PRIZM comes to Canada
Joining the U.S. and Canada under a single market segmentation system, Claritas/NPDC, Inc. and Toronto-based Compusearch have developed a Canadian version of Claritas/NPDC's proprietary PRIZM Lifestyle Cluster System. The new Canadian market segmentation system, called PRIZM Canada, defines every neighborhood in Canada in terms of 24 distinct lifestyle types, or clusters. Analysis of the enumeration districts of Canada showed that many of the 40 neighborhood types contained in the U.S. version of PRIZM appear also in Canada. These include suburban clusters such as "Furs & Station Wagons," and "Gray Power," and more rural clusters such as "Back Country Folks" and "Middle America" (renamed "Middle Canada" for PRIZM Canada). Some U.S. cluster types did not have enough representation in Canada to merit inclusion in PRIZM Canada.
R. Bruce Carroll, president of Compusearch, says, "The free-trade agreement between the U. S. and Canada has created a common market of more than 360 million people. PRIZM Canada is a giant step toward understanding and targeting the distinct consumer types found in the common market of Canada and the U.S."
PRIZM, first introduced in 1974 by Claritas, is used by marketers and planners to predict consumer behavior in terms of product, media, and lifestyle preferences and other consumer behavior. PRIZM Canada will be marketed by Compusearch in Canada and by Claritas/NPDC in the U.S.
On-line forecasting service available
Pizzano & Company, Inc., a management and economic consulting firm, has released Geneva On-Line, an interactive forecasting service which brings Geneva forecasting technology to any personal computer user. Geneva On-Line combines economic, industry and client databases with Geneva forecasting software and a powerful UNIX server. The system has a capacity of 300 simultaneous users and a top speed of more than 10,000 forecasts per hour.
Service identifies doctors who plan to relocate
BMI, an Oak Brook, IL-based direct marketing and communications firm, has introduced a new service, MEDEC Physician Stat Sheet. It is designed to help hospital and group practice recruiters pinpoint physicians (M.D.'s) and Doctors of Osteopathy (D.O.'s) who not only meet their criteria through educational background and amount of expertise and have indicated that they are seriously interested in the possibilities of relocating to accept a new position. The product was conceived as a result of a recent survey, conducted by BMI, which showed that there had been a 27% increase in the number of physicians willing to relocate. The BMI/MEDEC database carries approximately 558,000 doctors on file. Of this number, 10% are actively seeking to relocate. The MEDEC Physician Stat Sheet, in conjunction with BMP s Treatment Oriented Profile (TOP/s) enables one to profile physicians and D.O.'s in six categories:
- Medical training and qualifications
- Relocation preferences
- Average number of patients seen per week
- The doctors' top three areas of specialization
- Address, phone and fax contact information
- Personal background and interests.
BMI/MEDEC further identifies geographically how many doctors within the areas of specialization (e.g., cardiology) are interested in relocating. The product is available through the one-time use of mailing labels or annual unlimited usage on magnetic tape, floppy disc or computer printout.
Portable survey system now available
A new computerized survey system called Point-of-View is now available to gather demographics, opinions, evalu¬ations and customer satisfaction information from respondents. Each unit (the small electronic boxes measure 12" x 12") is portable and runs on a built-in rechargeable battery system. A typical 20-question survey has room for 1200 respondents. The unit also has multi-language capabilities.
Desktop program tracks retail purchase habits
Pareto, the database marketing division of Frequency Marketing, Inc. has developed a database marketing system called SALES. The desktop computer-based system allows retailers to segment customers, by department, according to five indicators of activity and value, and to develop targeted promotions to reach these buyer segments. The Pareto SALES Model also provides a method for measuring the success of each promotion and customized sales analysis of ongoing promotional programs.
At the center of the SALES Model database system are five indicators that segment customers according to:
(S)ales history, or the total volume of customer purchases in the given department;
(A)cross department purchasing, or cross buying in various departments within a store;
(L)ast purchase in a designated department;
(E)xtent, or length of customer relationship; and
(S)hopping frequency within a designated department.
The first step in implementing the SALES Model is meeting with the retailer to establish objectives, such as the need to improve the response rates of direct marketing programs. The retailer's customer transaction data is then loaded by Pareto and summarized by customer and department. Scores are calculated based on how customers perform on the five key indicators. Any of the indicators can be weighted more heavily to meet the retailer's specific marketing objectives.
On an ongoing basis, Pareto loads new customer transactions, resummarizes the data, and recalculates the indicators. This results in a customer "snapshot" based on the five SALES indicators. Previous scores for each customer are maintained in the marketing database to provide an ongoing picture of each customer's performance.
As the customer transaction data is run through the SALES Model each month, six standard reports are produced for clients. Five decile reports segment customer performance, by department, for each of the five SALES indicators. For the (S)ales History report, for example, customers are ranked according to revenue generated and then divided into deciles. Statistics, such as revenue per customer and revenue per visit, are provided for each of the ten deciles. With this information, the retailer can identify "best customers" for each department and how much they contribute to sales. The sixth decile report, based on the sum of the five SALES scores, segments customers' overall performance in each department.