The importance of utilizing demographic research to market your products or services cannot be understated. In the rapidly changing world we are living in currently, it is important for your business to constantly be looking for new ideas or innovations.

 

The ability to be successful in a product launch stems from the demographic research done in the early stages of product development. If this research is done thoroughly and correctly, then the product has a good chance at success. However, if the research is not done thoroughly and is not executed properly, your company has a much greater chance at launching a product or service which will fail in the marketplace.

 

I will draw upon my experience doing demographic marketing research for two different companies in my career. I will share advice on the design of the survey for the product test, and also what particular problem areas to avoid.

 

Demographics – An introduction

The demographic breakdown for research of products or services is divided into groups or categories as follows:

• Kids
• Tweens
• Young Adults
• 18 – 24
• 24-36
• Gen X
• Baby Boomers
• Senior Citizens (0ver 70 years old)

 

There is some cross over between the 24-36 and the Generation X category (people born between 1965 and 1980) ; and there is also the term Generation Y which can describe people without precise dates (born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s).

 

Each generation has particular attributes and opinions which drive their purchasing behavior which I will cover later in this article.

 

The Product Survey or Test – A critical aspect in this process

The product survey or test is critical to your success or failure in the area of demographic research.  The wording of the questions is very important, and should be geared toward your audience. A product survey for a kids’ product has to be written on their level in order to be understood properly.

The design and layout of the survey is also very important. You may decide to be very traditional in the layout of a product for senior citizens; yet bold and using bright colors and text for the product geared to Tweens or Young Adults.

The questions must be written with the design to elicit the response your company is seeking. If you are trying to get an opinion of how your product compares to the competition, then the questions need to reflect that end point. If your survey is to determine new options or ideas for product line extensions on an existing product line, then your survey must have some open ended questions to draw out those ideas.

 

In addition, the setting for your product test is very important as well. Your company will get different responses based on whether you have the test group come into your office, or if you hold the test at a neutral site. In my experience, the respondents will be generally more nervous in your offices than at a neutral location such as the supermarket, the mall, or a hotel conference room.

 

The same attribute goes for children, if you are testing a product geared toward children or teens, then conducting the test at their respective school versus your company offices or a hotel will give you much different responses. I have worked on numerous campaigns for products geared toward children and young adults and it is always a good general rule of thumb to conduct the test at their school, if possible.

 

The location of the tests can impact demographics as well. In the U.S. our tastes and opinions are also shaped by where we are from within this diverse nation. That was very true in the case of the Coca-Cola Company when they rolled out “New Coke” which was found to be very sweet in other parts of the country and eventually was a product launch disaster for one of the world’s largest companies.

 

Upon internal review of the product launch process, it was revealed that Coke only test marketed the product in the South particularly in the Dallas market, where Dr. Pepper is a very popular drink, and Southerners tend to like very sweet beverages. It did very well in those markets, but not in other parts of the country.

 

This is a good case study to show that if you are launching a nationwide product, or you are launching a regional product – it is always important to get several test markets involved. Then your company should closely analyze that data when it comes back to determine the correct course of action prior to the full launch.

 

In the event your company is conducting research for a product or service which is geared toward young people or teenagers; the use of social media to deliver the survey or product test should be utilized. Young people utilize social media for everything they do, and this would show that your company understands that and can deliver products which relate to these age groups.

 

Brief Summary of Key Attributes by Demographic Type

 

Here is a brief summary of the key attributes each demographic group seeks from the products or services they use in general terms:

• Kids – to sell products to children you should have bright packaging and use characters and bright colors. You must also appeal to the parents since they make the purchasing decision. So your product marketing should also feature a benefit that parents will see as valuable.
• Tweens – the product needs to be hip and new. It needs to be innovative and you have the knowledge that this group purchases products and services with their own money. They have a lot of disposable income made from summer or part –time jobs. Your product has to appeal to them at their level.
• Young adults – the product has to have an “edge” the marketing has to reflect that perception. It has to provide something new in order to succeed.
• The 18-24 demo – the product or service must deliver immediately. This demographic seeks immediate results, if the product does not feature any element of immediate benefit, it will not be successful. This also is the most coveted demographic for product sales, TV ratings etc…due to the high amounts of disposable income in this age group coupled with their tendency to spend that income more freely than the other groups.
• The 24-36 demographic age group – the product or service must have a value added component. It should be innovative, but most importantly the delivery of value or perceived value is the most important component to their purchasing behaviors.
• Generation X – very similar to previous group, this generation of American consumer wants a good value for the money they will spend on a product or service. The point of difference between this set and the 18-24 demo is that the product also must be of high quality to have the best chance for success. The level of quality is not an issue at all with some of the other demographics, but in this group it needs to be a focal point of your marketing strategy.
• Baby Boomers – this generation responds to two key factors: they are generally more cost conscious than the other demographic groups. So the price point of your product or service is a key issue with this group of consumers. The other key driver is nostalgia – if your product or service can provide them with a feeling or emotion from their younger days , it will have a greater opportunity for success.
• Senior Citizens – this group is very traditional and prefers low cost products or services, so your company had better be flexible on price point here to compete. The marketing campaign would be very direct but also very “buttoned up” it should have more neutral color schemes and be very traditional in its approach in order to successfully market a product to this demographic of American consumer.

 

 

The Results – What is next?

 

In my past experience, once I received the results of the product survey or product testing, I moved the process into the next stage: data entry and data analysis.

 

I would first populate the data in an Excel spread sheet. I would also separate the popular ideas based on the results of the survey.

 

Next, I would determine the feasibility of these popular ideas. In the event that I had one or more ideas that were realistically feasible for potential new product line extensions or new product names; I would then determine the marketability of these names or concepts.

 

Then, I would look at the sample size of the product trial. If it was 100 people, I would then put together a proposal to gain approval for a test of 250 people. If it was a 500 person sample size audience, then I would seek an increase for the next round of tests to be 800 to 1,000 people.

 

I would also look at the way the test was conducted and if I received feedback on the survey from the members of the test sample group. If that feedback provided me with credible information about the execution of the test, I did then amend the format of the next round of tests accordingly.

 

Sometimes the popular ideas or trending data resulting from particularly large product trial tests would then help us to amend or develop a new marketing strategy than our original direction. This could even include changing the overall marketing plan for the company, so it is important to be nimble and capable of change to address changing market conditions.

 

I worked at a company that would do a product test on one type of product, and we would get ideas from the results for new concepts in other product lines based on consumer feedback.

 

It is also important to look at the current trends and analyze the feasibility of trying a new product in an innovative way to see if it works. For instance, Mountain Dew is a very popular drink with the 18-24 demographic could you take that type of citrus flavor and make a gum that tastes like Mountain Dew, or an energy supplement that tastes like Mountain Dew?

In the end, your company has to budget accordingly for promotional materials, test samples or products, and determine the venue and the staffing for the tests (convenience store, grocery store, movie theater, mall, school ..etc) but if you can pull together the right survey and the samples of product you  will be successful. The demographic research component of marketing products is essential to the success of your company. I hope you found this article useful in determining the future goals of your company in marketing new products or services.