Regardless of age, texting is still, technically, the second most common activity that Americans engage in on their cell phone after talking. During a typical week, 95% of mobile adults talk on their mobile phone, while 59% text. Among adults ages 18-to-24, however, 89% talk on their phone and 85% text. Despite the increasing availability of mobile chat or instant message applications, texting remains the dominant means for exchanging short messages. Only 8% of all mobile adults use their phone to IM or chat.

The fastest thumbs

To get a more in-depth understanding of the texting habits of adults today, we leveraged data from the Simmons Connect mobile panel of 1,485 U.S. smartphone owners. Hands down, young adults text more than any age other age group. During a typical month, in fact, smartphone-owners ages 18-to-24 send 2,022 mobile text messages and receive another 1,831 for a combined total of 3,852 texts sent and received. With every age bracket we move up, the number of mobile texts drops by roughly 40%. For instance, smartphone owners ages 25-to-34 send, on average, 1,110 text messages a month and receive another 1,130 for a combined total of 2,240 messages.

We are also able to leverage the Simmons Connect smartphone panel to understand mobile calling behaviors. The data shows that while young adults hold the record for the most text messages sent and received, they actually make and receive few calls, by comparison. During a typical month, smartphone owners ages 18-to-24 make 119 calls on their mobile phone and answer another 64 calls. Adults ages 35-to-44 make and receive the most calls on their mobile phones in a given month. (Call counts do not include inbound and outbound calls that go unanswered.)

Text around the clock

Unlike television and radio, which have peak hours for reaching consumers, mobile text messages reach Americans throughout the day, providing advertisers with a medium to connect with consumers any time they want or need.

No surprise, young adults are the most likely to send and receive mobile text messages throughout the day. The smartphone panel data shows that during every hour between 8:00 A.M. and midnight, more than half of young smartphone owners are both sending and receiving mobile text messages. Even when most of us are asleep, young adults’ smartphones continue buzzing from inbound texts. In fact, 37% of 18-to-24 year-old smartphone owners receive texts at 4:00 in the morning. By comparison, just 20% of smartphone-owners ages 25-to-34 years-old receive texts at this late (or early) hour as do 17% of those 35-to-44, 15% of those 45-to-54 and 10% of those ages 55 and older.

Better to send or to receive?

During overnight hours, the share of young smartphone owners who send texts surpasses the share who receives them. However, by 8:00 A.M., the difference between those two figures narrows to the point that they are nearly equal. In fact, from noon until 11:00 P.M., young adults are more likely to send mobile text messages than they are to receive them.

Call or text?

While texting is still a secondary use of mobile phones after calling, that’s not the case all day, especially among young adults. In fact, while smartphone owners ages 18-to-24 are more likely to make an outbound call than they are to send a text from their phone between 7:00 A.M. and 10:00 P.M., they are more likely to send a text between 11:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M., during hours when they might understandably wake the recipient. That should help us all sleep a little better.

To identify current brand loyalty trends, we looked at the latest survey research from Experian Simmons (Spring, 2012 NHCS Adult Survey 12-month) and at loyalty emails sent between January 2011 and March 2012 from 43 brands.

Who are these brand loyalists?

Experian Simmons found that 34% of the adult U.S. population has been a ‘brand loyalist’ as of April of this year. Looking at that 34%, we have identified some key areas in which brand loyalists differ from the overall adult U.S. population.

The response to email campaigns reflects this mindset in a number of ways:

Dollars and sense
Offers are valuable, but purchasing the right product from a preferred brand may be more so. While 80% of brand loyalists said they do not buy unknown brands merely to save money, 69% are always looking out for special offers. Mailings without offers in the subject line had 24% higher transaction rates, but 11% lower revenue per email than loyalty mailings with offers in the subject line.

Consideration: Test whether including an offer will work best for your loyalty program.

The 1:1 – Value your customer

When looking for a ‘favorite store,’ emails with dynamic store locations in the subject line can help ensure that your loyalty members will easily find your brand. Loyalty emails with name, dynamic benefit or status updates, or dynamic store locations enjoyed unique open rates that were 83% higher than loyalty mailings that had no dynamic content in the subject line (loyalty mailings with dynamic content had unique open rates of 43.5% compared to 23.5% for those without dynamic content).

