How companies learn your secrets
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html
EXCERPT:
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Andrew Pole had just started working as a statistician for Target in 2002, when two colleagues from the marketing department stopped by his desk to ask an odd question: If we wanted to figure out if a customer is pregnant, even if she didnt want us to know, can you do that? Pole has a masters degree in statistics and another in economics, and has been obsessed with the intersection of data and human behavior most of his life. His parents were teachers in North Dakota, and while other kids were going to 4-H, Pole was doing algebra and writing computer programs. The stereotype of a math nerd is true, he told me when I spoke with him last year. I kind of like going out and evangelizing analytics.
As the marketers explained to Pole and as Pole later explained to me, back when we were still speaking and before Target told him to stop new parents are a retailers holy grail. Most shoppers dont buy everything they need at one store. Instead, they buy groceries at the grocery store and toys at the toy store, and they visit Target only when they need certain items they associate with Target cleaning supplies, say, or new socks or a six-month supply of toilet paper. But Target sells everything from milk to stuffed animals to lawn furniture to electronics, so one of the companys primary goals is convincing customers that the only store they need is Target. But its a tough message to get across, even with the most ingenious ad campaigns, because once consumers shopping habits are ingrained, its incredibly difficult to change them.
There are, however, some brief periods in a persons life when old routines fall apart and buying habits are suddenly in flux. One of those moments the moment, really is right around the birth of a child, when parents are exhausted and overwhelmed and their shopping patterns and brand loyalties are up for grabs. But as Targets marketers explained to Pole, timing is everything. Because birth records are usually public, the moment a couple have a new baby, they are almost instantaneously barraged with offers and incentives and advertisements from all sorts of companies. Which means that the key is to reach them earlier, before any other retailers know a baby is on the way. Specifically, the marketers said they wanted to send specially designed ads to women in their second trimester, which is when most expectant mothers begin buying all sorts of new things, like prenatal vitamins and maternity clothing. Can you give us a list? the marketers asked.
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