Re: Discussion - the impact of Individual data on Marketing Re: Discussion - the impact of Individual data on Marketing> For example the classic approach to advertising has been to
> progressively focus the advert to the audience by techniques such as
> socio-economic class, age, location etc. As a simple example it
> tells me that on average people who like in my street are likely to
> buy a Volvo - this focuses the advert from say the 1% hit rate
> typical of a national newspaper to (say) 3% for a local leaflet
> campaign.
> However the advertisers could markedly improve their hit rates if
> they knew if I drove or if they knew which people in my street
> changed their car 2 years ago.
> The latter example treats individuals within their own context
> whereas demographics simply treats people as a case. I would contend
> that context [ what they do! ] is far more valuable than case [ what
> they are like!].
> My question - has anyone got strong views or know of any studies that
> have been reported addressing this change?
Sure. But how does one take the information that's available and use it on the
net?
If I cared I could find out when Roger bought his car, what he paid for it, who
it's insured with, probably how many miles a year he drives. I could do the same
for his house and some other big ticket items. In fact, given a reasonable
investment, I could probably, through the magazines he reads come up with a
pretty good composite of *his* lifestyle.
Other marketers have done that to me. I've gotten *expensive* mailings from
Acura, Lincoln and others solely based on their demographic analysis of me. They
know what I drive, how far I drive and believe I might consider their offerings
next time around.
But, as Roger points out, this *is* the province of classic marketing. How does
one take that information and translate it to the net? Unless the user offers
the information, my midnight modem trolling on a computer in northern California
has nothing to do with my lifestyle in suburban Boston. I can hop and skip from
web site to web site, with no rhyme or reason to my links. How will the
marketers correlate this with the demographic information they have of me, or
more importantly, how will they deliver messages I might find of interest
*unless* I reach out and ask for it?
Is someone going to build a composite of wheelman@ix.netcom.com based on where I
post usenet messages? Seems like an awfully difficult proposition. And 95%
people that browse usenet lurk rather than post regularly.
And if one did build a composite of wheelman, what would they do with it? Send
me junk email? We've already been down *that* path!
Any thoughts?
Lee Levitt
Director
Distribution Channels Research
International Data Corporation
llevitt@idcresearch.com (work)
wheelman@ix.netcom.com (play)