• “Spend $75 and Get a $10 Summer Reward Coupon at %storename%!”
• “Use your $%point_balance% in Instant Rewards on gifts for Dad”
• “Here’s Your Online Reward Dollars %fname%”

Keep it fresh
New ideas, new benefits — equates to more engagement. Campaigns mentioning new, updated benefits had more than double the transaction rates than other loyalty mailings (loyalty mailings with new benefits had transaction rates of 43% compared to 20% for other loyalty mailings).

Mobile Marketing and social media attitudes
Two areas in which brand loyalists expressed opinions that were stronger than the average U.S. adult population in the Experian Simmons survey are mobile marketing and social networks.

Loyalty email campaigns can be effective cross-channel marketing tools that boost your brand’s mobile and social media program engagement

Support mobile programs
Loyalty programs are crucial to the travel industry and travel brands are leading the way with mobile communications and mobile apps. Travel is not alone. Mobile loyalty programs are being started in many different types of brands including supermarkets, pharmacies, consumer electronic stores and office supply companies, just to name a few. Loyalty emails are a great way to increase mobile program enrollment and provide unique benefits to loyalty members.

• “Earn Bonus Points when you enroll in mobile messaging”
• “Introducing Quick Prints – The Fastest Way To Print From Mobile Phone to Store”

Use surveys and ratings and reviews
Sixty-seven percent of brand loyalists said they ask people for advice before buying new things. They are also 23% more likely than the average U.S. adult to say that they trust product information on social networking sites. Email is an effective way to obtain opinions and product reviews that can then be used on your social media site. Survey and review requests to loyalty members had 38% higher open rates and more than double the click rates of other loyalty mailings (surveys/reviews had unique open rates of 28% and click rates of 10.7% compared to non-survey loyalty mailing rates of 20.2% and 3.7% respectively).

• “Earn 1,000 Miles For Your Valued Feedback”
• “Tell us what you think.”

Take full advantage of social media

With 75% of brand loyalists saying they like to share their knowledge with others, it is likely that some of that sharing is happening on social media sites. The keen interest brand loyalists have in social media can be seen in their response to emails asking them to join or follow a site:

• Experian CheetahMail click analyses have shown that emails with invitations to ‘like us’, typically receive 43% of their total clicks on the main link to the social media site
• Social invitation emails sent to loyalty segments, however, received almost 70% of their total clicks on the main link to social media

Above all, the key to building and retaining loyalty is to know your customer, understand their mindset, acknowledge their individuality and tailor your brand’s messaging to meet their needs, wants and interests across channels. The extra efforts will be recognized by your brand’s biggest supporters and you will soon gain new fans along the way.

Brand loyalty was spotlighted in Experian CheetahMail’s Q3 2012 Benchmark Study. View the full Email Marketing Benchmark Study.

The study leverages a custom analysis of data from the Simmons National Hispanic Consumer Study, which measures over 48,000 respondents across 60,000 variables, including language, demographics, brand preferences, attitudes, lifestyles and even political outlook. Not surprisingly, the data showed that non-Hispanics who live in high-density Hispanic neighborhoods behave, buy and believe more similarly to Hispanics than non-Hispanics living in low-density Hispanic neighborhoods, even after controlling variables such as geography, education, income, age and other factors.

Some of our findings reinforced what we expected to see. For example, the data shows that non-Latinos living among Latinos:

• Consume and enjoy more Hispanic products, including food, music and sports. They are 5.5 times more likely to eat jalapeños and are 6 times as likely to listen to and enjoy salsa and merengue.
• Enjoy standing out in the crowd and being fashionable. They are twice as likely to say they like to stand out from the crowd and 70% more likely to experiment with new clothing styles.

However, we were surprised to see that the Latino influence on the mainstream extends far beyond just food, sports and fashion. Non-Latinos living among Latinos also:

• Lead the way in technology. They are twice as likely to use their cell phones and the Internet for information and entertainment.
• Eat less processed food. They are twice as likely to look for organic and natural when shopping for food.
• Are environmentally conscious. They are twice as likely to buy recycled products.

The growing Hispanic population together with the influence they are exerting on non-Hispanics that live around them means that our whole notion of “general market” is changing, and will continue to evolve. We think that’s pretty cool.

