Effective Targeting of Audiences

Matt Howick, SMG

Deborah Paton, AECOM

WCCC National Active Travel Conference 2017

Agenda

• Matt

– The ingredients of effective marketing

– Segmentation/targeting

• Deborah

– Effective targeting in practice

Effective Targeting of Audiences –

the theory

Matt Howick, SMGmatt@smgateway.co.uk

Effective Marketing

NSMC Benchmarking criteria

“You never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.”

Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird

Audience segmentation

Drawing on insight to identify common attitudes and behaviours that allow project

to be targeted – avoid ‘one size fits all’

Segmentation – why?

• Understand

market/audience

• Identify and prioritise

target groups

• Develop

specific/tailored

customer-focused

interventions

• Communicate

appropriately

EFFECTIVE TARGETING

Segmentation strategies

Mass Marketing

(Undifferentiated

marketing)

➢ Target the whole marketing with one

intervention/product

Target Marketing

◆ Niche and

concentrated

marketing

◆ Differentiated

marketing

➢ Target one or more segments within a market

with different interventions

➢ Target one segment within a market with one

intervention

➢ Target multiple segments with different

interventions

Mass

Customisation

Marketing

➢ Target all segments in the market with

different interventions

What is a segment

• Set of potential customers/an audience

• Who have similar needs

• Who reference each other when

buying/engaging/consuming

• Are alike in the way they:

– Perceive value

– View products and services

– Purchase products and services

Characteristics of good segmentation

• Segments must be identifiable – easy to place customers in, easy to explain to colleagues, easy to measure

• Segments must be viable – be of a size and value that deserves your attention, be accessible

• Segments must be distinctive – have characteristics/attributes that set them apart from others

• But segmentation will need refreshing - things change over time

Quiz time

Male

Born 1948

British

2nd marriage

Affluent

Well known

family Organic farmer &

sceptic of modern

architecture

HRH Prince Charles

Rock Star & bat

decapitator

Ozzy Osbourne

Current

Behaviour

Socio-

demographic

Geo-

demographic

Activities &

Lifestyle Attitude

Psychographic

Benefits sought

Circumstances/engagement occasion

Engagement/purchase behaviour

Frequency of Behaviour/usage

Perceptions and beliefs

Age

Life stage

Gender

Family size

Income

Social Class

Education

Religion

Ethnicity

Postcode

Urban / rural

Coastal /

inland

Climate

Proximity to

services

Area

deprivation

Social Capital

How do they

spend their

money?

Where do they

socialise and

what do they

do?

What do they

read, watch

and listen to?

What engages

them most?

Needs,

desires,

aspirations,

beliefs and

values

Personality

type

Self esteem,

self efficacy,

locus of control

Key influences

in their life

Attitudes

Bases for segmentation

Existing segmentation models

Choosing your target segments

• Total number of people in the segment

• Proportion of “at risk” people in the segment

• Accessibility of the target audience

• How persuadable the target audience is

• Their potential to influence others

• Resources required to meet needs of target

• Equity – social equality considerations

Effective Marketing

NSMC Benchmarking criteria

Health check questions to ask

Is the project designed

from the perspective of the

target audience’s

perspective?

Are you clear what you

want the target audience/s

to do?

Do the benefits of the

desired behaviour

outweigh the costs in the

audience’s eyes?

Will a mix of tactics be

used to encourage the

desired behaviour change?

Effective Targeting of Audiences –

in practice

Deborah Paton, AECOM

About these examples & me

• Draw on my professional experience working at West Lothian Council (AECOM is not associated with these projects)

• Deborah Paton, Transport Planning Professional and Chartered Town Planner

• AECOM, Deborah.Paton@aecom.com

Health-promoting physical activity

in a workforce

Practical examples of targeting an audience

and building active travel engagement

Targeting audiences - individuals

Target population:

• NHS and school staff

Behaviours and motivations:

• Travel clinics and conversations with staff

revealed some of their motivations

• Staff interested in health

• Not necessarily linking the journey to

work with a physical activity opportunity

Opportunities

• Funding for workplace initiatives from

SCSP

• Increasing pressures on parking

• New walking journey planner launched

• NHS managers keen to engage staff

Targeting audiences - individuals

Approach:

• Paths for All Step Count Challenge with

specific focus on active travel journeys

(prize for best active travel story)

• Promoting new walking journey

planner

• Personalised travel plans

Outcomes:

• Oversubscribed, very popular

• Reported impacts:

– Team building in the workplace

– Higher levels of physical activity

– New discoveries (local space, paths)

– Emotional connections

Credit: http://stepcount.org.uk/

Secondary schools and cycling

Practical examples of targeting an audience

and building active travel engagement

Targeting audiences - schools

Target population:

• Existing schools with an interest in

using cycling as a way to engage with

pupils

Behaviours and motivations:

• Staff interested in cycling

• Engagement work with pupils

Opportunities

• Local factors including emerging Local

Active Travel Network Plans, air

quality, strong support from community

police on cycling, local bike lending

libraries

Targeting audiences - schools

Approach and outcomes:

• Build on existing afterschool cycle club

activities

• Support to apply for Cycle Friendly

School Award

• Promoting participation in Cycling

Scotland school camps

• Support in funding applications and

SCSP funding for staff training

• Suggestions for local infrastructure

improvements to maximise opportunity

for active travel to school

Credit: www.westlothian.gov.uk

Community mapping, outdoor

access and heritage

Practical examples of targeting an audience

and building active travel engagement

Targeting audiences - communities

Target population:

• Existing community organisations who can

act as local partners

Behaviours and motivations:

• Interested in local heritage and keen to

engage local residents

• Proactive about outdoor access

• Keen to build community schemes and

community capacity

Opportunities

• Local bike lending libraries

• Previous work by community on public

realm and outdoor access

• Dialogue on improving local active travel

infrastructure

Targeting audiences - communities

Approach and outcomes:

• SCSP funded project

• Free training in Open Street Map editing

from Sustrans

• Community map outputs incorporating

local heritage points and outdoor

access routes

• Building local capacity - mapping skills

and articulating needs for local

infrastructure

• Raising awareness of community

organisations within their community,

and engaging with wider audiencesCredit: www.openstreetmap.org

Greenwich Get Active

Practical examples of targeting an audience

The brief

• Mobilise a community to be more physically active

Increase physical activity levels across the whole population,

with a particular focus on key target groups

• Recognised need for a differentiated marketing strategy -a different offer to each target group/segment

• Used segmentation to:

– Focus on/understand priority groups

– Shape what to offer each group

– Determine how to engage/what to say

Target groups

• Insight driven

• Grouped - linked to common / similar motivations &

barriers

– Women

– Less active men

– More active men

– Older people

– Families

– + general pop’n

Targeted delivery/engagement

Conclusions? Not a linear process

Conclusions? Layers and culture

The future of targeting audiences….

• Personalisation

• Neuroscience (neuromarketing?)

• Big data

• Greater understanding of unconscious bias

(test yourself at https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/uk/)

• Try the Coursera course on consumer neuroscience run free by Copenhagen Business School https://www.coursera.org/learn/neuromarketing.