Several years ago, at a media seminar, I listened to a representative of one of the national magazines make a very impressive presentation on the extent of the research capabilities that were employed by his publication. He made a statement, to the effect that he could identify all of the 25 to 30 year old, blonde, married, females that had 2 (two) children and lived in a certain section of the city where the meeting was taking place. When it was my turn at the podium, I couldn’t resist the temptation to remind the audience of the often, overlooked fact. The fact that we are a highly mobile society and by the time our magazine friend could tabulate and publish his research, a certain number of his subjects could have dyed their hair, had another child, celebrated their 31st birthday, been divorced, or moved out of the city. Or even all of the above.

This is not to suggest that the research is invalid. It merely points out the fact that, even as the research is being conducted, there is a constant and inevitable change taking place in the lives of the population being researched. And it is taking place, not only on a daily basis, but also constantly throughout the day. While the total numbers that show up in the final research may be reasonably accurate, they do not necessarily reflect the status of the individuals that were the original subjects of the studies.
This may not seem significant when applied to any single cause of change of status, however, when you look at all the forces that dictate change and apply them to all of the people they affect, the numbers become significant indeed. This is that vast mobile market, a huge moving target, that can literally fall through the grate of even the best laid media plan, unless that plan provides a safety net to catch the dropouts as they move through a kaleidoscope of change.

Let’s take a look at the basic types of market mobility and the impact they can have on the ability of an advertiser to get his message to his target market.

1. MOBILITY OF AGE

There are roughly 268,700 people in St. Joseph County. That means that on the average, 736 of them will be celebrating their birthday every single day of the year. Every week that adds up to 5,152, which, in turn, translates into over 22,816 birthdays a month. Besides creating a huge market for birthday cakes, candles, presents, and all the trappings of a birthday party, think of the impact certain birthdays have on the lives of all those celebrants. For one thing, the cost of buying life insurance just went up!
Some of them reach 16 and can get a driver’s license for the first time. (I once had an automobile dealer ask me what was the most important day in the life of an individual. The answer – that individual’s sixteenth birthday. Independence Day he called it, for on that day the kid was no longer at somebody else’s mercy for transportation.) Still others reach the age of retirement or will be eligible for their first Social Security check. On that same day, there will be those who are eligible to vote for the first time and others who can buy their first legal drink or sign their first legal contract. There are even those who have a shot at having Willard Scott wish them a happy birthday on the Today Show. I could go on and on, but I think you get the drift.

2. MOBILITY OF FAMILY

The structure of the family has undergone some significant changes in recent years. The single
parent households have increased dramatically. At the same time, the number of persons per household has decreased. This, in turn, has resulted in a rate of household growth that has outstripped the rate of increase of the population. Yet, in spite of all these changes in the family structure, new household formations, through marriages, has remained relatively steady. And regardless of the circumstances, certain biological and social relationships remain unchanged.

Each time a birth occurs it sets off a chain of events that impact on the marketplace. Setting aside some of the aberrations you read about in the media, a first-born creates a whole new set of relationships. Couples, who, up to that time, may have been merely man and wife, or roommates, are suddenly transformed into mother and father. Four new grandparents are created, as well as, a myriad of aunts, uncles and cousins. All have an added dimension to their buying patterns.

The decision must frequently be made as to who goes to work and who stays home. Movie money is diverted to buy pablum and that new fall dress bows out in favor of Toys-R-Us. The day care industry gets a boost and that old gang down at the corner tavern is less frequented by one of the regulars.

Each new birth to the family adds to the impact on the market. More mouths to feed means more food to buy. More bodies means more clothes, more beds, more rooms, more of a whole new set of demands on the pocketbook that impact on a substantial cross section of the market.

What kind of impact? 3,750 of these blessed events come along every year. That figures up to 10 every day of the year Sundays and holidays included. Then the kids grow up and leave home and the empty nest syndrome takes over.

In the meantime, all kinds of forces may be at work altering the family structure. There are divorces and remarriages, births and deaths, relatives moving in and out. Not a pleasant subject to contemplate, but a factor to consider when you try to analyze your shifting market demographics, is the 2,327 people who are removed, by death, from the marketplace every year; 30 from automobile accidents alone. Each in its own way impacts on the market and contributes to its mobility.

Breadwinners are lost, homes must be sold, living patterns are disrupted, and markets are eroded. To a degree, illness can create much the same disruption and it certainly impacts on buying patterns. You need only to read your newspaper to see that here is a daily force, being brought to bear, not only on the market itself, but also on how we perceive that market.

3. ECONOMIC MOBILITY

One of the most volatile elements that contributes to the constant shifting of marketplace demographics is economic mobility. This occurs whenever there is a change in the economic status of a consumer.

Many of the factors discussed above contribute indirectly to economic mobility. We refer here to all the factors that directly, and often suddenly have their effect. Even, at this moment, somewhere, a boss is telling an employee, “You’ve done a great job and I’m promoting you and raising your pay.” That employee is experiencing economic mobility.

At the same time, in another part of town, a boss is telling an employee, “You didn’t make your quota, so we’re letting you go.” More economic mobility.

You have economic mobility on a larger scale when a factory closes its doors and dismisses its entire work force, while elsewhere a new company starts up and hires a new work force. All of the employees involved, in both cases, experience economic mobility.

There are numerous and often-unpredictable factors that create economic mobility. On the up side, it could be a bonus, an inheritance, an unexpectedly large commission, or the sale of an asset. On the down side, it could be an increase in expenses, such as interest or insurance, a strike, an accident or illness, or a bad string of luck at the races.

There is no way research can accurately factor in these shifts in the ability to buy. You can say, without fear of contradiction that they will occur.