To find out more about the Latino Influence Project and learn more about what we found (and what we think it all means), please join the Webinar being hosted by Wing and Experian Marketing Services on Thursday November 29^th, 2012 at 2:00 EST. You can also download the Latino Influence Project report.

Holly McGavock is Wing’s Director of Planning, where she helps brands like Olay, Downy, Red Lobster and Radio Shack, among many others, connect with Latino consumers.

This week’s key findings:

• Free shipping is not mentioned quite as frequently this year in email marketing campaigns – there are 4% fewer mentions of free shipping in subject lines so far this season
• The number of loyalty mailings offering points or rewards benefits has increased by 8% compared to last season
• Black Friday searches continue to be on the rise, increasing 52% in the week ending 10/27 compared to the previous week
• Clicks to paid search terms increased 37% over week ending 10/27

Search and social deals

The study also finds that holiday shoppers are taking advantage of retailers’ deal sites and seeking out deals through search and social. Experian Simmons reports:

• Twenty-nine percent (29%) of online adults have visited a social discount site
• Twenty-seven percent (27%) of online adults have signed up for a daily deal
• Twenty-two percent (22%) of online adults have purchased a discount or coupon from a social site
• Eight percent (8%) of online adults have downloaded a mobile app for a social discount site

Email offers

Twenty-eight percent (28%) of all campaigns are including offers in subject lines so far this season, which is a slight increase from the 27% seen last year.

While dollars off are the most popular, free gifts have the highest transaction rates.

What should the marketer tell Hispanic consumers when selling a new Toyota Camry? Or what should the marketer tell Latinos when selling diapers? Should the communication and positioning approaches used be equally crafted to reach the Hispanic that can afford a new relatively expensive car, or a more common product like diapers?

Using data from the Simmons National Hispanic Consumer Study that was collected between April 25, 2011 and June 1, 2012, I created cross-tabulations of the TGI Socio Economic Levels in the Simmons database by those “agreeing a lot” with cultural attitudes and behaviors that will be specified below. The TGI Socio Economic Levels are a composite of education, ownership of selected household durables, mobile phone ownership, credit card ownership, usage of Internet and air travel. The scale results in four levels of socioeconomic standing: The top 10% of the population, the next 20% of the population, the next 30% of the population and finally the remaining 40%.

The bar charts below report the percentage of Latinos in each of the Socio Economic Levels that stated they “agree a lot” with each of the cultural statements.

^{Source: Simmons National Hispanic Consumer Study}

^{Source: Simmons National Hispanic Consumer Study}

^{Source: Simmons National Hispanic Consumer Study}

The way to read these results is, for example: Of those Latinos that are in the lowest 40% of the TGI Socio Economic Levels, 30% “agree a lot” with the statement “I often encourage Hispanic children to participate in traditional Hispanic games and activities,” and 25% of those in the next higher 30% level state they “agree a lot” with the statement. Twenty percent in the next higher level and only about 16% in the highest Socio Economic Level similarly “agree a lot.”  Meaning that strong agreement with the statement is heavily concentrated in the lower socioeconomic classes. There is a monotonic trend that indicates that as socioeconomic levels rises, attitudes and behaviors endorsing Latino cultural elements decrease. There are other attitudes and behaviors that do not conform with the above trend, for example:

^{Source: Simmons National Hispanic Consumer Study}

The cultural value of being gregarious and enjoying family and extended family appears to be consistent across the Socio Economic Levels, and to an even higher extent at the upper levels of the socioeconomic scale. In general, however, the percentages are very high and they speak more readily about how certain cultural values persist even as people become wealthier and more educated. It appears, then, that some values and behaviors decline as Hispanics climb the social ladder and others persist regardless. This highlights the complexity of the Hispanic market. Further, those higher on the socioeconomic scale are more likely to endorse values of U.S. society as reflected in the chart below regarding the priority of speaking English in the household.

^{Source: Simmons National Hispanic Consumer Study}

The findings are consistent and surprising, in my opinion. Those who are less affluent and less formally educated are the largest share of those indicating they engage in culturally related behaviors as well as holding attitudes and beliefs that are culturally-based. Nevertheless, there appear to be values that survive Latino prosperity, like the value for family get-togethers. It may be that those better-off have more family around to get together with and that those less well-off tend to be more geographically separated because of lack of economic resources.

