Experian Marketing Services will be presenting marketing solutions and techniques to attendees at several sessions along with some of our leading client brands. Here’s a rundown:

• What Do Users Want From Mobile Commerce Sites?With the increasing penetration of smart phones providing the ability to grab consumers on the go, getting your mobile commerce site right can pay huge dividends. A panel of leading brands including HauteLook, Econsultancy and Experian Marketing Services will discuss an array of successful m-commerce strategies, tactics and best practices.
  Alok Kapur, vice president, Global Head of Mobile, Experian Marketing Services
  Monday, October 15, 11:15 am
• Supercharging Your Energy – How Duke Energy Changed How We View PowerLearn how Duke Energy put the customer at the center of their strategy and created programs to help them spend less on energy. Specific examples will be shared to illustrate how Duke Energy and Experian Marketing Services partnered to drive customer value, loyalty and customer satisfaction, leading to a growth in overall company revenues while encouraging people to spend less on energy.
  Rick Erwin, President, Data and Analytics Division, Experian Marketing Services
  Joe Cunningham, Manager, Market and Customer Insights, Duke Energy
  Tuesday, October 16, 2:00 pm
• Segmentation as a Strategy – Internally and Externally, a Zappos Case StudyZappos, known for its customer service obsession, relies on customer segmentation data which is used in all areas of the company, including operations, product management, merchandising and marketing. This case study will illustrate how strategies are developed, and how the entire company aligns to achieve actions and results.
  Rick Erwin, President, Data and Analytics Division, Experian Marketing Services
  Amara Silao, Senior Director, Retail Operations and Product Management, Zappos
  Dinesh Gaur, Analytics Manager, Zappos
  Chris Peake, Director, Product Management Customer Experience & Data, Zappos
  Lisa Archambault, Display Marketing Manager, Zappos
  Wednesday, October 17, 10:00 am
• Database Marketing Certification – Attaining Marketing Database ROI
  This session brings together data and technology experts to describe how best-in-class solutions within an integrated data management platform support data flow and customer intelligence delivery for more effective customer engagement across all channels.
  Marcus Tewksbury, Experian Marketing Services
  Paul Manderville, Experian Marketing Services’ Conversen
  Wednesday, October 17, 1:00 pm

If you’re at the show and would like to learn more, please stop by Experian’s Booth 815 or visit the DMA event agenda.

Tampa: Chock full of free-wheeling boomers and retirees
Compared to the overall U.S. population, Tampa contains a high incidence of consumers over the age of 60. Headlining the over 60 crowd are a mix of newly retired, elderly couples, and widowed individuals leading busy social lifestyles. They’re physically fit for their age, politically active and earn solid incomes from pensions and investments. They’re Footloose and Family Free. Largely concentrated in Florida, nearly eight of every ten of these households contain a grandparent. But they’re more liberal than other senior segments, often voting democratic. The share of Footloose and Family Free households in Tampa is 8.8 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

Call them Booming and Consuming, this is a financially fit collection of Baby Boomer couples and singles concentrated in the 50 to 60 year-old age range who are beginning to enjoy the early stages of an empty nest and retirement. These consumers have moderate incomes but sizeable nest eggs. Philanthropic by nature and interested in the arts, they donate money to a variety of causes. They are conservative in their thinking and active in the Republican Party. Think of them as the party backers who are inclined to take a date to the next GOP fundraiser. The share of Booming and Consuming households in Tampa is 5.7 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

Golf Carts and Gourmets exemplify the prototypical upscale retirement lifestyle. These senior sophisticates are frequent travelers. They are twice as likely as average Americans to have taken a cruise in recent years. They also like to visit friends and relatives throughout the country. Golf Carts and Gourmets are more of a conservative bastion on political issues. Despite pockets of Liberals and Independents, a majority belong to the Republican Party. Many have a global awareness and give generously to political, educational and cultural groups. The share of Golf Carts and Gourmet households in Tampa is 2.3 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

