In 2009, we asked 3,000 people from Vision Critical’s global panels in the US, UK, and Canada to tell us how they accessed social media, online news, television, newspapers, magazines and radio—how many times a week, and for how many minutes and hours they spent with each medium.
Are social media users different in their feelings about mass brands?
We wanted to know: in an age where the attention, patience and investment of consumers is fragmented by an avalanche of messages and media, what’s the advertiser’s target? What are our goals and targeted customer base for each traditional and new marketing channel?
Who is using which media? How does media use overlap? Or does it? Are social media users different in their feelings about mass brands? Most of all, how do we reach receptive people?
What we found is that people fall into one of five key media usage categories…
Five media personalities: a dramatic personae of advertising receptivity
MEDIA MANIACS delight in seeing and being seen—everything and everywhere.
The Media Maniac is an omnivore. Media Maniacs rarely pick up a newspaper or magazine, turning almost entirely to online sources for news, entertainment, and interaction. They’re especially enthusiastic about social media, radio and television. This segment tends to be more brand-conscious, and their heightened investment and engagement with both brands and media of all kinds makes them a key target in many ways. Media Maniacs are on all the time—both literally and figuratively.
SOCIALITES are online butterflies.
Socialites will rarely pick up a magazine, and are nearly indifferent to a newspaper. They rely on the internet for news to some degree, but can be found online more for social media than anything else. They’re not particularly interested in radio, but very much so in television.
Broadcast Receivers turn less to magazines and newspapers.
BROADCAST RECEIVERS are listening and watching.
Broadcast Receivers, like all segments these days, turn less to magazines and newspapers—and are more likely to go online for news or entertainment. They rely heavily on television and radio for a sense of connectivity. They are generally not found at all in social media.
JOE WATCHERS never miss a favorite show.
Joe Watchers shun all but television and online news, which they access for convenience only, perhaps. Like Broadcast Receivers, Joe Watchers are not found to use social media at all.
TUNED-OUTS are gathered around the kitchen transistor.
The tuned-out among us are truly ‘old school’, living a life unfettered by the media. They are selective and purposeful, tuning in to what they choose, when they choose.
Are some of these groups more or less receptive to advertising?
After asking questions that would help us to identify and categorize the media habits of people in Canadian, American and British markets, we had a sense of who uses which media. But what we really wanted to know is this: are some of these groups more or less receptive to advertising?
To better understand this, we added a layer of brand perception to the study, on top of the five categories of media behavior, to create a framework with which to anticipate each category’s receptivity to advertising.
People fall into 4 groups, with regard to their feelings about brands Popular brands Segmentation created using cluster analysis. Bubble size reflects relative proportion of the population
A BRAND LOVER might… have a ‘Blundstone Boot Company’ sticker on the rearview window of their car, plus three pairs: a beloved set of worn-in kickers, a steel-toed pair for yardwork and a suede pair for the office (and a couple of Bluny t-shirts as well)
A COST-CONSCIOUS BELIEVER might… drive two hours and stand in line to be first inside the Banana Republic store on President’s Day (after having been emailed an invitation for admission two hours earlier than the general public).
A LUKEWARM person might… be just as content to wander the aisles of a factory-seconds outlet as to wander in an exclusive shop—and tending to find either a good brand name or a good deal by chance rather than contriving to.
A BRAND SKEPTIC might… take pride in comparing ingredients lists in the pharmacy, and choosing a no-name decongestant on a matter of principle.
Examining the overlap: how brand orientation and media usage fit together
Brand Lovers, Brand Skeptics, and everyone in between, are found in basically equal measure in all media groups.
Do Joe Watchers prefer a more time-honored brand such as Kodak?
The proof and the pudding
Even with seasoned instincts we are researchers, after all. So we tested our hypothesis to see if it was true and fair. We surveyed 1,000 Americans to first segment them into media usage personalities, and then to explore how they perceive six digital camera brands – Kodak, Nikon, Canon, Sony, Samsung, and Olympus.
Next to those leading brands we offered a selection of descriptive words – easy-to-use, stylish, visionary, high-quality, dynamic, worth more, simple, authentic. Would media usage segments follow patterns in how they perceived these brands? Do social media maniacs prefer Canon because of Canon’s focus on online sharing? Do Joe Watchers, who don’t engage in social media, prefer a more time-honored brand such as Kodak?
The ratings for each segment brought us to the same conclusions we’d already arrived at on our own – there were virtually no statistically significant patterns in how brands are perceived across media segments. Differences in medium should drive targeting and tactics, but not strategy.
Want to know more about how best to approach each medium? It won’t cost you a nickel…
This is an abridged version of Vision Critical’s new Segmentation Study on Fragmented Media Markets. While it’s true that the medium does not dictate the message, the medium might adjust how we make that message resonate. Wanna know more? Click here to request the full report. (It’s absolutely free, for Vision Critical clients).
And to find out more about what other segmentation studies are available, contact your Account Manager.
Andrew Grenville is the Chief Research Officer of Vision Critical, which means he gets to work on all sorts of interesting stuff like this project on social media. He is also a member of the Facebook group “Drummers of Kingston”.