Gallagher ELS presentation

Know Thy Consumer

20 years ago… Christian publishing was a simpler world…

Fewer Publishers Fewer Retail Choices Fewer Media Choices Predictable Customers Simple Product Formulas Back then…

… the times they are a chang’n Bob Dylan

20 Year Growth in Religious Title Output Source – Bowker Books in Print

Book unit sales Source – BISG Trends Reports

Media Choices Exploding
Before 1975, consumer had 8 choices for entertainment and information
Today, consumers have 21 choices for entertainment and information
1975 2008

Struggle for attention: The competition for attention and for time increases Competition for attention 1985 2008 TV Channels 10 – 15 500 + Web Sites 0 30 million Publications 100 + 1,000 + Radio Stations 10 + 10,000 + Product Lifecycles Decades Months E-mail SPAM Messages sent per day 0 Over 60 billion per day Hours in the Day 24 24

The emergence of Zero-Sum

Paths of Life – The Way We Were Adolescence First Job Get Married Buy House Have Babies Raise Children Leisure Activities Travel Retire Visit Children Change Jobs Plan for Retirement Chance ? Single Married Empty Nest Retire Attend College Take Vacations Buy second house Start

Start First Job Get Married Buy House Have Babies Raise Children Travel/ Leisure Activities Retire Change Jobs Attend College Take Vacations Gen Y Gen X Boomers Matures Get Divorced Plan for Retirement Second Family Remarry Adolescence Paradox Prison Paths of Life – The Way We Are Now Sources: PQ Media, VISA Buy vacation property Chance ? Independent Need connected-ness Lack of time Do it yourself Info seekers Solution seekers Info overload Desire choice

… how do you make the connection?

WHO IS YOUR CONSUMER?

… A CHRISTIAN FOR THE MOST PART

CTI and Bowker to Partner on Christian Segmentation Study

PubTrack TM Consumer – About A consumer survey panel that provides answers to consumer book and media and purchase behaviors.

Survey
Type: Weekly Online
Length: Between 60-75 questions
Key Information: Individual Activities & Book Purchases
Consumer Sample
30,000 men, women, teens: US Rep
Provides demographic, key interests/activities, book ownership, reading interests, religious affiliation/habits, general attitudes/usage relative to media usage
PubTrack TM Consumer: Data Collection

Summary of Research Objectives
Collect, track, and monitor purchase patterns & behavioral changes based on detailed information directly from CONSUMERS :
All book purchases in …
All formats from …
All outlets
Demographic details
Psychographic details
Purchase influences

Developing a consumer-focused strategy starts with asking lots of questions… What are their habits? Where do they shop? What do they belong to? What motivates their book purchases? How much time are they spending online? How often do they buy? Where do they get their information?

… consumers can tell us things that book data can’t … Micro Market Define our retail value Create special product Define the competition Purchase Motivation? Why did they buy it?

Today’s landscape:
In 2007……
164 million Americans 13+ years purchased at least one book
64% of US Population (13+ yrs)
1.4 billion books bought by individuals 13+ years
$14.3 billion dollars spent for these books

Reading in America – Reading Frequency

The “Who” insights into the book buyer

Who Buys Books? – Revenue generated by Christian segment

Who Buys Books? Generational profile of books purchased

Insight & Question
Individuals under the age of 40 account for less then 28% of Active Christian book purchasers…
… how do they differ in what they buy and do you have a defined strategy to reach them?

Understanding generational diversity Christian Book Buyer Genre Purchases by Generation

Age Change in The Decade Ahead

. Who Buys Books? Gender

Male vs. Female Christian Fiction Gap

Insight & Question
Males account for 32% of the Fiction Market – yet only 11% of the Christian Fiction Market…
… how can you better serve them to narrow this gap?

Active Female Christians – General vs. Christian Fiction Purchases

Insight & Question
Active Female Christians are buying more Fiction books then Christian Fiction books…
… do you know what non-Christian genres they like and can you compete with them ?

Who Buys Books? HH Income Levels by Panel Participation

Who Buys Books? HH Income Levels by $$ Spent on Books

Christian books Purchased by Active Christians sales by binding types

General Trade Books Purchased by Active Christians GT sales by binding types

Comparison of Product Types Purchased by Active Christians General Trade Titles Christian Titles

Wal-Mart Book Sales by Binding Type

Insight & Questions
59% of Active Christian HH’s make less then $50,000 year…
… are your product and pricing strategies matching this demographic?
… where are Christian mass market and value priced products?

. Who Buys Christian Books? Types of ‘Christian’ Buyers

Insight & Question
22% of Christian book buyers are either Catholic or Mormon consumers …
… what opportunities (revenue or otherwise) does this create?

The “Where” insights into where books are purchased

. Where are Books Purchased?

Where are Books Purchased? Direct to Consumer Subset

Where are Books Purchased? Retail Subset

Insights & Question
Active Christians still make majority of book purchases at Christian stores (39% - 31%)but the gap is narrowing…
… the tide has already changed with less active Christians now choosing a general trade store more frequently (44% - 25%).
… do you have in place a strategy to understand the unique needs of each consumer as they intersect with your many sales channels?

Know Thy Consumer – BIG IDEA
The retail and direct to consumer landscape is fragmenting into many pieces… the challenge as a publisher is to embrace this change and develop micro market sales and marketing strategies that cater uniquely to these segments.

The “Why” insights into motivation for purchase

Why books are purchased? Planned vs. Impulse

Why books are purchased? Purpose

Insight & Question?
Active Christians purchase a majority of their books (66%) either on impulse or at times when they had not intended to purchase a book they were wanting…
… what are you doing to differentiate you products in cover color & design, spine design, author placement, book category placement, etc that will cause you to stand out on the book shelf?
… what efforts are you taking with the retailer to get end cap placement, cross merchandised, point of purchase, etc to encourage an impulse purchase?

The “How” How much are they spending? How frequently are they shopping?

Purchase metrics How often are they buying? .
Store visits & books purchased per visit by outlet
.

Purchase metrics: Value per channel . .

Purchase metrics How much are they paying? . .

Christian Book
Store display/on shelf/spinning rack
Recommendation from a friend/relative
Online/Internet Advertisement
Direct Mail/Catalog
Online Book Review
Top Publishers
Recommendation from a friend/relative
Saw or Heard Author speak
Direct Mail/Catalog
Total Market
Recommendation from a friend or relative
Online Book Review
Direct Mail/Catalog
Why Purchased How did you become aware of the product?

Know Thy Consumer – BIG IDEA
Developing consumer metrics around your loyal customer base not only allows you to assess the profitability of a particular consumer segment, but it also allows you to more accurately measure the impact your marketing and promotion have on that retail segment.

Insights & Question
… while shopping occasions are close, Active Christians have a significantly higher per dollar and more frequent purchase occasion at Christian retail outlets.
… how will you maintain an approach to keep your best customers happy… in the midst of a changing market landscape?
… do you have in place a strategy to understand the unique needs of each consumer as they intersect with your many sales channels?
… what are you doing to work with retail to reward their very best customers in order to assure they can retain the foot traffic into their stores?

Concluding thoughts
How well do you know the consumers of your products?
… are you stuck on stereotypical images?
… are you only meeting just some of there needs when you could be doing more… if you just knew them better?
… when was the last time you went out and met your consumer?
… book data is indispensable… but it can’t tell you anything about the soul behind the book.

[email_address]

Gallagher ELS presentation

by ECPA Events

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

Statistics