Charlotte: Home portal for the upwardly mobile professional
In contrast to Tampa, Charlotte sports an above average population of younger to middle-age, child-centered and career-driven couples and professionals. Leading the wave is a segment of upscale, family-centric households called Kids and Cabernet. These prosperous middle-aged couples with children are concentrated in the suburbs and live in homes valued at twice the national average. Their neighborhoods are havens for college-educated, white-collar professionals with well-paying jobs in the sciences, education, business and finance. Primarily harboring conservative viewpoints, Kids and Cabernet identify most closely with the Republican Party. The share of Kids and Cabernet households in Charlotte is 3.2 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

Found predominantly in major metropolitan areas, Couples with Clout tend to live in downtown neighborhoods or close-in suburbs with immediate access to the central city. Largely free from childrearing costs, with fewer than ten percent having kids, these wealthy couples have high levels of discretionary income to satisfy their upscale tastes. They are well-educated, employed in white-collar and managerial professions, and are always on the lookout to upgrade their living situation. Somewhat progressive in their views, they describe themselves as political Independents. The share of Couples with Clout households in Charlotte is 2.4 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

The fast-growing, metro-fringe communities surrounding Charlotte are home to a flourishing population of digitally-savvy professionals. Let’s call them Fast Track Couples. With nine out of every ten householders under age 35, many are first-time home buyers who have settled into new residential developments filled with affordable homes. Most Fast Track Couples are either considering the idea of starting a family or already have pre-school kids at home. Pressed for time and career-focused, they’re not very active politically and have only average rates for being registered to vote. The share of Fast Track Couples households in Charlotte is 2.3 times greater than the segment’s corresponding share for the total U.S.

Winning more votes
As marketers, we are always looking for imaginative ways to target and attract specific audiences. Political candidates know this all too well when on the campaign trail stumping for votes. Whether it’s the Baby Boomer and retiree market that is more prevalent in Tampa or the dynamic, youthful, white collar professional that has settled in Charlotte, each segment of the population has varied preferences, purchase behaviors and motivations to buy. In the world of marketing, consumers settle on a favored brand and then vote with their wallets. Consider taking a consumer “roll call” to determine which segments are most vital (loyal supporters) to ensuring your popularity and which segments lack allegiance (swing customers) to your message. The findings can then provide guidance for developing successful marketing campaign strategies.

And now, the rumors are once again driving search activity. A year-over-year trend shows that “iPhone 5” searches were more popular than searches on “iPhone 4” between August and early October 2011, up until the iPhone 4s announcement when the latter term became more widely searched. Search variations around “iPhone 5” have been steadily increasing since the beginning of 2012 and peaked the week of August 18 when searches grew 128% from the previous week as speculation around the next generation iPhone reached a fever pitch.

Source: Experian Hitwise

In the week leading up to the most recent “iPhone 5” search peak, some new search terms emerged including “leaked iPhone 5” which primarily sent traffic to the MSNBC Technology Blog as a result of the site posting photos of the alleged new device. Other popular search term variations were around the release date, including searches on when wireless carrier Sprint will sell the next generation iPhone, along with queries around features and specs, rumors and price.

Source: Experian Hitwise

Among the top websites receiving traffic from “iPhone 5” searches the week ending August 18 were Yahoo! News and Yahoo!, both of which experienced significant increases in search clicks from these terms week over week (+162% and 772%, respectively). iPhone5Release.org, a site devoted exclusively to news on the next generation device, was among the top five sites receiving traffic from “iPhone 5” terms and also experienced a large increase in search clicks over the past week (+402%). The top iPhone-related term sending traffic to the site last week was “iPhone 5” while “leaked iPhone 5” and “iPhone 5 in production” emerged as new terms sending traffic to the site. Only one retailer, Walmart.com, was among the top ten sites receiving traffic from “iPhone 5” terms last week; the site experienced a 222% increase in search clicks versus the previous week and 88% of the clicks to the site were from paid search.

