I am Somebody's Target Audience
- Mar 1, 2018
- 3 min read
Audience is everything. As an advertising student, I am taught this mantra; as an avid cards against humanity player, I live by this mantra every time I choose which zinger to play based on who is judging (a disappointing birthday party gets Emily every time).
As an aspiring strategist, it is my job to champion the target audience of a brand by asserting their wants and needs through sharing insights based on research and data. I’ve recently been thinking about myself as part of a target audience: what are my likes and dislikes, what motivates me to purchase, and what keeps me coming back? What do strategists write about me in their briefs? I’d imagine my BPC profile as resembling something along these lines (cut me some slack, self awareness is hard):
Madeline, 21: Young & Influential (see more from Nielsen’s mybestsegments)
Meet Madeline. She’s just out of college, renting with roommates in New York City. Madeline eats at Zoes Kitchen and uses Air-Bnb when she travels. She is extremely socially inclined but requires affirmation from friends and peers when making purchasing decisions, large and small. Madeline likes feeling empowered at the point of sale: be that in making a difference in the world or doing something nice for herself. Her shopping behavior can be emotionally-charged and impulsive, but she still prioritizes researching products before she buys.
Curious, I wanted to consciously analyze how effective the ads that are served to me actually are. So, this past week I conducted a little experiment, and audited the ads on my Instagram and Facebook feeds. I judged the ads by considering three things: the best prospect consumer profile outlined above in relation to the ads relevance as well as its resonance.
Disclaimer: In my iPhone under settings>privacy>advertising I have the option turned on to limit ad tracking. Apple notes that this feature opts me out of “receiving ads targeted to [my] interests”. I generally scroll through Instagram on my phone, but I scroll Facebook on my computer, so I did expect the ads served to me through Facebook to be slightly more relevant, simply because they are benefitting from access to more of my data.
Overall, I found most of the ads were, in fact, relevant and resonant when considering my BPC profile. In the interest of time, I think my findings can be nicely summarized through an analysis of the best and worst two ads I came across.
So, first up: the best. The spot was a retargeting effort from ThirdLove (see my previous post on ThirdLove here). The video, was engaging, and boy did the copy hit home: The Bra that Sold Out in One Week and Grab it before its gone! I noticed those simple phrases sparked physiological changes in my body; I felt slightly anxious and nervous. Way to play into that impulsivity aspect, ThirdLove. Well done.
Next up is an ad served to me via Instagram from Coke, and I think they really missed the mark: the ad is entirely product focused and I don’t drink diet coke. Nothing about it drove home a message nor connected with me on any level. Relevancy? 0. Resonance? 0. And -- maybe it’s just me -- but Coke’s iconic “pour” videos are getting a bit old — unless of course I’m in the movie theatre, then you better show me those bubbles in all of their fizzing, popping glory. Unless I'm slumped back in a giant leather recliner shoving popcorn in my mouth, though, hit me with something new, Coke.
Comments