Allen Davidov (Environics Analysis)

Apr 30

On this episode of Marketing News Canada Allen Davidov breaks down Environics Analysis. They specialize in geodemographic data, analyzing different areas based on their postal code. The data is used to determine things like food presentation, product consumption, and solve business problems.

Allen got his start on the agency side of things as a medium buyer and planner at Initiative Media. He made his way through different charities using marketing tactics. During his stint at Habitat for Humanity they contacted Environics to do site modeling for potential customer bases. They were blown away when that store became the top producing store “by a large margin.” He began to grow in his work with meriting and branding. He developed a passion for translating index numbers into “tangible outcomes”. When Environics asked if he would join them, he didn’t hesitate.

Understanding the nuances of clients was crucial. They help different charities and governments tackle challenges by predicting what media to use based on a postal code. All this is possible with a segmentation system called Prism. It takes the 800,000 postal codes over Canada layered with other pieces of data to help segment everyone. Postal codes provide information like age, income, and moral behaviors. Based on this, they can predict the best course of action to deliver a product or mail piece. From there, they can weed out the different “personas” to determine how best to engage with a client.

Allen explains that a lot of the data comes from Prism, however they use over eighty partners across the country and resources offered by the government to build on the Canadian census. Of course, privacy is key. Anonymized data is used which is then modelized down to a postal code. You may be surprised to learn that the postal codes are less than you might think. In a dense area, it would be approximately 14-16 houses. Depending on the location, they may be viewing a limited number of people.

Allen explains how things people deem important don’t really change that much over time. People's social values will drive your messaging. Marketing and cooperations can miss it sometimes because they haven’t done the work to find out “what message is going to resonate with people?”

For Environics, it’s not about targeting rich neighborhoods to guarantee success. For example, if you wanted to market musical festival tickets, you need to know who values the arts and will budget accordingly. People who make less money can put money aside for the things they value most and would buy a ticket. Analyzing the area to determine what kind of messaging to go forward with is key.

Environics specializes in helping agencies better understand the values and messaging to cut down on the guessing. Allen says his word-of-the-year is “intentional.” Taking the time to understand people’s values is essential to a successful delivery. Staying mindful about the journey with the customer, trying to find ways to keep them loyal, and helping them go through a relationship with the agency or brand.

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