
Audience
 Two nationally syndicated research studies
use by media planners:
 MediaMark Research MRI
 Simmons Market Research
 Both annual studies were originally
designed to support magazine industry
with sales and audience data.
 MRI has become the industry standard
 Simmons sticks to custom research
Tools for Defining the Target
Audience
 Simmons:
 “Experian Simmons has been providing our clients with
consumer behavior data that allows them to better
understand their customers and prospects, as well as
know where and how to advertise most effectively”
 Simmons hooked up with MasterCard to offer
tracking not found with the Nielsen Co. or
Information Resources Inc. (IRI)
 Nielsen and IRI track manufacturer's brand
movements through grocery stores. It’s powerful
info of purchase behavior used to understand
dynamics of moving brands and categories.
Tools for Defining the Target
Audience
 MRI:
 Preferred national media tool
 Info on 500+ categories and 6,000 brands
 Most used tool for magazine readership;
looks at 235 titles with recent reading logo
cards
 Also collects info on TV, cable, radio networks
and formats, newspapers, Internet
 Sample is 26,000 adults, 18+, highly reliable
 Surveys twice a year
Tools for Defining the Target
Audience
 MRI:
 Media planners using MRI Doublebase, has
50,000 respondents
 Doublebase linked to other consumer
segmentation tools that look at the population
by geography, demographics, purchase
behaviors – Spectra and NPD
 Nielsen and Spectra:
 Developed tool bridging retail tracking and
consumer targeting; get brand purchase
data directly linked to media behavior.
Tools for Defining the Target
Audience
 Simmons National Consumer Survey
 Similar data to MRI, provides a double check
 Local Market Tools
 Scarborough Research
joint effort Nielsen and Arbitron, measures
local media markets for top 75 US markets
 Media Audit
deeper market lists, 86 markets; but with less
detail
Tools for Defining the Target
Audience
 Key Broadcast Tools
 Nielsen – TV
 Arbitron -- radio
Heavy User Definition
 Important way to look at audience is
consumption
 heavy, medium or light user?
Lifestyle and Lifestage
 Prizm and Spectra key tools
 Defining lifestyle by where you live and
how affluent you are
 I.e.: lifestyle consumer in upscale suburb
way different than consumer in downscale
urban area
 Helps you put ”face” on target and
suggest you need different media
approaches
Lifestyle and Lifestage
 Lifestage – where you are in your life?
 I.e.: 25 year old mom of two is way
different than a 25 year old single woman
 This requires different media approaches
 So it’s not simply about age
Generations as a Target
 Another way to target – find common ground
among generations of consumers
 Connected not only by age but by unifying factors
like music, fads, inventions, politics, social
movements
 i.e.: 60’s, Vietnam, British invasion, psychedelic
 Connection is past demographics – it’s
emotional and historical
ads will use imagery, music, play on emotions
and memories
Behavioral Targeting
 How does your audience behave?
 Popular on web, track site visitors in
real-time
 I.e. user on site for dogs, probably owns a
pet and would be open to a new dog food
 Ideal for behavioral targeting
 have a relevant message for someone
when it is most relevant for them
 when they are behaving in a way that
indicates your brand may be important to
them
Behavioral Targeting
 Consider targeting bargain hunters who
clip coupons or visit websites that sell
discounted goods
 Find a behavior that’s a good fit for
your audience
Purchaser vs. Influencer
 So far, we talked about who is buying
product
 But who is consuming it?
 Need to do primary research to see if
there are influences that tip the scale to
buy
 Many items, children exert influence
Purchaser vs. Influencer
 Children's’ influence high
toys, candy, video games
 Children’s influence low
sunglasses, cars, salad dressing
 Case of cereal, do you target moms or kids?; Or
should you split it – 70% moms, 30% kids?
 What about two heads of a household – who to
target?
 Adult children are clearly making decisions for
their now-elderly parents.
Other Brand Influencers
 The employee matters.
 Especially in retail and service industries, good
service means better business.
 Brand manager often makes sure employee is a
target for the ads
 I.e.: grocery – 5 minute checkout or discount on
your groceries – before campaign hit, employer
ran ads touting how great the staff was – builds
pride so when campaign was released they were
ready to live up to it
Growing Ethnic Diversity
 Fastest growing US population is Hispanic
and Asian, followed by African American
 Ethic audience follow general market
media but also tap into specific ethic
media tailored to culture
Growing Ethnic Diversity
 Two schools of thought on ethnic
media:
1. What % of the ethnic population is
not delivered to through general
media?...make up the difference in
ethnic media
2. Scheduling ethic media makes a
political statement – “we recognize the
importance of this group”
Economic Impact of Targeting
 Everyone consumes media differently
 Example:
 more women watch TV than men
 therefore, it costs more $$ to reach men on
TV
 If you change media plan to target adults
instead of women, your cost goes up 10%
because you’re paying a premium to reach
men
Economic Impact of Targeting
 Example:
 Older adults watch more TV than younger
adults
 Therefore, it costs dramatically more to reach
18-34 than 55+
 The harder the group is to reach, the
more it costs to reach them
 But, there’s a curve ball here, if you go
after a targeted niche…..
Economic Impact of Targeting
 Some media are designed to reach a very
narrow audience, others are not
 TV and newspapers are alike:
 The broader the audience, the lower the $
$ to reach them
 Radio:
 Just the opposite
 Radio formats targeted at select age groups
 The tighter the audience, the lower it
costs to reach them
Economic Impact of Targeting
 Magazines
 Broad reach publications like Time, Sports
Illustrated, Good Housekeeping
 But if you’re looking for people you like spicy
food, Chili Pepper would be a better buy
 Web
 Same as magazines
 Search engines are broad reach vehicles
 Individual sites are niche properties
Economic Impact of Targeting
 Example:
 You’ve got $3-million for advertising for a
national cereal brand
 Your competitor spends $15-million
 Your 3 won’t go far against their 15
 Do you go after the broad “mothers”
market?
 Do you try to generate some noise in the
kids market?
 Or do you go after something totally
different –an ethic niche you want to
cultivate?
THINK….
The target audience is
the cornerstone of the
media plan.