Message match your meaning

Okay, so maybe I watch too many crime shows, but the new Air Canada television campaign is rather spooky to me. It's supposed to be the re-launch of the brand but, to me, half of it looks like a murder mystery. The smearing of red paint with fingertips is too much like writing with blood. (maybe I should seek help?)

I seriously believe an airline wouldn't want to be associated with spilled blood, so what were they thinking? The company's in trouble financially and they spend money on a high production ad that doesn't really sell any of their services but certainly puts a negative picture in my mind.

It is however an excellent example of what can happen to your marketing message if it isn't clear, concise and tested. Branding is important, don't get me wrong, but when your budget is tight, delivering messages that are high level and don't actually have a specific call-to-action are not a good use of your money (but it certainly puts cash into ad agencies' wallets). Of course, maybe Air Canada doesn't have anything positive to say about seat sales or services (that's certainly the sound of things in the media over the last while) so this weird bloody ad is all they have in their pocket.

There aren't a lot of ads, television, print or otherwise, that people take the time to discuss to discover what their impressions actually are. So you're stuck with their first impression - good or bad.

And it isn't just the words you use. In the case of Air Canada, there's nothing wrong with the words of the commercial. In this case, it's the visuals. So make sure your images are worthy of the message - both supporting it and enhancing it. For some people something as simple as brussel sprouts can be such a negative image that your brand is scarred forever.

Depending on the audience psychographics, you could find customers turning away simply because the imagery doesn't match their temperament. And the only way to know for sure is through testing or being completely in touch with who your customer actually is deep in their heart.

The more you know about your customer, the more you will be able to reach them with engaging and motivating messages. It's worth the research to not become an airline that markets writing in blood.

Psychographics - a better audience definition

For many businesses, trying to get a great definition of your customer base just can't happen with demographics alone. In most instances, your customer base is defined by a lifestyle or a mindset, rather than by their age, income and education.

You need to discover what makes your customer base tick. Do they love to read? And if so, what do they read? Do they love to garden? Are they fans of old movies? Every one of these answers teaches you more about your audience and how to reach them with your marketing efforts.

For the sake of example, let's look at organic products. This is a very specific mindset and lifestyle. They cost more than traditional products and their benefits tend to not be seen immediately. So what might be the defining elements of this customer base?

With traditional demographics, this audience could be defined as anyone over 21 years of age, largely female, with college or university education and a mid-range to high income. They have a healthy lifestyle that would include exercise, outdoor activities such as gardening or hiking, they stay away from prepackaged/preprepared foods. They like to read and support the arts in some form.

So what could your marketing plan include that would reach this customer base? If we only looked at the demographic information, it might make sense to buy traditional media like radio or newspapers. But that just isn't targeted enough.

With the information about the customers likes and dislikes, you can fine-tune your plan and hit them where they live, thereby getting more return on your marketing investment. Gardening magazines would be a good choice. Magazines based on hobbies or interests are read with more attention than general stream newspapers or magazines. In Canada, Canadian Gardening offers a subscription base that would well match the psychographics of an organic product purchaser.

Sponsoring an art event or buying an ad in a theatre program, would also streamline your message delivery. The most important thing is to not waste your money on traditional, general interest media.

So how do you figure out the psychographics of your customer base? Talk to them. Survey them. You'll see commonalities fairly quickly. And there will be commonalities you can take advantage of to grow your business.