NOW - a series of 12 documentary-style video studies - is the first in-depth, qualitative review of sociographic and psychographic trends in South Africa. It penetrates beneath the surface of what makes South Africans tick, revealing the fluid and interconnected nature of individual identity as market segmentation has never done before.
Wendy Cochrane, a director of the c.i.a., says that since its release earlier this year, NOW has managed to capture the attention of marketers and big business.
“Whereas traditional segmentation methods have sought to box people into categories based on income, age or gender – NOW has finally allowed real people to speak for themselves. After more than 10 years of research, the c.i.a. identified 12 Archetypes that represent South African society at all levels – and then captured their lives on camera.”
“We are well into the implementation stage of the project,” says Cochrane. “Our creative workshops have ignited and grounded business strategies through a deeper understanding of the Archetypes and how they are connected. While the Archetypes speak for themselves, the workshop enables us to sketch out the ‘bigger picture' for clients.”
Although NOW has managed to give an intimate glimpse into the lives of South Africans across the racial, gender and age spectrum, the challenges facing this qualitative study have been twofold:
“Firstly, how do you turn it into a useful tool for marketers who are used to more structured, quantified information, and secondly, what do you say to account managers who invariably want to know one thing: what size of the market does Archetype x represent?” explains Cochrane.
It is with these questions in mind that the c.i.a. decided to bring Synovate on board to evolve the work through quantitative analysis.
Jannie Hofmeyr, International Director of Innovation for Synovate, says that what the c.i.a. and Synovate are planning to do has never been done anywhere in the world.
“This is a groundbreaking project in the field of quantitative analysis,” explains Hofmeyr. “Conventional methods group people together without taking into account their complexity as individuals. This kind of cluster analysis basically forces people into a framework and only afterwards is there an attempt to bring each segment to life – this is a back-to-front method of working.”
“Here we are starting with the qualitative information from the out-set. There are no guaranteed outcomes due to the pioneering nature of the project, but if we are successful we have the potential to alter some long-held assumptions of marketers.”
Synovate plans to carry out this research by using qualitative stimulus in a quantitative setting. Randomly selected groups of people will be interviewed using laptops that play clips from the NOW DVDs - then questioned to gauge to what extent they identify with, like, dislike or admire each of the 12 different Archetypes.
This process of self-identification will be able to determine where people belong on the scale of Archetypes but also reveal that it is possible for individuals to identify with more than one Archetype at the same time.
“Significantly, this research will prove that people can respond positively, recognise and admire certain Archetypes without belonging to that category themselves,” explains Hofmeyr.
This is a direct challenge to the old assumption that for advertising to work it must depict individuals within its target market.
“I am not a Township Mama (one of the Archetypes) but I can identify with many of her values and respect her strength and tenacity,” says Hofmeyr. “You don't necessarily have to belong to an Archetype to have it resonate with you. There are many examples of adverts that have been successful because they have captured something truthful about an Archetype that we all recognise and admire – just look at Vodacom's ‘Yebo Gogo' campaign.”
If this research reveals the spheres of influence between the Archetypes in a quantifiable manner it will enable marketers to develop strategic conclusions about who they choose to represent their brand (which Archetype) while simultaneously ensuring a much wider, measurable appeal.
This possibility is already exciting many players in the advertising world, with big names like Coca-Cola planning to get involved.
For more information, visit: www.thenowproject.co.za
