Environics Analytics (EA) has its finger on the pulse of Canadians, but we’re not talking “women 18 to 34” or “affluent households.”
The marketing analytics company has released its latest edition of PRIZM5, a geodemographic segmentation system that classifies all Canadians into one of 68 lifestyle types, with names like Urbane Villagers (wealthy middle-aged urban sophisticates), and Pets & PCs (younger, upscale suburban families).
The types are based on demographics, lifestyles and social values, using data from nearly a dozen sources. Last year, PRIZM5 got a major refresh based on the results from the 2011 Census and National Household Spending data, and was updated this year.
“People are more than just age and sex. [They’re] more complex than that,” said Danny Heuman, SVP of research and development at Environics Analytics. “We do need to look at [characteristics like] the age of children in the household, and whether people are living in houses or apartments, because it influences the types of products that they buy.”
Here’s a look at some of the findings from the 2016 edition of PRIZM5:
- Enclaves Multiethniques grew more than 10% in the last year. Concentrated in Montreal neighbourhoods, the segment has a significant presence of younger francophones and immigrants from French-speaking countries such as Algeria, Morocco, Haiti and Vietnam. Despite their lower-middle incomes, this group makes a strong market for nightclubs, dating services, concerts and sports like soccer and football.
- Compared to previous generations, boomers live independently later in life and are staying in their homes longer. If they do choose to downsize from their suburban homes, they’re increasingly moving to condos in downtown neighbourhoods. Single City Jazz, a segment of younger, diverse singles in city apartments, saw a 6.4% increase in baby boomers—the largest increase in boomers of any segment.
- Millennials 15 to 34 now number 9.3 million people—27% of the Canadian population—but they’re hardly a monolithic group, according to EA. PRIZM5 identified six segments where millennials have left home and are in various phases of finishing school, starting jobs and having children. In segments like Urban Digerati and Street Scenes—both filled with young, independent city dwellers—the number of millennials rose by more than 5% in the last year.
- The wealthiest PRIZM5 segment, Cosmopolitan Elite, grew by 19%. However, its 85,500 households represent just 0.6% of the total population—the smallest lifestyle group. Over the past year, the segment added about 11,500 households that earn an average $477,026 annually, located primarily in cities such as Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver. In their affluent enclaves, these middle-aged couples and older families are living in million-dollar homes, driving luxury imports and sending their children to private schools. Many also support local cultural groups and donate to a wide range of not-for-profit causes.
How can marketers put this data work? Heuman said once the target groups are identified using PRIZM5 and a company’s own consumer data, EA can look at everything from the target groups’ product purchases, to ecommerce activity and media consumption, right down to if they’re spending their leisure time on tennis or golf.
“We can bring the target group to life and it allows [marketers] to deliver or create promotions that will resonate with their clients, or identify opportunities and better position their products with their customers,” said Heuman. “In the case of a retail store, it could be merchandising. Understanding the makeup of the trade area around a store will allow them to [stock] the store differently.”
For example, Carlton Cards is using segmentation to help its retail partners stock the right mix of products based on the demographics and social values of their trade areas. “Knowing that this is a family-based area, Mother’s Day cards will be more important, or this is an area of singles and maybe birthday cards are all they want,” said Heuman.
On the not-for-profit side, UNICEF Canada worked with EA to learn more about the demographics and social values of current monthly donors.
The research identified eight groups of PRIZM5 segments that accounted for 94% of monthly donations. EA analysts then profiled the donor groups, detailing where they lived, how they spent their time and money, and what issues were most important to them—all to help guide UNICEF Canada’s marketing and messaging.
The result was a new monthly donation product called Survival 365, which launched last August. With the program, every time a donor makes a contribution, UNICEF responds with an emailed thank-you message detailing what life-saving products their donation purchased.
“[Not-for-profits] are cash-strapped most of the time, or they’re trying to be more efficient with their targeting,” said Heuman. “So, many of our not-for-profits use the social values data to understand people’s reasons for donating. Once they understand it, they can tweak the message based on the target group so that it resonates with the individuals.”
With monthly donors, “they can understand where their greatest potential is so they can focus their efforts and more efficient with their resources.”
