Is 4 Quadrants Still Meaningful? - Guest Post From Carat's Steve Peace

Through the use of media panel data, customer databases, custom surveys, online ad serving, and a host of other tools/technologies it has never been easier for marketers to use a data-driven approach to identifying segments of the population that are most likely to buy any particular product. Unless you are a movie marketer. In which case, you might want to try licking your finger and holding it up in the air to feel which way the wind is blowing.

Necessarily, there is heavy subjectivity involved in the selection of target segments for a film. Planning of a campaign takes place long before the film is complete, so the marketer is not able to test the product to discover who responds most favorably. Instead, they must rely on techniques such as reading the script, relying on genre for general targeting, or developing a list of comparable titles. There are weaknesses inherent in each of these approaches. But, a comprehensive discussion of those weaknesses will have to wait for a future post. Instead, in this post I’d like to address the use of four quadrant targeting in movie marketing.

Traditionally, movie marketers have divided the movie-going population into four quadrants, of men and women and people older or younger than 25 years old. Based on the targeting techniques mentioned previously, they choose which of those quadrants they believe will respond favorably for any particular film. This is a relatively effective strategy for mass communication vehicles. Although television buying has become more targeted with the addressability of digital cable and burgeoning program options, it is still mostly bought using mass market targeting designations, such as four quadrants. For the Internet, though, the concept of four quadrants has little meaning. Given the sophistication of targeting technology on the Internet, limiting oneself to a four quadrant targeting scheme is like relying on a telegraph when a cell phone is available.

As Internet budgets increase above their current 8% of total ad dollars, there is a strong case for retiring the concept. Competition in the movie industry continues to heat up. There are over 600 major releases a year and box office has been flat or declining for years. In such an environment it makes more sense to develop a finely honed definition of one’s target and concentrate resources, rather than marketing broadly to the same segments as your competitors and hoping that the film finds its own audience. By figuring out how to more effectively use targeting technology that is currently available through the Internet, it will prepare theatrical entertainment marketers for a time when addressability is more broadly available across all forms of communication. This is the future. Let’s embrace it.