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TECHNIQUE
Attitudinal data gathered from market research can offer brands a fresh view of how their markets are segmented, and what messages and creative will resonate with each audience, says Steve Messenger
Every direct marketing strategist I meet has the same reaction when I reveal that I am a market researcher: "Research is great, but we deal with the whole of the consumer base, not just a sample, and you can't apply a handful of people's views to an entire database of targets."
Direct marketers have relied on circumstantial data (often described as being gathered through "market research") to model campaigns and anticipate customer behaviour for a long time. But, as data capture improves and more manufacturer and retail brands begin investing in marketing campaigns to win customers' loyalty, direct marketing is best positioned to offer a competitive advantage if it incorporates more about why customers buy, in addition to who they are, what they buy and where they buy it.
Knowing why they bought it adds a whole new dimension. Some years ago, I bought a china figurine as a present for a relative. As a consequence I then found myself on a database of "china figurine collectors" and received endless mailings offering me all sorts of china objects at discount prices, none of which I was interested in. What a waste of money for the client.
So, how can direct marketing planners and data specialists work with market research to turn a sample of customers' opinions into an effective segmentation strategy, implemented across an entire customer database?
1 Identify what circumstantial customer data you have available to work with
Before gathering attitudinal data to model across a customer database, it is critical to build up a solid understanding...