These findings corroborate what our book “Hispanic Marketing: Connecting with the New Latino Consumer” says about how lower socioeconomic classes are more likely to be attached to their culture to a larger extent. It is also likely that having roots, of any kind, is more important to those who have not fared as well in society. Nevertheless, this data shows that there are exceptions and that more affluent Latinos are likely to endorse U.S. values to a larger extent. That may not be too surprising but certainly the trend points to the importance of socioeconomic considerations in marketing to Hispanics.

Another factor to point out is that recency of immigration to the U.S. should be correlated with socioeconomic level. That may also explain to some extent why lower levels endorse cultural attitudes and behaviors to a larger extent.

The consistencies are important and we will report some more of these in future postings. The trends have powerful implications for those who, for example, plan business-to-business campaigns, or plan approaches geared to the more affluent. In a business-to-business setting, if targeting relatively well-to-do Hispanic business owners, a culturally based approach may not be as relevant as when targeting Latino employees of that business.

Three trends were highlighted here:

• Specific cultural attitudes and behaviors that differentiate Latinos of diverse levels tend to be more strongly endorsed by those in the lower 40%
• Other more general cultural attitudes and behaviors seem to be relevant to all Hispanics
• A tendency for better-off Hispanics to endorse U.S. values to a larger extent

Marketers should, in my opinion, pay close attention to these findings. Marketing in culture may render more robust results when campaigns are directed to the lower socioeconomic strata. It appears that cultural heritage loses some prevalence as Latinos become increasingly affluent. Thus, having a campaign in Spanish with Latino themes for better-off Hispanics may not be as productive as once thought.

The data used here is from the Simmons National Hispanic Consumer Study and was collected between April 25, 2011 and June 1, 2012. The sample contained 8,252 Latinos.

Learn more about the Simmons National Hispanic Consumer Study.

About the author:

Dr. Korzenny is a Professor of Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communication, and Founder and Director of the Center for the Study of Hispanic Marketing Communication at Florida State University. He independently consults with major U.S. corporations on their Hispanic marketing strategies, and speaks to them about approaches to better connect with Hispanic Consumers. For other articles in this series please visit: http://felipekorzenny.blogspot.com/

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.

The top 20 cities for sweats consumption:

1. Philadelphia, PA
2. Hartford, CT
3. Pittsburgh, PA
4. Lafayette, LA
5. Laredo, TX
6. Boston, MA
7. New York, NY
8. Los Angeles, CA
9. Victoria, TX
10. Scranton, PA
11. Salt Lake City, UT
12. Marquette, MI
13. Milwaukee, WI
14. Washington, DC
15. Austin, TX
16. Watertown, MA
17. Jacksonville, FL
18. Idaho Falls, ID
19. Providence, RI
20. Chicago, IL

Perhaps these purchases are fueled by the desire to travel in comfort. Spirit Airlines passengers are the biggest buyers of sweats, followed by Jet Blue, Continental and US Air. Foreign airlines have really high sweat purchase numbers too ¾ especially — Asian carriers. On the flipside, Southwest Airlines passengers buy the fewest number of sweat apparel items.

Potential voters are highly engaged online during this election.  Statistics show that an ever-increasing amount of campaign spending is going towards online advertising and social media – where campaigns are targeting specific audiences for their messages.   Political advertisers are realizing what other marketers have already embraced, that it is critical to target advertising messages and dollars online to reach the high value consumers that you want to reach.

Experian Hitwise took a look at where to reach party loyals as well as key swing voters online. The segments highlighted in this post include the Super Democrats and Ultra Conservatives segments, which represent the most party loyal voters for Democrats and Republicans, respectively. And one of the important swing voter segments during this election cycle, Green Traditionalists.

The segments come from the Experian Simmons PoliticalPersonas consumer segmentation system, which classifies U.S. adults into one of 10 unique segments based on the individual’s political outlook and party ID as well as their attitudes and opinions towards key topics.

Source: Experian Simmons
We looked at each of the segments and their share of visits to various print, broadcast news media and political websites to see how they differ. The rankings below are based on share of visits for each segment and compared to the online population.

