Understanding a New Digital Consumer

Since 2007 when we first helped our client, PetLynx Corporation, to look at the companion animal market with a national survey, we have been struggling to segment consumers into known or predictable clusters that exhibit similar behaviors.

Three specific large scale surveys commissioned by PetLynx and delivered by Ipsos and DMRKenetic among others sorted through consumer behaviors in various domains and attempted to provide an understanding by consumer segment.  More recently, working with Dr. Lisa Chen, PetLynx regrouped consumers into proactive and reactive customer segments.  However, this was only partially successful in predicting consumer behavior. Dr. Chen discovered that in some cases 'proactive' consumers exhibited 'reactive' behaviors and vice versa.

Earlier this year, PetLynx conducted a 20/20 forum to discuss these factors and to introduce the idea of 'domains' as an element of understanding consumer behavior.  As an observer of this process and its findings and with 6 years of experience in this industry as well as a long career in electronics and telecommunications, I am prepared to provide a contribution to this discussion.

I think we are seeing a new consumer which we could call the 'digital consumer'.  One that is persistently connected to the internet but more importantly connected to their network of 'favourites', 'likes' and 'friends'.  However, I would encourage a different approach and interpretation for understanding these people that I will now call 'servers'.  Imagine that everyone you target with your brand is at the center of a network of people who trust their judgement and honor their behaviors by replicating and promoting them across their own networks.  The map of your 'professional network' on LinkedIn provides an excellent overview of what I am talking about.  However, serving takes place in both the digital and non-digital environment.  Who do you trust when it comes to advice?  Perhaps its Uncle Harry when it comes to a mortgage or Aunt Leila when it comes to a recipe or a favorite Server when you ask for advice at a restaurant.

I believe this view of the people we target with our brand solves a number of problems.  Authenticity and transparency are the new standards by which brands are judged and as 'servers' in our own network, we all  test these and other attributes prior to passing along brand values to our network.  Perhaps that is why measuring the experience and the sacrifice (pain) of those who associate with our brand, our products and our services is so important in this day and age.

If you accept this premise, perhaps it will be less difficult to imagine ways you could engage those who support your brand in the more intense but successful conversations they will 'serve' to the networks who believe them to be transparent and authentic.

Consumers we influence or servers we engage?  Its a question that may ultimately determine the success of your brand.