4. GEOGRAPHIC MOBILITY

The most obvious mobility that occurs in the demographic structure of the marketplace is geographic structure of the marketplace is geographic in nature.

A friend, who works for a large corporation, told me that he had moved 17 times in 25 years. He may not be typical. Studies by the government and the moving industry indicate that an average of 16 percent of the population move each year.

What happens when a household moves? Plenty! For one thing, it invalidates the information the householder gave that researcher last month at the old home. They usually have to find a new store for groceries, a new bank, a new service station, a new school for the kids, and a host of other new sources to fulfill their ongoing needs. In the new digs, the drapes don’t match the wallpaper, the refrigerator won’t fit in the new kitchen, the plumbing needs repair, and the next-door neighbor has a brand new car in the driveway. Makes the four-year old family bus look a little shabby!

All this, or a reasonable facsimile thereof, is happening in some 43 million people a year. If the media buy has a geographic fall out that doesn’t match this movement in the marketplace, a large segment of the target audience can go either unexposed or under exposed to the advertiser’s message.

5. MOBILITY OF LIFE STYLE

To add to the complexity of market analysis, mobility begets even more mobility. All of the factors we have considered above create a mobility of life styles.

Our youth stay up late, talk loud, drink beer, listen to rock music, and have all the answers to the world’s problems. Then one day they get a job, get married, settle down, and reach what we fondly call the age of accumulation. They may start a savings account, take out a mortgage, go to bed before the 10 o’clock news so they can get up early and go to the job; and, they begin to plan for the future. In the meantime, they graduate from beer to martinis and attend the Symphony.

Later, when they have achieved a degree of accumulation, you’ll find them in Florida or Arizona or Palm Springs in the winter. They are buying a condo and eating out 5 nights a week. They decry rock and roll, listen to elevator music on FM, and drink a light scotch or wine, and decaffeinated coffee.

At every stage of this ever-changing life style the things that interest them and hold their attention are changing, too. Their needs, their desires, and their ability to pay are in a constant state of change. So is their accessibility to their traditional media sources.

6. THE ULTIMATE MOBILITY

The ultimate consumer mobility takes place on the streets highways of America. According to the Federal Highway Administration, in 2001 Americans rolled up over 4 trillion vehicle miles on urban roadways. That’s a 204% increase over 1995. Based on the figures for 2001, the year-end total exceeds the 1995 figure by at least 615 billion miles.

Every facet of American life has roots in people’s dependence on the automobile. That dependence is continuous in all stages of the various other forms of mobility that we referred to above.

So we find our market in a continuous state of flux. Physical, cultural, social, economic and chronological mobility create a fluid, ever moving marketplace to challenge the business community.

It is an accepted truth in advertising that proper timing is essential. A poor ad, properly timed, is often more effective than a good ad run at the wrong time.

But given this constantly changing market, when is the proper time for an ad to appear?

The answer to that is simple – all the time!
The economics are not so simple.
With the high cost of media, advertisers have turned to research to pinpoint their target markets and the media that cover them best. To a degree this has proved to be a successful strategy. However, because of the mobility of the markets, they are trying to reach, a large chunk of their target falls through the grate, simply because their prospect was not ready for their product or service, or, was not available to their selected media.

THE MOBILE MARKET IS THE MARKET THEY MISS!

1. THE SAFETY NET

The targeting of a market with an advertising message is becoming more complex daily. Not only must an advertiser deal with a constantly moving target, but he must also choose from media that have become highly fragmented.

The television audience is given so many choices of stations to watch that, except in rare instances, television can no longer be considered a mass medium.

Radio and magazines went through this transition long ago. Today they are targeted to tightly defined audience segments.

Daily newspaper readership is being shared more and more by suburban papers and shoppers, and readership is declining.

The cost of direct mail and specialty advertising is prohibitive if used for mass coverage.

Yet, in spite of the advertiser’s ability to pinpoint the most likely prospect for his goods or services, without the availability of mass coverage for his message, a sizeable portion of his target market falls through his media net because of the constant mobility of the market.

Where can he turn to find a safety net to catch the dropouts? Let’s take another look at one of the mobility factors we discussed above.

2. THE ULTIMATE MOBILITY

The ultimate consumer mobility takes place on the streets and highways of America. According to the Federal Highway Administration, in 2001 Americans rolled up over 4 trillion vehicle miles on urban roadways. That’s a 204% increase over 1995. Based on the figures for 2001, the year-end total exceeds the 1995 figure by over 615 billion miles. Every facet of American life has roots in its dependence on the automobile. That dependence is continuous through all stages of various other states of mobility that we referred to above.

This is the source of the audience for outdoor advertising. The target audience of every advertiser is a part of this vast outdoor audience that is daily moving through the market place.

Naturally, some segments of the market are more active and appear more frequently in the outdoor audience than do others. However, continuing studies by nationally recognized researchers verify the presence of almost every segment of our society in significant numbers in this audience. This research further reveals that an affordable outdoor advertising showing can deliver reach of more than 88% of most target markets with monthly frequencies as high as 25 to 30 times.

As advertisers search for ways to efficiently reach a mass audience, they are faced with splintered media audiences characterized by the proliferation of TV channels, the burgeoning number of radio stations and the explosion of print media publications. Outdoor advertising emerges as the only medium that can consistently reach a mass audience with a single insertion.

Generalizations are sometimes misleading. If you are concerned about providing a SAFETY NET to reach the MARKET YOU MISS with your current advertising, it will pay you to consult Burkhart Advertising, Inc., for a look at a safety net that can increase your NET profit. We will supply you with the specifics on your marketing area and how they apply to your business.

Resources:
Sales & Marketing Management, August 2004 (Population and Households)
Simmons Market Research Bureau, 1992 (Reach and Frequency)
www.stats.indiana.edu
2001 National Household Travel Survey