The Perils of Targeted Advertising
It used to be that targeting males 18 to 34 or females 35 to 54 was about as good as an advertiser could expect, and even so, advertisers knew that there was a high degree of waste involved since many non-targets might also see your ads. You’re not likely to close a diaper sale to a teen male, or to sell a sports car to a 30-year-old mother of three. Then along came digital advertising, and the ability to buy more precise targets was...
It’s a Color-Coded World
Consumers have long been trained to associate certain colors with specific brands. Take rental cars: I’m confident if I show you the color red and ask you about a rental car brand, you’ll think of Avis, orange will make you think of Budget, gold will make you think of Hertz, and you’ll associate green with National. Similarly, in the telecommunications business, it’s as if representatives from AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint...
State Farm Makes Plans to Sell Car Insurance Customer Data
State Farm has developed plans to sell customer data, allowing advertisers to create highly targeted pitches based on where, when and how people drive. In a patent application filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, State Farm proposes gathering information about drivers’ routes and stops from vehicles’ sensors, navigation systems, cameras or other devices. State Farm would send data on driver’s habits to “another unit or...
What’s Influencing Latinas in the Beauty Aisle
You’re not going to the grocery store without your makeup on, are you?” “Your father is going to be home in an hour—and I haven’t even done my hair or makeup!” These phrases may seem out of place or too traditional for much of today’s culture, but they still resonate and stand true for one of the most rapidly growing demographics in the United States, the Hispanic woman. A recent Nielsen report (www.nielsen.com) notes that “Hispanic...
Avoiding ‘Middle of the Road’ Brand Positioning
To effectively reach millennials, marketers must leverage research and its resulting consumer insights to identify and quantify new brand positionings as either cutting-edge or nostalgic. Just stay out of the middle lane. When researching and developing brand positioning, many marketers try to create a space in which they can appeal to as many consumers as possible, ideally striving to be the No. 1 brand in their category. Marketers...