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Zenith Optimedia's “Man In The Middle” Identifies New Technology Buyers; MRI's WOM Identifies Consumers Who Talk About It

Getting tech enthusiasts revved-up about “the next big thing” is key to a successful technology product launch. To target these early adopters, Zenith Optimedia developed a proprietary “Man in the Middle” segmentation system for its clients. Bruce Goerlich, Zenith Optimedia’s president for strategic resources in North America, combines this segmentation with MRI’s Word-of-Mouth (WOM) segments to identify enthusiasts who buy and tell.

In this Q&A, Mr. Goerlich discusses Zenith's the "Man in the Middle" approach.

Q. What prompted Zenith Optimedia to develop this segmentation?

A: Our business can get caught up in the "gee whiz" of technology--under the false premise that all forms of new media will be adopted just because they are new. We want to make sure that we understand consumers’ relationship to new technology, and this segmentation allows us to easily identify those key people who are most likely to buy or use a medium simply because it’s new. 
We call it "Man in the Middle” because of our focus on the first three segments that represent consumers most likely to impact WOM: Breakouts, Early Adopters, and Man in the Middle. The data show how new technology appeals to these consumers in relation to where the average person usually sits, identifying what new technologies will succeed all the way to the middle.

Q: How do the segments help you identify technology early adopters?

A: This approach allows us to link brand usage to new media technologies and reasons for the adoption. Respondents are asked to indicate their interest in a battery of new media and communication technologies. We then ask diagnostic questions that tell us why they are interested in owning–or not. 

Q: Did you find symmetry between Zenith's "Man in the Middle" and MRI's "Word-of-Mouth" (WOM) segmentations?

A: Our segmentation focuses on predisposition to adopt new media technologies. It doesn't focus directly on word of mouth.  The academic literature shows a relationship between our approach to interest in technologies and WOM, but we hadn't tested it directly.  
We leapt at the chance to work with MRI because we felt the two segmentations should reinforce each other.  Those people who are most likely to adopt new media technologies should be the ones who talk about new media the most, and vice versa.  

And voila, the results indicate that they do!  The leading edge MRI WOM segments over-index against the leading edge Zenith Optimedia new technology segments, while the lagging WOM segments over index against the lagging new technology segments.

Q: Why is it valuable for marketers to know about these segments?

A: Consumer interest and word of mouth are vital catalysts for product growth. The leading edge adopters are the first ones both to experience and talk about new products. Connecting with these segments can help speed up penetration of new brands and variants.

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Commentary

Audience Guarantees For Magazine Buys: You’ve Got To Use Demographics - By Edward Papazian

The Commentary section of The Source invites media and research thought leaders to share their positions on topics of importance to the industry. This issue features an article that first appeared in Media Matters, published by Media Dynamics, Inc. on August 15, 2008.

A year or so ago, Time initiated the concept of selling guaranteed audience delivery rather than circulation for magazines, and although we agree with this idea, it is not easy for the agencies to accept. For one thing, the only thing that the magazines seem willing to guarantee is average issue total readership projections–not issues-specific data to key demographics. Such an offer would be totally unacceptable for network TV, so why do the magazines think that they can pull this off successfully?

With their circulations declining or being purged of “unprofitable” subscriptions, it is small wonder that some publishers would prefer to abandon issue-specific circulation guarantees, which allow agency buyers to nit-pick and demand compensation for “underdeliveries.” In some cases, this is carried to the point where overdeliveries on particular issues are ignored, which seems rather unfair.

Still, you can’t expect an advertiser or agency to get excited when all you are willing to guarantee is a 12-month moving average total audience of 10.5 million adults aged 18+ per issue. At the very least, you could apply MRI’s new system, which estimates--based on online interviews--the ups and downs of individual issue audience levels and marries such data to its regular average issue findings. As a result, MRI can offer an estimate of issue-by-issue readership variations, which is still preferable to 12-month average issue data.

The other variable is demographics. Why not learn from the network TV experience? The networks will only guarantee delivery for broad-based age/sex demos (mostly 18-49, 25-54) on an aggregate basis, provided they include all telecasts where they overdeliver as well as those where they underdeliver, and by quarters as well as over a full season. If magazines developed a similar system, using TV-style demos and perhaps adding an upper income bracket like $75K+ or 100K+, the agencies would be hard pressed to object, since they embrace the same procedure for TV.

