A Direct Marketing Agency - Helping Brands Acquire and Retain Customers

I read with interest the article, "One Day in America," by Nancy Gibbs, in the November 26 issue of Time magazine. The message is clear. The days of targeting the masses is long gone, because the Average American doesn't exist. In order to sell your product or service you need to use targeted one-to-one creative messaging to targeted customer segments, which possess similar wants, needs, desires and emotions.

Here's what Ms. Gibbs wrote:

"Even finding the Average American is a challenge, since means and medians and majorities can hide as much as they reveal: pity the statistician whose job it is to flatten us into a trend. The average household has 2.6 members, but most families prefer their children whole. On average we are 36.6 years old, but in reality we are newborn and toddling, aged and wise. We exercise close to the recommended 20 minutes a day—but that's because 17% of us exercise for well over an hour, while the rest of us scarcely stir at all . . . But if the perfect average is a mirage, you can still learn something by comparing yourself to the crowd. Depending on how closely you cleave to the statistical norm, you prefer figure-skating to NASCAR, live in the state where you were born, spend more money in restaurants than grocery stores and are just as happy as you would be if you earned 20 times your salary. At some point today you will say a prayer, not floss, take a shower for 10 minutes but not sing in it, drive an eight-year-old car to work, spend 95% of the day indoors and 21/2 hours online, consume 20 teaspoons of added sugar and not save any money."

Here's the link to the article.