Marketing study challenges SA stereotypes

The in-depth study, carried out by the Consumer Insight Agency (c.i.a), is allegedly the first “big-picture”, qualitative review of sociographic and psychographic trends in the SA market. As such, it promises to have significant benefits not only for marketers, but also for policy makers, social researchers and politicians.

Wendy Cochrane, director of the c.i.a, said that the study is not like other marketing segmentation studies that focus quite narrowly – and restrictively – on demographics. “This study takes an elevated perspective and seeks to find more meaningful ways of making sense of the shifting landscape that is South Africa,” she commented.

Deeper themes uncovered

“We have uncovered the deeper themes that link people in unexpected ways and explain the choices that they make, not only about which brand of soap to buy but also about how they live their lives. These are things that the demographics on their own are not able to tell us.

“In essence we are saying that if marketers or social researchers need to segment the landscape, here's a better way to do it!”

The NOW project is a collection of 12 qualitative studies, each of which hones in on a selected set of characters who represent a classic South African “archetype”. Each study is presented in a documentary-like video format, featuring footage distilled from hundreds of hours of interviews across the social spectrum, and is supported by extensive commentary and analysis.

Cochrane explained that the focus is very much on the here and now. The study is a snapshot of the current state of play and doesn't attempt to draw boundaries around any of the archetypes.

“Stereotypes do not exist. But in reality, no two people are exactly alike and boxing them by demographics or psychographic one-liners is a dangerously flawed exercise,” she said. “SA is a society in a dynamic state of flux, so the NOW project enables you to see how people move between clusters. It provides the architecture for talking about and understanding trends in the SA population. When all 12 archetypes are viewed together over time you can start to show who is influencing who, where tomorrow's trends are coming from and where they are going.”

Implications

This has obvious interest to marketers who need to buy media to target brands at the right level. But, says Cochrane, the study also has implications beyond the realm of marketing – specifically for understanding social trends such as HIV/Aids, urbanisation and crime.

“We hope that the research will spark conversation and encourage people to think differently about issues that affect our country,” said Cochrane.

Sam Strover, consumer planning manager at brandhouse and a key supporter of the initiative, adds that the beauty of the study is that it is very accessible.

“The way that NOW is presented, allows you to see where people live, hear how they speak. You are able to get really up close and personal with what their lives are really like. It's easier to understand people and what they think, do and feel through the medium of video than it is through graphs and pie charts and sterile statistics,” she said.

“People often tend to over-intellectualise the market,” agrees Cochrane. “Viewed from behind a desk, they tend to see the world only in terms of their own brands. NOW takes people onto a deeper level and shows us that our markets are really just people like ourselves, with the power of understanding the connections between us.”

The NOW project was born out of 10 years of market research carried out by the c.i.a. which claims to have pioneered the practice of video-based qualitative market research in SA.

“After 10 years of delving into people's hearts and cupboards, as viewed through the lens of numerous different brands, we found we were stumbling upon the same characters and the same themes over and over again,” said Cochrane. “We saw that what we had was a powerful new tool that could potentially revolutionise the way we see the market that was not brand specific.”

For more information, go to www.nowproject.co.za.