For the Super Democrats group USA Today captured the largest share of visits in the print news and media category, followed by The New York Times. When comparing this segment’s news consumption to the online population they have a stronger propensity to visit local news sites in Northern California, Seattle and New York centric publications.

In the broadcast news & media category, CNN.com received the largest share of visits from the Super Democrats segment but interestingly for a more liberal group, Fox News is second along with other various Fox News sites which may reflect that they are going across various properties to gather different perspectives on the news.

Source: Hitwise AudienceView

Within the print news and media category, Ultra Conservatives had some similarities to Super Democrats in terms of sites that captured the largest shares like USA Today and The New York Times.  When comparing to the online population, Ultra Conservatives are less likely to be reading The New York Times and more likely to read The Wall Street Journal and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  Other sites like Taste of Home, Reader’s Digest and Galveston County Daily News may be smaller sites but are effectively capturing a high share of visits from this group.

Source: Hitwise AudienceView

In the broadcast news & media category, not surprisingly Fox News captured the largest share of visits from this segment and CNN.com as the number two site. Ultra Conservatives are far more likely to visit sites across the Fox News properties when compared to the online population.

Source: Hitwise AudienceView

For the key independent voter segment Green Traditionalists, the political websites they are more likely to visit is interesting to see where they are getting news about the candidates and issues. The highest share of visits is to the NBC election news site and they are far more likely to monitor election coverage here than the online population. Environment issues are a driving force for this group and that is reflected in the appearance of Governor Cuomo’s site as one that they are more likely to visit during the four weeks ending August 11. Cumo has been in the news recently related to the passing an anti-fracking bill and this group seems to have particular interest in the health and environmental impacts of processes like this. Green Traditionalists are clearly independent as they do visit websites on both sides of the spectrum with right leaning sites as well as some of the more liberal sites with environmental focus such as Care2Petition.

Source: Hitwise AudienceView

Publishers and campaign advertisers can drive strategic planning and highly targeted ad spend based on these insights.

View our webcast for more on insights on the PoliticalPersonas. For more political trends updated weekly – check out our Trend Center .

When asked in July of this year, “Do you think that you are better off or worse off financially now than you were 12 months ago?” 26% of U.S. adults responded “better off,” while 30% responded “worse off” and 44% responded “about the same.” Taken as a snapshot, things still look pretty glum for the pocketbooks of Americans. But when we examine the trend over time, we see that every year more and more Americans say they’re doing better, while fewer are doing worse.

Specifically, in January 2009, just before President Obama took office, only 16% of adults said they were better off financially than they were a year earlier and fully half said they were worse off. In fact, since Obama took office, there has been a relative increase of 63% when it comes to the share of the electorate who say they are financially better off. Meantime, there has been a relative decrease of 60% in the share of adults who say they are financially worse off. Both trends support the argument that Americans are better off today than they were when Obama was elected. If only things were so simple.

When it comes to personal economic outlook and that of the U.S. economy, many Americans are still uncertain. It is true that when asked in July, “Do you think that in the coming 12 months you will be better off or worse off financially than you are now?” 37% of adults say that they expect they will be better off, which is nearly double the share of Americans who say they will be worse off in the next year (19%). Furthermore, the share of adults who say they will be worse off has declined to 19% in July from a peak of 29% in January 2009. Still, since January 2010, Americans’ optimism (or pessimism) about their personal finances has remained relatively unchanged, suggesting that despite Americans increasingly reporting that they’re better off today, there is no groundswell in the belief that things will continue to improve.

Lack of confidence in the U.S. economy is likely a major driver behind this trend. In January 2012, there were more Americans who said that the American economy would be worse off in the coming year (36%) than those who predicted it will be better off (24%). Even today, pessimism outpaces optimism when it comes to our outlook towards the U.S. economy, but there is a small sign of hope. Between January and July 2012, the share of Americans who believe that the economy will be better off next year grew by a relative 8% and the share who believe it will be worse off declined by a relative 9%.

So while it seems that Americans indeed believe they are better off today than they were when they elected Obama, it’s unclear whether they have the they hope that things will continue to improve.

For more information about reaching swing voters, watch our PoliticalPersonas^SM webcast and read our blog post detailing the top indexing TV programs for reaching party loyals and swing voters.

Learn more about tracking consumer sentiment week-by-week with Simmons DataStream^SM.

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.