Do you know…?

Ok, I realize that’s a very open-ended query…

I could be asking…

Do you know the way to San Jose? (showing my age here)

Do you know the first toilet ever seen on television was on “Leave It To Beaver?”

Or even…

Do you know one of Hewlett Packard’s first ideas was an automatic urinal flusher?

I’m actually quite concerned that two of the three references I chose have to do with toilets but… for this context and in this forum my query is…

DO YOU KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER?

I know, I know… you get asked that a lot, right?

‘Of course I know my customer, what do you think I am, an idiot?’

Well…

I’ve been in advertising/marketing for about 20 years now (showing my age again) and I’ve sat in more meetings or had more phone calls with clients who have no clue who their customers are.

Here’s a typical response to my query I receive from clients…

“I think they’re mostly women, I would say between the ages of 35-65, have two and  a half kids with a household income of somewhere between $35K and $100K.”

There are some obvious danger signs that should smack you right in the face.

1. “think”… You think they’re mostly women, etc? Nice, way to go out on a limb there
2. Two and a half kids. My personal favorite. “You know Jimmy and Lisa are great kids but that damn half kid Billy is a pain in the a…” What the hell is a half a kid?
3. A glaring omission is how often does your average customer patronize your product, service, ware or whatever?

It will obviously depend on said product, service or ware but in the right context, is it…

Once a week? Month? Year? Millennium? What?!?!

One of my fave bloggers, The Ad Contrarian, had a great post about this very topic not long ago.

In his post, he makes reference to the fact that “Advertising messages should be created for, and directed at, the heavy-using, high-yield customers in your category.”

He also makes reference to an Ad Age article: “Purchase Habits Trump Demographics in TV Buys.”

Demographics have almost no effect on whether TV ads produce sales, and consumers’ purchase history is the most reliable predictor of success, according to research from TRA, which has been pairing data from set-top TV boxes…since 2008.

The gender and age of viewers has little correlation with the way those viewers respond to ads, TRA President Bill Harvey said..

“TV’s major sales effect tends to be among people who are heavy purchasers in your categories…”

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “This only speaks to TV.  Demographics still plays a role in the other mediums, right?”

Wrong.

Well, sort of…

Let’s say you have 1,000 customers  in your database. Many people would create a demographic profile using all 1,000 people, right?

But why use ALL 1,000 if only a certain amount are the aforementioned heavy-users, the ones you KNOW are more likely to buy. Why include someone who buys once a month with someone who buys once a day? Deomographic Profile results would be somewhat skewed, would they not?

Identify your heavy-users and create your profile off of THAT list.

Just remember… he/she ain’t heavy… they’re your customers. Your BEST customers.

Tags: ad age, Hewlett Packard, The Ad Contrarian, TRA Global

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