Source: Experian Hitwise

It’s rumored that Apple will announce the new iPhone on September 12, when a smaller version of the iPad may also be revealed. Searches on the “iPad mini” increased dramatically the week of April 21, 2012 when a Chinese website reported on an expected third quarter release of the mini Apple tablet. Searches for “iPad mini” were on the rise again in early July as numerous websites reported information on Apple’s strategy around the device. Walmart was the top recipient of traffic from “iPad mini” searches in the 12 weeks ending August 18th, receiving nearly 10% of downstream search clicks. Walmart’s relatively high share of paid traffic (79%) from iPad mini terms further indicates the retailer is looking to capitalize on the upcoming Apple product launches.

Source: Experian Hitwise

New rumors are popping up daily, and seem to be fueling the growth of Apple’s stock price, as pent up consumer demand is expected to drive significant sales volume if and when the new iPhone and iPad are released. Stay tuned for updates on how consumers react to the Apple announcements on September 12^th to see how they drive online consumer behavior.

This trend holds true online as the total US visits to our category of Employment sites increased 8% in July 2012 compared to June 2012 and 18% versus July 2011. Overall, the Employment category received more than 758 million total US visits in July 2012.  The percentage of online traffic to the category has been increasing each month starting in February of this year.

Indeed.com was the top visited site receiving more than 96 million total US visits followed by LinkedIn.com and CareerBuilder.com. JobsRadar.com saw the biggest year-over-year growth among the top 10 visited sites.

Sites that grew the most since July 2011 include Indeed, LinkedIn, JobRapido and Jobs Radar.

So where is the traffic coming from? California, Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas and New York provided the largest volume of traffic to Job sites in July 2012. The states that recorded the biggest year-over-year growth to Jobs sites included Maine, New Mexico, West Virginia, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Learn more about Experian Hitwise here.

Such advice came from Charles Duhigg, The New York Times investigative reporter, who gave a talk from his latest book, The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do in life and business. Looking very much like a professor, Duhigg recounted the considerable time and millions of dollars that consumer products giant, Proctor and Gamble spent to develop their billion dollar product line, Febreeze.

The story involves a scientist who discovered an odor killing chemical and the P&G marketers who tried, and nearly failed, to turn that innovation into a successful home cleaning product. It turns out you can’t sell stuff to people by telling them their houses stink! P&G’s fortunes turned, as Duhigg illustrated with both scientific rigor and humorous anecdotes, on the fact that we have formed habits controlling nearly half of our daily actions and that Febreeze was a perfect reward for people who take great satisfaction in cleaning.

The habit loop, as Duhigg described it – Cue, Routine, Reward – is a simple yet powerful reminder to marketers that we need to plug into consumers’ existing rituals in order to create experiences that will surprise and delight…the keys to customer obsession. And as Duhigg’s examples illustrate, the consumer insight necessary to understand those habits is derived from careful consideration of consumer attitudes and behaviors.

Click for larger image

Key take-aways:

• Emails with an offer in the subject line had a 21% higher transaction rate than those without
• Online search traffic was up 10% over 2010 with search teams like “back-to-school clothes” and “back-to-school deals” driving the increase
• Searchers tend to be female and between the ages of 25 and 44

Questions marketers should ask themselves include:

• What are the characteristics of my target audience – who are they, how do they shop, what resonates with them?
• How can I make my marketing messages more targeted so that they stand out from the crowd?
• What offers and promotions should I employ?
• How should my marketing budget be allocated across multiple channels?

To learn the answers to these questions and more, visit our back-to-school homeroom to see the latest data, emerging trends and opportunities that exist for marketers this season.

A look into individual earnings and household incomes shows that lesbian women earn more than heterosexual women regardless of relationship status. Specifically, the typical adult lesbian woman personally earns $43,100 per year compared with $37,600 claimed by the average heterosexual woman. Furthermore, the typical household income of a married or partnered lesbian woman is $7,200 higher than that of a married or partnered heterosexual woman.

