Leveraging Context: The Quest for Dynamic Consumer Segmentation
As the media landscape continues to grow fragmented and consumer choice abounds, the industry needs to move beyond labels like “millennials” or “real-time marketing” to turn the wealth of available data into actionable insights.
The digital era has resulted in large-scale access to unprecedented amounts of consumer information. Social networking, blogging, and e-commerce have made it possible to track and understand the consumer journey from a more informed perspective. Yet, the traditional four-quadrant model of consumer segmentation has remained staunchly in place. To fully capitalize on the value of Big Data, information seekers need to adopt a more dynamic framework that values consumers as dynamic individuals, rather than males and females over and under 24.
The call for more dynamic consumer insights has been echoed by brands and platforms alike. At Newscred’s recent #ThinkContent conference in San Francisco, for example, representatives from key players like Twitter, YouTube, Levi Strauss, Visa, Taco Bell, and others all highlighted the need to move beyond simplified demographics in order to provide better content experiences for consumers. At 18Hubs, we build on this strategy by examining the triggers and contexts that determine consumer interaction. We focus on granular data and its impact on the content experience.
One prime example is the growing portfolio of content produced by social influencers on online platforms. Influencers are the cultural tastemakers of the day, generating billions of consumer activities. Their content inspires reactions and interactions from consumers, especially millennials. Tracking these responses across the web is key to understanding the new media audience’s behavioral framework. As influencers connect with their fans, consumer research also needs to focus more deeply on the actual cultural, social, emotional, and economic environment their experiences live in.
Another useful example is brands’ increasing investment in meaningful storytelling, content marketing that emphasizes a larger cause rather than the brand itself. Data analysis is generally labeled an analytical exercise but the same fundamental rule should apply here as well. Current segmentation practices represent a narrow and outdated framework that does not adequately capture cross-platform consumer interactions. Instead, brands and platforms should leverage data to tell new stories about consumers and their creative ways of engaging with IP, offering added value to all parties.
At 18 Hubs, we have explored the topic of dynamic consumer segmentation in depth. In collaboration with Havas Sports & Entertainment (HSE) and USC’s Annenberg Innovation Lab, we launched Fans.Passions.Brands, a global study that provides insights into multiple ways sports and music fans engage with brands based on specific triggers and contexts. The research shows how brands can understand and leverage this activity through new logics of engagement.
While we are all consumers, our interests are not limited to established segments of age, gender, and other surface-level descriptors. In the age of Big Data, consumer information is more granular, nuanced, and diverse. It’s time that consumer research and analysis follow this model as well.
Written by Thomas Jorion & Matthias Stork
