Successful Marketing Still Begins With Understanding Your Target Audience

Last week, I was reminded that successfully using today's digitally-focused marketing tools must still be based on a smart marketing strategy that understands and appreciates the target customer. Rod Brooks, CMO for PEMCO Insurance gave a sold-out luncheon crowd in Seattle a great lesson in Marketing 101.

For the past year, PEMCO has been running a wonderful local campaign positioning their company as the local insurance company that really understands its customers. The campaign profiles local stereotypes that feature some of the unique, and often quirky, habits and characteristics of people in the Northwest. The campaign sign-off sums up the campaign: We're a lot like you. A little different.

The goal was to connect Northwest values to PEMCO and "own local".

Rod recounted for his audience the basic steps his marketing team took in analyzing the competition (SWOT analysis, etc.) and performing an in-depth review of the general mindset of people toward insurance (not a pleasant experience since insurance is a product that you pay for but never really see, and you can only "win" by "losing"). But two key steps they took are a great reminder for any marketing organization.

First, they did extensive internal reviews to identify and articulate their company culture, values and challenges. Rod knew that good positioning and branding for a service company must come from the inside out; it must be based on who and what you truly are or it is doomed to failure (think about all of those banking commercials that tout friendly service but don't deliver).

The second step was to conduct a series of ethnographic interviews to identify and understand the values that are unique to the Northwest region. Some of those values - fiercely independent, incredibly green, regional pride - were pretty obvious to anyone who lives here. But the two most important conclusions PEMCO made about Northwest consumers are that they love the local guy (there is a very strong local food movement) and they take great pride in their quirky but often colorful local habits and characteristics.

The campaign features these local habits and characteristics in a humorous, self-deprecating way by introducing us to "Relentless Recycler", who judiciously washes, and re-washes, every item before it goes into the recyle bin; "Blue Tarp Campers", who ignore the rainy weather and enjoy their camping experiences through the aid of overhead cover; "Roadside Chainsaw Woodcarver", local artists found in almost every Washington community; and my personal favorite, "Sandals and Socks Guy", an interesting dress code that in my experience is only found in the Northwest.

There are other humorous profiles that relate to individual communities, like the "Fremont 60's Holdout" and the "Marymoor Off-Leash Dog Lady", but all represent the odd, quirky but also colorful nature of Northwest residents. Recently, PEMCO added an interactive website (http://www.werealotlikeyou.com/) that allows visitors to upload their own photo and headline to add to the growing list of profiles.

Word-of-mouth for PEMCO has increased over 300%.

The total PEMCO campaign is a great story in successful integration of multiple media, as it uses traditional media -television, radio and print - in conjunction with community relations and events, and a strong digital component. According to Rod Brooks, word-of-mouth about the PEMCO campaign has increased by over 300% since the campaign began. Sales are growing, and the intangibles of internal company pride and excitement have made this a model campaign in the Northwest.

But it all started with understanding their target audience and their relationship with that audience. And that's a good reminder lesson for all of us in marketing!