VIP Valuegraphics Industry Profile: Heavy Users vs. Non Users of Broadcast Media
The following points are interesting and useful, but what is not in this report is equally important. If your team has been discussing/acting on anything other than the issues contained in this report, it may be comforting to know that those issues are unimportant.
Anything that matters to the consumers profiled for this report is included herein. If it’s not in this report, it doesn’t register with these consumers and is unimportant to the overall industry. What matters as it relates to your specific channel, however, is likely different, so use this as a general industry guide only.
How should you use this information?
It’s a great reality check before you make any significant marketing plans or investments.
It could be the source material to begin a very interesting brainstorming session, making sure to use what you know about your own channel and market to temper the industry-wide nature of what this report contains.
As a group, your team could pull out the three or four most relevant findings that seem to make sense for you, and use them as a kind of benchmark to keep yourselves focused as you go about meeting your objectives.
At the very least, it’s always interesting to note what is happening at an industry-wide level when you are engaged on the front lines of that industry.
What’s different about this report compared to other industry reports you might have seen?
This report is based on direct feedback from 75,000 surveys across North America about what people really care about. As far as we know, it’s the only purpose-built dataset of it’s kind, and hopefully helps you understand what makes your audience tick.
Broadcast Media: Heavy Users vs. Non Users
Heavy Users are those who tell us that they watch/listen to broadcast media 20+ hours per week and at least 5 days per week. Non Users told us they never or rarely listen or watch broadcast media.
Heavy Users have little to no loyalty to a specific channel, or they define their loyalty in a way that is specific to what they are watching. For example they may be loyal to the idea of the 6pm evening news, but not a particular newscast. While this may seem discouraging to anyone trying to build brand awareness for a channel, it is useful information as it confirms that all marketing messages should be content-focused. Alternately, it could mean there are few if any broadcasters who are successfully connecting to their target audience about their brand, which could indicate an enormous opportunity for those that do. What aspects of a particular brand would appeal to a specific audience in a specific market would be uncovered in a Custom Valuegraphics Profile.
For Non-Users, loyalty to anything in their life, including media outlets, is something they feel must be earned. In their Valuegraphics survey responses they rarely even use the term loyalty. What they talk about instead is “having their needs met.” When they feel this has happened they will look for ways to have it happen again and again. In other words, they can be won over to your channel, and they will exhibit what we might call loyalty, but messaging must reinforce something about the satisfaction of needs. Which needs they will find most motivating, and how those are satisfied, would vary from channel to channel. What is intriguing is that even at the overall industry level, there is a path to conversion for Non-Users: meeting needs repeatedly will earn their loyalty.
Belonging is the most powerful human value across all 75,000 surveys in the Valuegraphics Database. The dominance of that one value – the need to feel like we belong – makes it very important that Heavy Users tell us they are a bit bi-polar about this value: they are either searching for more belonging, or they really don’t care one way or another. This is another possible brand opportunity: would your channel engage more viewers/listeners if you were to promote a sense of belonging in some manner? Further investigation is required, but we do know with no doubt whatsoever that it certainly wouldn’t hurt. There is no aversion to belonging, just a desire for more of it, or outright indifference. It would be interesting to see what percentage of a specific market and specific target audience would be motivated by this kind of strategy.
Heavy Users are either single, or share their heavy usage with their partners. This feels like good old-fashioned common sense, but it’s good to know that it is statistically supported and, if you choose to, can be the basis for strategic decisions without any fear of missing your mark.
Non-Users have their sense of belonging met by their current relationships. They also point out that this is extremely important to them. Therefore, Non-Users will be unlikely to respond to a strategy or tactic that is based on increasing their feeling of belonging. Choosing a strategy based on belonging is for Heavy Users only.
Heavy Users are attracted to repetitive entertainment experiences. This seems to present an ideal opportunity for those entertainment offerings which can be ‘binge consumed’ as well as a very cautionary note about change. Too much change will lessen the satisfaction derived from repetition and will cause loyalty to waiver. Don’t reinvent yourselves too often, or the Heavy Users will look elsewhere.
Non-Users are more attracted to variety and resemble our Adventure Club Valuegraphics Archetype in a number of significant ways. They are bored easily, want to constantly be exposed to new things, and have a feeling that the next best thing is better than the current best thing - in any product category. For broadcasters, this presents a bit of a conundrum. Heavy Users can be lured to your channel and once you have them, it will be hard to lose them as long as you don’t change things up too often. Non-Users however will become users if you keep things constantly fresh and new. Your channel will need to determine which of these pathways is most applicable to your brand and your market.
Heavy Users have a more stable working life. They have had fewer jobs and are less likely to have ventured into a new occupation. They are very likely to be employed and to be at least somewhat financially secure; enough at least to meet their own and their family’s basic needs.
Heavy Users are living a repetitive and routine life. People tend to live their values, so we can assume that this lifestyle makes them happy and secure, but it’s interesting when contrasted with our other finding that they are looking to feel more belonging. In other words, while they are content, they could be even more so if they had an increased sense of being part of something bigger than themselves. It’s dangerous to throw out random ideas based on this level of data analysis, but I keep thinking that a broadcast channel who offered safe and familiar opportunities to connect with other Heavy Users would see loyalty from the Heavy User profile increase.
The Non-Users consider their job as a step towards something else, most likely as a necessary task that allows them to earn the money they need to try the next big thing they are attracted to experiencing. Members of this group are unlikely to have a routine lifestyle, and if they do, it is likely only for a short period in order to achieve something before moving on. How could you help them have more and better experiences? Is there a way for a broadcast channel to create experiences in the “real world” that would help the Non-Users reconsider their stance?
Values
While this section of the VIP may seem brief, it can be the most useful. These are the core personal values for the two audience profiles. The values listed below are the filters these people use to make every decision in their life, all day long, every day, consciously or otherwise. Don’t let the simplicity of this fool you: the data analysis required to determine these values is incredibly complex, rigorous and laser-accurate. If you use these values to frame all your marketing messages you will engage these people: it’s that simple.
Heavy Users are motivated entirely to make every decision by how it will impact their financial security, personal growth, employment stability, and ability to meet their basic needs.
Non-Users are motivated entirely to make every decision by how it will impact their personal relationships, family, ability to have new experiences, and aversion to acquiring material possessions. That last point simply means that they are anti-materialists, and that they are not at all interested or motivated by having/buying/owning things, but instead will spend every dime they can on new experiences.
Loyal To Local
There is another big data point that definitely needs to be mentioned. The database shows us a group of people (which will vary in size and demographics from market to market) who do not necessarily fit either the Heavy Users profile or the Non-Users profile, or could be part of either one. What makes these people unique for broadcasters is that they are tuning in simply because of a sense of loyalty to local products and services. We call these people Loyal To Local.
This is entirely speculative, but based on all the data in all the industries we’ve profiled using all those 75,000 surveys, this sense of local loyalty could very easily be connected to the overarching desire to belong. As mentioned previously, belonging is the most dominant value for everyone. Delivering on a heightened sense of belonging to your community, your town, your village, your city could be the connection that makes your brand stronger and more engaging across all demographics.
Please don't skip this part. It's crucial.
The industry-wide information in this report has been extrapolated from 75,000 surveys in the Valuegraphics Database, and is broadly applicable to all broadcast channels across North America. Individual channels will have Valuegraphics Profiles that vary from this industry-wide report; some by a great deal depending on format and geography.
If you are interested in a much more detailed and extensive Custom Valuegraphics Profile specifically for your target audience demographic and trading area, please contact info@Valuegraphics.com