We’re Stars! But who are we?

The Marketing Society Star Awards were another great success last week and SMG Insight are very proud to be a sponsor of this inspirational event.  We gathered there as clients, agencies, supporters and sponsors - all part of our world leading marketing community to celebrate bold and inspiring marketing leadership.

 But who are we, really?
As we all know, proper measurement is critical to any successful campaign, so why not apply the same principle here?  Let’s use a few of the tools at our disposal to take a look at who we all are, really.

At SMG Insight, through our partnership with YouGov, we are constantly asking questions and we therefore we hold a lot of data.  We like to call our database ‘The Cube’ because the data can be turned upside down or sideways to give the view you need… and that’s what we’ve done here.

Our UK panel analysis starts with roughly 238,000 adults.  About 28,000 of them happen to live in Scotland, and 1,162 of those tell us they have ‘decision making authority in the field of Marketing.’  That’s us.

 Factual success 
Digging through the data tells us who we are, and how we differ from the general population… and some of the data is very predictable.  For instance, we are 53% more likely to have attained a university degree.  Also, 30% of us fall into the Social Grade ‘A’ compared to only 14% of the general population.  We’re doing OK for ourselves.

Also predictable, 78% of us use news and sports websites, 66% are interested in politics, and 46% have used Twitter in the last 30 days.  Only 46%?  Maybe that says something about Twitter-addiction and senior management potential… or maybe it’s a generational thing.

 Speaking of… 
Another indication of our thirst for knowledge and personal betterment, 23% of us speak French compared to just 15% of other Scots.  We are also 7 times more likely to speak Russian.  On equal footing with the rest of Scotland, about 7% of us speak German or Spanish, 2% Italian, and virtually none of us speak Somali, Lithuanian or Urdu.  Go figure.

A question of sport
Not surprisingly, many marketers are sports fans.  Our favourite events (based on ‘Positive Impression’) are the Six Nations (53%), Wimbledon (48%), and the Scottish Open (42%) – which somewhat surprisingly nudged out The Open and the Ryder Cup.

Looking beyond our pure favourites, where we differ most from ‘normal’ Scots, we Marketers are much more likely the Rugby 7s World Cup, the NFL and The Boat Race.  Keeping our ears to the ground, we are also much or likely to say we have heard something positive about the England Football team, the Commonwealth Games or Formula E.  Positive ‘Buzz’ about the Scottish Cup is, however, 6 times LESS likely to register with us.  Perhaps we just aren’t listening properly.

Getting personal
Marital status for Marketing ‘Decision Makers’ largely follows the norm, with one exception.  25% of us (compared to 14% of the general population) are co-habitating with a partner but are unmarried.  That sounds more like ‘indecision’.

We like our pets too.  Dogs (33%) and cats (24%) are most prevalent , with a significant drop then to birds (6%) and fish (4%).  Interestingly, Marketers are 3 times more likely than other Scots to own a horse or pony and 4 times more likely to own ‘domestic fowl’ (i.e., chickens).  Who knew we had the time or inclination?

Reading into it
Our favourite newspapers are the Daily Record (16%), The Herald (9%), and the Daily Mail (7%).  Compared to the rest of Scots, Marketers are less inclined to choose The Sun (6% v 17%).

So what does this all mean?  In some ways we are just like everyone else, but may of us are also unique in our own way.  It is that uniqueness that brings success in our field… and that will be celebrated at the Star Awards.  It’s sure to be an interesting night.

SMG Insight are the Marketing Society's Industry Research partner in Scotland.  www.smg-insight.com