Consumer Types Rule

Marketing consultants and social watchers love devising new catchy monikers for consumer groups. It goes with the territory. There were the Yuppies, which, for those of you who were trapped under a rather large rock in the 1980s, stood for young urban professionals. And we had the Dinks – double income no kids – another 1980s marketing buzzword. Recent descriptors such as Glams (greying, leisured, affluent and middle-aged) and Nilkies (no income, lots of kids) didn’t have legs and died. The metrosexual burned brightly then faded away when marketers realised that the number of young, sensitive urban males interested in skin-care products had been exaggerated.

While such terms as yuppies and dinks have become part of the vernacular, most descriptors have struggled to gain widespread acceptance. Other recent efforts include Oinks (one income, no kids), Tinkies (two incomes, a nanny and kids), Rappies (retired affluent professionals), Sinbads (single income, no boyfriend, absolutely desperate), Sitcoms (single income, two children, outrageous mortgage) and Kippers (Kids in parents pockets eroding retirement savings).

But that hasn’t stopped marketers from coming up with new ways to describe consumers. The New York marketing firm Consumer Eyes, which works for companies such as P&G, Kellogg, PepsiCo, released a year or so ago a book entitled Karma Queens that identified nine consumer groups that companies should consider when they develop marketing strategies.

Three of the nine types relate to men: Denim Dads – the stay at home fathers focused on achieving a work-life balance; Middle Men – aged 21-35, who have a laid back lifestyle and are happy to be in jobs that are going no-where fast; and Geek Gods – aged 20-35 who have a lot of free time and disposable income.

Two of the consumer groups are women: Karma Queens, who in their 40s and 50s are often former hippies, are drawn to products and brands pitched directly at women and focus on mind, body and spirit; and Ms Independents, who have no children, no partner and a high disposable income.

The other four consumer types cover both sexes. E-litists are ‘light green’ consumers who worry about the environment, climate change and so on, buy organic food and cycle to work. Parentocrats have a different obsession: their children. They are happy to spend big bucks to get the best of everything for their kids and to push them along in what they see as a highly competitive world.

The final two types are Culture Crossers – people who are drawn to book, music, clothes, homewares etc from other cultures, and Innerpreneurs, who are constantly thinking about and working on their next business idea, how to improve both their lives and the world.

The descriptors are catchy and might become part of the vernacular. Maybe.

The important point to my mind about having descriptors is that it’s more useful to identify consumer ‘types’ than consumer trends.

Trends inform you about consumer behaviour without necessarily helping you understand the reasons behind it. Consumer types go further because they identify the consumers who set the trends. Types illuminate the consumer psyche, while trends merely articulate consumer behaviour.

For example, let’s suppose you market an upscale cosmetics line. Traditional segmentation might identify your core target as a working female, 25 to 45, urban dweller, with an income of $45k+. But what do you really know about her? Is she sports focused? Which sports? Confident about her looks? Likely to workout or visit a spa more frequently than the typical woman of her age? Could you pick her out at a cocktail party? That’s what consumer typing is really all about.