NEW YORK -
Speaking to the Direct Marketing Associations' national conference here, Dave Griffith, director of consumer analytics at CUNA Mutual Group, those drivers are critical to the success of a marketing plan. Griffith addressed the meeting along with Mark Graham, chief innovation officer with Yankelovich Research.
"Consumer values, attitudes and behaviors should be significant elements in developing any marketing plan that hopes to connect with consumers," said Griffith. "Too often marketers fall short in understanding why consumers are buying and what events are triggering that behavior. The use of traditional demographics is fine, but your strategy won't fundamentally change until you better understand the motivations."
Graham told the meeting that getting to know consumers and how they make purchasing decisions requires an in-depth look at how lifestyles have changed, resulting in what he terms an inside-out world where busy consumers are concerned with taking care of themselves more than previous generations. Additionally, they're taking risks to exert their own individuality.
Among the "curious" statistics cited by Graham:
* According to the International Spa Association, there were 8,734 day spas in the United States in 2004, up from 4,389 in 2002, which accounted for $5.4 billion in revenue.
* The increasing amount of stress and time constraints is creating a wave of new products and channels that give people relief from their busy lives.
* A recent New York Times article said "many young people in the workplace are finding that quitting their jobs is becoming the satisfying new alternative to the standard, entry-level vacation," as two weeks doesn't provide adequate down time.
Griffith said that through needs-based segmentation analysis, marketers are able to identify and study specific groups to determine their motivations and create a rich portrait of the customers within each segment. He noted CUNA Mutual is in the development phase of creating its own behavioral and attitudinal driven segmentation.
This will be used to fuel product development and create more relevant messaging strategies.