Of course, there are risks in going the demographic route. The readership studies often produce unexpected “bounces,” which means that certain schedules are going to come up short; however, if the publishers stand firm on how these demographics are configured, and the way that delivery is tallied (total schedule, not issue-by-issue), the odds are that losses will be kept to a reasonable minimum.

Eliminating outmoded circulation-based guarantees is certainly long overdue. To do this, magazines must switch to a “currency” that is advertiser-relevant, and total reader counts are not the answer. The answer seems to be sensibly defined demographics, which are broadly indicative and not too finely cut.

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Highlight on GfK

GfK Automotive Develops Tools That Measure Marketing ROI

While MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer provides a wide range of automotive information on consumer purchases and media exposure, clients who need to learn more about their car and truck marketing investments can turn to MRI’s sister company, GfK Automotive.

Working with the R&D sectors of GfK Custom Research North America, GfK Automotive develops tools to analyze each stage of the automotive marketing process, three of which are noted here:

• The AFI Purchase Funnel guides users through the consumers’ automotive decision-making process and identifies strengths and weaknesses of specific makes and models throughout each stage of the process. 
• The Ad Spending Estimator helps identify advertising expenditures required to meet specific sales goals.
• The Media Mix Model identifies an optimized media mix for each product within its segment using key variables such as sales figures and consumer demand. MMM can produce simulations showing how sales are impacted by increases and decreases in media spending.

“Given the impact of the economic downturn on the automotive industry, it is more important than ever to understand all stages of the marketing process,” said SVP Consulting, GfK Automotive Donna Miller, “Clients using our analytic tools are fine tuning their decision-making processes.”

These tools can be adapted for other industries. For more information, please contact us.

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Because You Asked

When Should Psychographic Weights Be Used When Running MRI Data?

For the most part, psychographic weighting is already built into MRI psychographic runs and do not need to be added. There are two exceptions, however; psychographic weights should be used when crosstabulating VALS or LifeMatrix data.

Here’s a bit of background on the evolution of MRI’s in-built psychographic weights. When MRI began to include psychographics in The Survey of the American Consumer, separate weights were created for each psychographic battery and subscribers were encouraged to use the correct weight for each particular psychographic run. (“Weighting” lets researchers project survey data to the total U.S. population.)

As more psychographic batteries were incorporated, however, the number of weights became excessive and problems sometimes surfaced, such as:

• Clients often used incorrect weights which resulted in incorrect analyses;
• Percentages did not always add up to 100 since not all respondents complete all items within a psychographic battery;
• The potential for distortion increased because the responses of those who answered all battery items may differ from those who did not.

In 2005, MRI started a process to address these issues, ensuring there would be no gaps in the data. This eliminated the need for separate weights for each psychographic battery. Most psychographic runs now use the standard Population (‘000) weighting like any other report. 

The only exception is when crosstabulating VALS or LifeMatrix data.  Since MRI did not create the VALS and LifeMatrix questions, the ascription procedure could not be used.  When running VALS or LifeMatrix data, MRI users should select corresponding VALS or LifeMatrix weights.  If running both LifeMatrix and VALS, selecting the Collective Weight will provide results for only those respondents who answered both LifeMatrix and VALS questions.

For more information, consult MRI’s Technical Guide or contact your MRI representative.

If you would like to suggest a BYA question for future issues of The Source, please contact us.

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New and Noteworthy

MRI Starch Expands Measurement

As MRI Starch continues to develop its online syndicated product, it has expanded the number of titles that will be measured in 2008 and 2009. “Prior to MRI’s acquisition of Starch in August, Starch had scheduled to measure about 188 issues in 2008--that number has now increased to more than 200,” said Mickey Galin, SVP Research at MRI Starch. “We’ve hit the ground running, and we’re planning to measure at least 400 issues in about 100 titles in 2009.” In addition to increasing the overall number of issues measured, MRI Starch now measures all national ads of 1/3 or larger in each of these issues.

The following calendar covers the issues measured for October, November and December 2008:

Ad Engagement Reports: The Best of Business Books 2008

The MRI Starch "engagement score" helps identify the best performing print ads. The score combines the percentage of readers who noticed a given ad and the percentage that read at least half of it.

Featured in Ad Age's 10/31/08 "Best Ads of Business Books 2008" column, MRI Starch considered 664 one-page and two-page ads. It then selected the top ads in each of 10 major categories. All selected ads were thoroughly read by over half of those who initially noticed the ad. Read all about it.

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