Significant Shifts in Consumer Lifestyles Addressed in New Segmentation System

NEW YORK, June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Fewer than one-half of U.S. households are headed by married couples, yet more generations live under one roof than anytime in modern history. These are just two examples of the significant changes represented in the 2010 census data that are forcing marketers to rethink their strategies, according to Experian Marketing Services, a leading provider of data, analytics and marketing technologies. A completely rebuilt Mosaic® USA, Experian's unparalleled consumer lifestyle segmentation system, that provides key insights such as these, is now available.

Mosaic® is the most up-to-date segmentation tool on the market and is the first to release segments that describe "the new American household" in such detail in over five years. This knowledge is invaluable to marketers, as they must target effectively and enhance campaign performance across both traditional and digital marketing channels.

"Marketers are challenged by how to reach and influence today's dramatically evolving and digitally engaged American consumer," said Rick Erwin, president, Data and Analytics Division at Experian Marketing Services. "Over the past five years, household composition, economic status and technology usage have morphed due to a recession, unemployment, a housing market crash and a digital revolution. The combination of these forces has changed how Americans live, behave, communicate and interact on every level, making it challenging to know how to engage the new American household."

Mosaic USA empowers marketers to implement a common customer language to describe the new American consumer and speak to their best customers in a unified and consistent voice across all marketing campaigns and channels. This helps marketers link traditional direct mail, media and digital advertising, email marketing, and consumer and competitive intelligence, creating a uniform voice for reaching the new American consumer.  

The new Mosaic USA segments, based on consumer household dynamics that will be released from the 2010 census data and expert analysis of hundreds of data points, reveal emerging trends in the sociodemographics, lifestyles, behaviors and cultures of U.S. consumers. Some examples of insights realized from this rebuild include how Americans are aging and effects on the baby-boomer generation, including the return of the multigenerational family household; the overwhelming growth of the Hispanic market; consumer confidence about the U.S. housing market and economy; and an increasing digital presence in consumers' lives.

The completely rebuilt Mosaic consumer lifestyle segmentation system captures these evolving American household dynamics and identifies these conditions within a comprehensive structure of 71 segments and 19 groups. To help focus on featured trends of the evolving American consumer, seven signature segments were identified within the core Mosaic system to help bring focus to emerging consumer trends of households.

For example, Boomers and Boomerangs are four times as likely to contain young adults living with their parents. However, not all of these young adults are recent college graduates. Many have previously started out on their own but are now seeking the sanctuary of living with Mom and Dad while attempting to gain the traction necessary for making ends meet. Additional key insights about the Boomers and Boomerangs segment include the following:

• The vast majority (85 percent) of this segment is between the ages of 51 and 65 and has household income slightly under $100,000.
• More than one-half of these households have lived in their homes for 15 or more years. Many may be considering home renovation or remodeling projects to better accommodate their adult children.
• There are solid credit ratings among Boomers and Boomerangs members, making them eligible for car, home-equity and education loans. They're receptive to a wide variety of insurance products — from life and health to annuities and auto coverage. With some of the young adults just entering the work force, this is a strong market for group life insurance; meanwhile, their parents tend to own moderate amounts of term and whole life insurance.
• The households have high rates for going online for banking, retrieving financial information and travel planning, as well as searching for jobs, instant messaging and gaming. The popular Websites for this segment include CNN, ESPN, Facebook, iTunes, WebMD and Craigslist.
• This is a strong market for computer software and peripherals to support telecommuting and networking. With their varied backgrounds, members of this segment have high rates for accessing the Internet at home, school and work through wireless and mobile devices as well as high-speed modems.

Other featured signature segments include American Royalty — wealthy, influential and successful couples and families living in prestigious suburbs; Jet Set Urbanites — a mix of affluent singles and couples living high-rise, fashionable lives in urban neighborhoods; Sports Utility Families — upscale, middle-aged couples with multigenerational members in the household, from school-age children to elderly adults, living active lifestyles in outlying suburbs; Hispanic Harmony — middle-class Hispanic families living lively lifestyles in city-centric neighborhoods; Aging in Place — middle-class seniors living solid, suburban lifestyles; and Dare to Dream — young singles, couples and single parents starting out their lives in metro settings.

"As American life changes and evolves, so do the lifestyles and choices of consumers. The new Mosaic USA offers marketers a common customer language to define, describe and engage audiences through accurate segment definitions that enable more strategic and sophisticated conversations," added Erwin. "Using Mosaic USA lifestyle segmentation, marketers can anticipate the behavior, attitudes and preferences of their best customers and reach them in the most effective channels with the best offers."

Marketers and analysts can register for a free Webinar entitled The New Marketing Playbook to learn how to better target and engage the new American consumer. Visit http://bit.ly/iPRW3o.

For more information about Mosaic USA, visit http://www.experian.com/mosaic.

About Experian Marketing Services

Experian Marketing Services delivers best-in-breed data, analytics and platforms into multiple regions around the globe. It is focused on helping marketers more effectively target and engage their best customers through email, digital advertising, customer data management, customer and competitive insight, data enrichment and list rental, modeling and analytics, and strategic consulting. Through these capabilities, Experian Marketing Services enables organizations to encourage brand advocacy, create measurable return on investment and significantly improve the lifetime value of their customers. 

About Experian

Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 80 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2011 was US$4.2 billion. Experian employs approximately 15,000 people in 41 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. 

For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.

Experian and the Experian marks used herein are service marks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

Contact:
Jennifer Marshall
Experian Public Relations
1 224 698 8798
[email protected]

SOURCE Experian