Too many advertisers target the wrong thing in their advertising. The ‘target’ of your advertising should be to increase sales. But all too often we get hung up on targeting ‘analytics’ or ‘demographics’ when creating our media plans.
For example, it might not seem unreasonable for a baby-products retailer to target ‘women 18-49 with infants.’ But according to the market research firm Scarborough, nearly half of those who bought infants clothing, 47% were from households without children.
Similarly, Scarborough Research found that nearly a quarter of all women’s cosmetics and perfumes, 23.5% were bought by men.
In his Twelve Causes of Advertising Failure, Roy Williams wrote “ The importance of qualitative data has been grossly overestimated by many advertisers and media professionals. In reality, saying the wrong thing has killed far more ad campaigns than Reaching The Wrong People. It is amazing how many people become ‘the right people’, when you are saying the right thing.”
Thinking beyond the traditional demographics your competitors are ‘targeting’ with their advertising can help you reach into untapped markets to increase your sales.