Welcome back to the blog! For the 2021 re-launch of the Compass blog, we’ve collaborated with CAMSoc (the Cambridge Advertising and Marketing Society)! We’re super excited to be bringing you the importance of geography to the marketing world! It just goes to show the applicability of the skills and knowledge that we as geographers acquire. So without further ado, here are some of the ways that Geography is essential to a successful marketing campaign.
The concept of a market:
Firstly, the concept of a ‘market’ is inherently geographical. According to Fujita and Thisse (2002) new economic geography is concerned with describing the competitive processes driving the growth and stability of the spatial concentration in economic activity. Therefore at the centre of marketing and advertising is a geographical concept! As geographers we’re immediately thinking about the scale of the target audience… Will this be a local, national or international marketing campaign? What is the influence of a particular retailer beyond its local trade area? All of these questions need to be considered when developing a marketing strategy!
Geographers are also uniquely positioned to deal with demographic data, and therefore understand who makes up the target market. You need to understand consumer spending habits, where your target audience is located, and in some cases their age, sex, ethnicity, etc. Information is key in developing a sophisticated targeted, and most importantly successful, marketing campaign. Houldsworth (2003) articulates this when arguing that geography matters because extrapolating information on persons, households and groups, in other words location, becomes the most valuable tool for businesses when building marketing strategies.
The geographical organization of media and communication channels:
Once you’ve identified your target market, you need to decide what advertising channels will be utilized in this campaign! There’s no point in organising a solely social media campaign if your target audience has limited internet access or doesn’t use social media. Additionally, referring back to our earlier point regarding demographics, certain groups may be more receptive to certain types of messages or media channels, so it is important that the campaign incorporates this. Using GIS to visualise channels or using statistical methods to correlate messages with target audiences, once again geographers are uniquely positioned to be successful in the marketing and advertising world!
Localising marketing messages:
Glocalisation. It’s a term we’ve been exposed to multiple times as geographers, but in the advertising and marketing industry it really matters. There may be spatial differences in pricing policies that need to be accounted for in the campaign. A regional promotion. Different cultural values or social norms. All this needs to be taken into account to have a sucessful campaign, but to also respect the customs, norms and socio-economic conditions of the targeted audience. MarketingProfs (2011) revealed that 44% of marketers list geography as one of the factors that influence the localization of marketing messages, demonstrating just how important this message is and, at risk of repeating ourselves again, the unique position of geographers.
Environmental campaigns:
Finally, there’s the obvious marketing role for geographers – Environmental and sustainability campaigns. As we plunge ourselves further into global warming, there is an increasing call to action for the general public. TV adverts, traditional print adverts and social media campaigns are some of the methods being utilised by NGOs, companies and Governmental organisations. There is a need for geographers to publicise their knowledge and help make a change to our planet. Check out some of the Compass committees’ favourite environmental campaigns below.
This goes to show that the relevance of geography to marketing extends beyond advertisements encouraging us to act sustainably or to adopt a Panda… Geographers have a unique skill set that is crucial to developing a successful marketing campaign.
We want to thank CAMSoc for collaborating with us and make sure to check out Compass’ article on CAMSoc where we break down some of our favourite environmental campaigns and delve deeper into how geographers can contribute to the world of advertising and marketing.
Written by Sophie John, third-year at Corpus Christi.
Disclaimer: THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS OR OPINIONS OF COMPASS MAGAZINE AS A WHOLE OR THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY