Social media, shoes and targeting people

SOCIAL STUDIES - Published Monday June 8th, 2009

I know; social media again. I bring it up a lot and I am truly sorry. I will move on soon. Unfortunately I have it in my head that Twitter is changing the universe.

The reason that Twitter and, in a lot of ways, Facebook are changing the way we live our lives is targeted information.

I came to this realization while being a captive audience at a conference in Toronto. I am here with writers, editors, advertising and design folks who all contribute to the world of magazines. Now, around every corner and outside every room there are booths set up where some big league players in terms of corporations are selling their wares.

Markets Initiative will help you learn to go green. Quebecor can provide environmentally friendly and really excellent quality paper for your mass distribution needs.

The News Group can mass market your magazines. BPA Worldwide can audit your entire corporate structure from a media point of view and help you achieve maximum efficiency. Ryerson University will offer you continuing education. Texterity will help you publish digitally.

Transcontinental Paper, Rogers Communications, IBM Global Software, you get the picture.

The point is, this is stuff people in the magazine industry really care about -- and here it is gathered together under one roof, not as a trade show, but because they know the people who buy their products are going to be walking the halls.

It really got me thinking about how most of us do not use targeted information and marketing the way we should.

The only people that do it better are social media organizations. Google ads change their content based on what web searches you do, Facebook targets ads based on locale and group status, Twitter is based entirely on the idea of transmitting targeted information to specific groups of people.

And yet, we fail miserably at this ourselves.

I blame political correctness and lack of risk taking.

In order to truly target a market you need to do a lot of homework, that is a given. Research what it is people want, research the demographics in the area, research the viability of products and lifespan of purchase decisions . . . but then, ultimately, you have to take a risk.

Every company here has gambled on two unexpected things: quality and the environment.

Given that we are in an economic recession, and given that digital media is outpacing print media; the idea that people will want to pay more for environmentally friendly products, and buy "the best" for their employees is frankly a risky gamble. Mind you, by setting up booths in the same place where the awards for best magazine of the year are happening, you sort of win by association. It is hard not to make the assumption that The Beaver, having won an award, uses Quebecor ink. After all, it is right there outside the door, and they say it is the best too.

What I am trying to say is that taking the risk will probably pay off for that company because of association.

Now, aside from helping you to see the many ways that advertising and marketing approaches create false reality which makes the consumer make assumptions; I am trying to make a point about the average Jane and Joe; that point being, we could make our way through the world much more easily by adopting some risk taking targeted approaches.

We need to make assumptions and target our approach to the person we are interacting with. If someone looks tired, sad, lonely, happy, or bored, how you approach them will make all the difference. We really need to stop assuming that everyone is equal and not waste our time on approaches that will not work.

This is a lesson for local business owners, for government officials, for churches, and for each and every one of us who goes out into the world today trying to accomplish something.

If you are passionate about animal rights, for example, how you talk to a hunter has to be different than how you talk to a vegetarian. I am not arguing against authenticity, simply arguing for recognizing diversity in the way our world functions and people think. You need to be able to target your approach no matter whether you are meeting in a bar, a grocery store line-up, or at the bus stop.

So I am going to go out on a limb and suggest a way that a group of us writers determined to quickly judge target audiences in any group: Shoes. Specifically, compare shoes with clothing and situation and you can make an almost completely accurate prediction of the person.

I know I will get in trouble for saying something that sounds so banal and simple; but try it out yourself and you will see.

A group of us did it at a reception at the conference. For example, I was wearing a blue oxford shirt, khaki pants, and black Doc Martins. My colleague, who I had never previously met, made this assumption: "You are sort of confused about identity, wishing you were more rebellious than you are, but because they are real Doc Martins, you are authentic about it."

Now, anyone who knows me at all will totally agree with this summary and wonder why we pay psychoanalysts $100 per hour. Her turn, she was wearing toe thong sandals, jeans, a purple satin shirt, faux amethyst necklace and was drinking a vodka and tonic. My guess: "free spirited non-conformist who is extremely creative and wants to be noticed." Again, this pretty much coincided with what her friends would have said.

Seriously, try it out. But even if you find my approach a little too weird, remember, choose how you interact carefully, targeting what you say and do. It can make all the difference.