You are where you live...

I am a huge fan of Nielsen/Claritas - a huge fan of any research, but I do love their market segmentation. Here's a fun exercise you can do to warm up in the chilly weather - In my opinion, it is even better than the "Elf Yourself" app from years past: Simply go to the Nielsen/Claritas link http://www.claritas.com/MyBestSegments/Default.jsp?ID=20 When you enter in your ZIP code, the site will serve you up the top five segments of where you live, and an outline about each of the segment's lifestyle traits. It is interesting to see where you fit in, and how close it describes where we live. I even entered in my West Virginia ZIP (no jokes please, I believe everyone should have a cabin in the middle of nowhere to unplug!). It did a very accurate job of describing the disparate denizens of Lost River, WV... from the local folks, farmers, military retirees, and the creative folks who flock there every weekend from D.C. I'll soon be writing a white paper on the value this kind of research has in helping marketers really understand the different audiences in their marketing footprint, and the way it can positively shape messaging and resource allocation. Go ahead and try it ! Who are you? (In WV, Nielsen/Claritas has me pegged as a Blue Highway) -GC