We Targeted The Queen Of England

Among the amazing tools available to today’s digital marketers is the ability to target with extraordinary and unprecedented accurately.  Not only can individual towns be selected as the designated geography, but on certain media such as Facebook and Youtube, actual demographics such as “homeowners” can also be targeted in the same campaign.  Facebook actually has the most granular data.  People gleefully tell Mark Zuckerberg their most intimate and detailed interests, thinking they’ll benefit from such self-definition.   Indeed they do, if one feels more relevant ads are a benefit.  Perhaps they are?

Anyway, Leading Edge Digital manages the marketing for a variety of brands including the world’s most expensive shampoo/hair products, which are currently available in Europe and in the US.  Matching these super-premium products with the poshest addresses clearly could be beneficial to the brand.  A simple Google search yields the wealthiest areas of most western countries.  We started with a small, toe-dipping strategy, beginning in the UK only.  If the campaign yields good results, we will expand it to other markets.  There’s no sense in spending big bucks if we’re unsure of the campaign’s cost/benefit.

We used the metric of highest per-capita income to select the geographic areas.  This would also provide us with the desired high-end demographic.  It’s not surprising that Westminster, the location of Buckingham Palace, The Queen’s primary residence is located in our selected geo.  The UK Prime Minister’s office is also located in Westminster, so hopefully he’s seeing our promotion (sponsored Facebook post) and will eventually buy the products.  Actually, the Prime Minister is unlikely to see our marketing since we also targeted only women, using demographic filters available in Facebook.  Other posh areas include Kensington, Chelsea and some of the well-heeled areas near London.

Don’t over-target or under-target.  Having the brand’s information appear with insufficient frequency means the brand’s meme will not stick.  Excessive advertising will turn people off.  Once again, experience and the data points the way towards this Goldi-locks frequency zone.

The good news is that the company has reported increased sales from this region, during the time of the campaign.  Of course, the total benefit cannot simply be measured in terms of direct sales since the advertising would no doubt also create awareness and top of mind, metrics not directly measured in this campaign.  Although the feedback is encouraging, the campaign has been too limited to draw significant conclusions, as of yet.  We’re considering ramping up their marketing by bringing on board other digital assets such as Youtube, Google Search and the Google Display network.

John Wanamaker, the famous 19th and 20th Century American businessman said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted.  The problem is I don’t know which half.”  With such granular targeting, far less money is wasted on advertising and the results can be tracked and tweaked, accordingly.  Hopefully, Her Majesty agrees and is amused.