Mean individual earnings and household income of women, by sexual orientation

When it comes to individual income, gay and straight men may earn roughly the same amount, but married or partnered gay men personally take home nearly $8,000 more, on average, than their straight counterparts. Additionally, the average household income of a married or partnered gay man is $116,000 versus $94,500 for a straight married or partnered man.

Mean individual earnings and household income of men, by sexual orientation

Income levels are important to consider when targeting consumers, but more important is determining the amount of money they have left over after the bills are paid for non-essentials. Despite having higher incomes, some may be surprised to learn that lesbian women have only the same amount as heterosexual women to spend on discretionary items. Likewise, gay men have less than heterosexual men for non-essentials overall, even though their incomes overall are quite equal. This is mostly likely due to the fact that both lesbian and gay adults tend to reside in larger cities where the cost of living can be considerably higher.

Interestingly though, when household size is brought into the equation, we see that gay males actually have more to spend on non-essentials per capita than straight men. Gay men, for instance, live in households that spend $6,256 per capita annually on discretionary spending, nearly $1,000 more than what the households of heterosexual men spend per person.

For more demographic and attitudinal information on the trends among the LGBT population, download the 2012 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered Demographic Report.

As a growing number of U.S. states pass laws recognizing same-sex marriages and civil unions, we see an increasing percentage of gay and lesbian Americans reporting that they’re married. Five years ago, for example, when only Massachusetts allowed same-sex marriage, 8% of adult gay men and 14% of adult lesbian women said they were married. Today, 12% of gay men and a full quarter of lesbian women are married. During the same timeframe, marriage rates among heterosexuals fell slightly. Today, 58% of heterosexual men and 53% of heterosexual women are married. Compare that to 60% of straight men and 55% of straight women who were married in 2007.

Percent of adults currently married, by sexual orientation

While marriage is a growing trend among the LGBT population, many gay and lesbian adults (as well as many heterosexuals) live with their partners without tying the knot. Today, two-thirds of lesbian women and 46% of gay men live in a household with one and only one member of the same sex. As expected, the majority of married gays and lesbians are found in these household formations, but we can expect to find many cohabitating couples in this arrangement as well. Among heterosexual adults, 71% of men and 61% of women share a home with one and only one adult of the opposite sex, the comparable formation most likely to contain married and partnered straight couples.

Percent of lesbian and gay adults who live with zero, one or two+ adults of the same sex

Percent of heterosexual adults who live with zero, one or two+ adults of the opposite sex

For more demographic and attitudinal information on the trends among the LGBT population, download the 2012 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered Demographic Report.

Data from Experian Simmons demonstrates the effect certain attitudes can have on back-to-school shopping behavior. When moms were asked how strongly they agreed with the statement “I find it hard to resist my kids’ request for non-essentials,” we noticed an increase in the percentage who agreed beginning around the end of June.

The increase is especially pronounced from the middle of July to the end of September. This happens to coincide with the heart of the back-to-school shopping season when moms are most likely to be keeping an eye out for special offers and promotions. The data also provides some evidence that moms are likely to be prime targets for spending on their children earlier in the back-to-school season than marketers might currently think.

But it isn’t really possible to know what all of your prospective customers are thinking. Unfortunately, you can’t speak to each and every mom or dad of school age children in a personal fashion – but neither should you treat your entire back-to-school audience the same way.

Casting a wide net to capture a faceless target audience used to work pretty well when I was a kid a few decades back. It was really a matter of which advertiser shouted the loudest and with the biggest hook. Not only that, but when Sears and Kmart were the only retailers in town, my mom didn’t have much of a choice. And how many marketers really bothered to target dads with back-to-school promotions back then?

Today, there are lots of ways to dissect the back-to-school market. Sure, we can describe households with kids using the usual demographics including age of parents, number of kids, age of children, household income, etc., but that doesn’t really capture the true essence of the back-to-school market. Why? Because demographics alone don’t paint a very interesting or clear picture of how to attract shoppers who are searching for all kinds of back-to-school merchandise and, at the same time, getting bombarded with multiple offers.

