Why brands need to focus on ‘movable middles’ to drive short- and long-term ROI

It’s the age-old decision marketers often have to make: whether to aim for short-term sales or long-term growth. What works for a quick hit might not inspire customer loyalty, which means more time trying to attract new customers. To make things more challenging, marketing dollars are under a lot of pressure now. Chief marketing officers frequently have to show their chief financial officers that the corporate capital they get to market is yielding return. New research from TransUnion and MMA Global dispels the myth that marketers need to choose between quick sales and future growth. In this episode of Ad Age’s Marketer’s Brief podcast, Marc Vermut, VP of TransUnion’s Marketing Solutions Knowledge Lab, chats with John Dioso, editor of Ad Age Studio 30, to discuss a fresh data-driven approach to audience targeting. The key is to focus on the group of consumers most receptive to your advertising, also known as the “movable middles,” said Vermut. While brands traditionally use a range of definitions of the audiences they want to talk to, based on age or other demographics, movable middles are different. “It’s really an outcome-based targeting strategy, where the focus is getting the most out of your marketing investment dollars,” said Vermut. “It’s identifying the audience where you’re going to get the greatest ROI.” It’s not about the greatest reach or impressions, rather it’s about the audience that will be most responsive to your ads. Consumer responsiveness often involves extremes of either disinterested folks or high loyals. “The movable middles is that section between 20% and 80% likely to choose your brand next,” said Vermut. “They bought from you, they’ll continue to buy from you, but they also consider some other brands. By focusing on those consumers who are most open to hearing and responding to your marketing, your dollars are going to go furthest.” As TransUnion and MMA Global discovered when partnering on a study with Ally Financial, talking to movable middles primes the pump for future purchases, with audiences rich in movable middles showing stronger response to marketing even 18 months out. “You’re filling the upper funnel so that they’re ready to receive and pay attention to the ads that you’re sharing,” said Vermut. Moreover, MMA global has been able to demonstrate with a number of CPG and retail brands, including Campbell’s, Kroger, CVS and Reckitt, that movable middle consumers respond to marketing between two times and 23 times as much as an average consumer, said Vermut. The study showed that when advertisers ran campaigns that were richer in targeting movable middle audiences, they saw a performance improvement of 20%-80%. “It’s outstanding, the ability to drive increased performance of your marketing investments by making sure you’re talking to the right people and that you have a mechanism by which to determine that,” he said. You’ll make the most of your advertising dollars if you don’t talk to everyone, and instead systematically identify which consumers you should target. “If you leverage a data-driven approach like the movable middles, you’re going to have a really happy CFO, because you’re going to be able to demonstrate the improvement in your investment dollars,” he said. About TransUnion TransUnion is a global information and insights company that makes trust possible in the modern economy. We do this by providing a comprehensive picture of each person so they can be reliably and safely represented in the marketplace. As a result, businesses and consumers can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good.

Why brands need to focus on ‘movable middles’ to drive short- and long-term ROI

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