Sponsored
subscribe Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Subscribe now
Picture: SUPPLIED/EBONY+IVORY
Picture: SUPPLIED/EBONY+IVORY

The in-depth back story behind market segmentation in SA will feature as two articles in this Ebony+Ivory blog series for marketers.

Below is a useful summary of key points.

“Post-Amps landscape: play it as it lies” takes us on a journey through the life of Amps (“All Media and Product Survey”) from its first release in 1975 to the April 2016 final release — covering four decades in which its data was the backbone of marketing and advertising strategy as well as media planning in SA.

  • Released on a rolling basis about every six months, Amps’ comprehensive demographic database profiled adult consumers (15+ years) nationally and was overlaid with audience data covering all forms of traditional media, which made it indispensable to media strategists.

  • As well as audience data, Amps provided wide-ranging insights on consumer behaviour, life stage, attitudes and lifestyle, with multiple socioeconomic indicators ranging from motor vehicle and home ownership to activities, interests and retail shopping behaviour.
  • The survey data was supplemented by the “Television Audience Measurement Survey” (Tams), often referred to as people meters, and the “Radio Audience Measurement Survey” (Rams), known as radio diaries.

  • Amps included purchasing and consumption information on a wide range of product categories, brands and retail outlets.

Click here for full article >>>

In the post-Amps age, there are multiple surveys from which to consolidate media plans and marketing strategies (see the full list in Ebony+Ivory blog). This leaves marketers and media professionals asking, “How do we navigate our way through this multi-methodology multi-source data pool to create a collective meta-analysis for market and media segmentation?” 

The third article “LSM to SEM: Finding the golden cord” explains the transition from living standards measure (LSM) to socioeconomic measure (SEM).

Series co-author Gordon Muller says that at a functional level SEM represents the most recent iteration of a national socio-economic segmentation model and it fulfils the same macro-segmentation function as LSM.

  • SEM uses 14 variables to compute various data points and clusters. Nine of the 14 variables deployed as predictors in SEM are totally consistent with Amps LSM.

  • However comparatively, for instance, SEM is not as heavily dependent on households’ durables and technology items, as the historical LSM had been.

  • Compared with Amps LSM, there is a stronger focus on fixed structural items in SEM, such as household building materials and access to amenities such as water and toilets.

  • Other lifestyle indicators, such as home security systems and ownership of a motor vehicle, are built into the segmentation model.

Click here for the full article >>>

Did you miss the Ebony+Ivory series introduction?
Click here >>>

This article was paid for by Ebony+Ivory.

subscribe Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Subscribe now

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.