So let’s study the market more closely. I like to define the back-to-school audience in multi-dimensional terms. By doing this, we can develop specific lifestyle segments that can be targeted with the most relevant back-to-school offers and promotions. Here are some examples taken from Experian’s Mosaic® USA lifestyle segmentation solution:

• Babies and Bliss
• Families Matter Most
• Sports Utility Families
• Picture Perfect Families
• Kids and Cabernet
• Hispanic Harmony
• Cul de Sac Diversity

Based on an analysis of purchase and shopping data from Experian Simmons, we can see that these seven segments are quite unique in terms of their shopping attitudes and behaviors. Let’s take a look at some examples:

About 39% of adults who are parents with children living at home agree with the statement “I prefer to shop with my family.” But the percentage who agreed with this statement varies significantly when looking at our seven targeted segments. Cul de Sac Diversity and Hispanic Harmony are much more likely to agree. This could reflect cultural differences and their impact on shopping behavior. In this case, shopping is a family event. By contrast, some of the more affluent segments are less likely to agree. Consumers from the Kids and Cabernet and Picture Perfect Families segments might be more apt to be doing their shopping with fewer family members in tow.

Now take a look at how children have an influence on brands shopped.

Here, the influence of children on brands purchased is most pronounced for segments such as Kids and Cabernet and Babies and Bliss. Shoppers from the Hispanic Harmony and Cul de Sac Diversity segments also have an above average likelihood to say their children influence the brands they choose, but the influence is not as strong. The key take-away here is that certain segments are more brand-conscious than others and, where possible, the power of the brand should be leveraged when developing marketing campaigns that are targeted to these particular segments.

When we look at the influence of the Internet on shopping behavior, a different pattern emerges.

Consumers from the Babies and Bliss segment are most likely to agree with the statement “I often use the Internet to plan my shopping trips.” At the opposite end of the scale, Families Matter Most and Hispanic Harmony are not as likely to use the Internet to help plan their shopping. Clearly, these segments do not behave the same way.

The collective findings from these three statements alone mean we need to develop a unique back-to-school marketing plan for each of the segments. For example, we might target the Cul de Sac Diversity segment with display ads and emails emphasizing a wide selection of brands that kids like. This could be coordinated with certain in-store events and promotions that are designed to appeal to the entire family.

Now let’s look at who the bargain hunters are.

Somewhat surprisingly, Picture Perfect Families are 21% more likely to agree that they shop around to take advantage of special promotions and bargains. I say “surprisingly” because they are one of the more affluent consumer segments out of our targeted audience. This indicates that they are actively seeking out and searching for good deals. Consumers from Babies and Bliss and Cul de Sac Diversity also have an above average propensity to be looking out for special deals.

But notice when asked if they have used a coupon either online or from an email promotion, it’s Sports Utility Families and Families Matter Most who are most likely to agree. Consumers from both of these segments didn’t particularly stand out in terms of their likelihood to use the Internet for planning their shopping trips but they are highly responsive to targeted promotions. This could be an indication that they are less proactive in seeking out special deals but highly reactive when approached with a compelling offer they can’t refuse.

For more information, watch our recent webinar about planning your back-to-school marketing campaigns in style. You’ll see more information on what’s outlined above as well as informative stats around search behavior and how to target the lucrative college student market.

We hope you’ll join our webinar this Thursday at 1:00 p.m. EST to hear what every digital marketer needs to know about channels, benchmarks and trends, and what we call the New American Consumer – check out the tidbits below from page 11 of the report. Insights like these will be put into perspective and practical advice for how to leverage these insights will be dispensed!

• Twenty-eight percent of marketers noted that creating effective targeting profiles was one of their biggest marketing challenges last year.
• An increasing percentage of college graduates are returning home to live with their parents.
• Households that contain adults and children from multiple generations are a mega-trend.
• A study by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) found that in 2006, one out of 12 first births was to women age 35 and older.

Register for The 2012 Digital Marketer webinar: Powerful insight for today’s digital-savvy marketer.