Abstract:

It could be argued that market and media research have already reached a high level of sophistication. That the consumer classification systems we have evolved over the past years keep the information we need flowing smoothly and effectively. So why rethink anything? Because we in Europe are experiencing the first ripples of an irresistible wave of change. Change in society. Change in markets. Change in the media. The backdrop against which we classify consumers, whether we are marketers, researchers, media owners or advertising people, is no longer a comfortable and predictable constant. Increasingly, we find ourselves classifying a moving target. The classifications we developed for yesterday's reality start collapsing when we try to apply them to tomorrow's.