Targeting the Affluent: A VALS™ Strategy MacroMonitor Marketing Report Vol. III, No. 9 April 1998
Affluent households hold 70% of the private wealth, 90% of corporate stocks, 84% of mutual funds, and almost 60% of total real estate assets in the United States. Although certainly attractive, the diversity that exists among the more than 20 million households that constitute this market makes it a complex and often confusing target. Financial institutions not only need to create the right advertising style, content, and image to attract this market, they must also choose which among the numerous media options to use so that their advertisement actually reaches this market. To increase their chances of hitting a marketing bull's-eye, they also need to know the geographic locations of their targeted customers. By integrating SRI Consulting Business Intelligence's (now Strategic Business Insights') VALS consumer psychographic segmentation system with the MacroMonitor, financial marketers can learn how to target the affluent market precisely so that their offerings rise above the plethora of choices that affluent consumers face every day. This report profiles the different attitudes, motivators, and financial orientations of affluent households and demonstrates how precise targeted marketingthe right message, the right media, and the right locationcan help financial providers increase their chances for success in attracting and retaining a significant portion of this valuable market.
The Right Message
Psychological differences exist between the three principal affluent segments in how they view advertising and in how they receive and process marketing information. For example, Actualizers respond to advertising that seizes their imagination or that demonstrates how they can achieve greater personal control. Fulfilleds want all the facts and figures, and then they want to know how and where to find more information. Meanwhile, Achievers do not want all the details; they prefer advertising that clearly outlines what the product's or service's benefits are to them.
The Right Media
VALS enables financial institutions to understand how their targeted customers use their time and how they use various media. Actualizers and Fulfilleds read weekday newspaper editions; Achievers are fundamentally weekend newspaper readers. Although all three segments read a variety of magazine titles, the Actualizer list of titles looks quite different from that of Fulfilleds or Achievers. For television, Fulfilleds are more likely to watch showssuch as 60 Minutesthat provide information about their world; Achievers are more likely to watch prime-time entertainment shows. Actualizers are a bit more eclectic in their choices, and the shows they watch can range from This Old House to Star Trek.
The Right Geographic Location
GeoVALS estimates the percentages of each of the VALS consumer segments in every U.S. residential ZIP code and block group, giving companies the ability to select and concentrate their marketing efforts in the areas with the largest concentrations of their target customer. For example, if an institution in Tampa is marketing an Actualizer and/or Achiever product, it would more efficiently concentrate marketing efforts on those counties, ZIP codes, or block groups within the designated market area with higher than average percentages of these segments. An example is ZIP code 33647 in Hillsborough County, Florida, where 23% of all typed adults are Actualizers and 21% are Achievers.
The Right Message
Psychological differences exist between the three principal affluent segments in how they view advertising and in how they receive and process marketing information. For example, Actualizers respond to advertising that seizes their imagination or that demonstrates how they can achieve greater personal control. Fulfilleds want all the facts and figures, and then they want to know how and where to find more information. Meanwhile, Achievers do not want all the details; they prefer advertising that clearly outlines what the product's or service's benefits are to them.
The Right Media
VALS enables financial institutions to understand how their targeted customers use their time and how they use various media. Actualizers and Fulfilleds read weekday newspaper editions; Achievers are fundamentally weekend newspaper readers. Although all three segments read a variety of magazine titles, the Actualizer list of titles looks quite different from that of Fulfilleds or Achievers. For television, Fulfilleds are more likely to watch showssuch as 60 Minutesthat provide information about their world; Achievers are more likely to watch prime-time entertainment shows. Actualizers are a bit more eclectic in their choices, and the shows they watch can range from This Old House to Star Trek.
The Right Geographic Location
GeoVALS estimates the percentages of each of the VALS consumer segments in every U.S. residential ZIP code and block group, giving companies the ability to select and concentrate their marketing efforts in the areas with the largest concentrations of their target customer. For example, if an institution in Tampa is marketing an Actualizer and/or Achiever product, it would more efficiently concentrate marketing efforts on those counties, ZIP codes, or block groups within the designated market area with higher than average percentages of these segments. An example is ZIP code 33647 in Hillsborough County, Florida, where 23% of all typed adults are Actualizers and 21% are Achievers.