PRIZM Segmentation

I would first like to say something about the PRIZM segmentation categories and how they relate to marketing. When I was in high school they were developing a new shopping complex near my house and one of the developers came to a community meeting that I was attending with my mom. I remember being very upset when they explained why a bookstore was not going to be put into the complex, because according to the guy, "People on the east side don't read." I realize now that they were probably using segmentation to come to this conclusion. I think where this man went wrong was that he didn't try to avoid offending (or probably didn't even realize that he did offend) the population he was talking to.

I think this is especially important when addressing issues in public health, as was made perfectly clear when we were reviewing the different PRIZM names in class, like Shotguns & Pickups and Bedrock America. However, I do see how this is of great importance in gaining useful information and targeting your groups. We started talking about this in our group work the week before, as we felt there were two distinct groups to target in our Garadsil campaign: young men who were in a relationship and those who were not. I think it is important to start brainstorming which message technique (high or low involvement) would be most appropriate for both groups. I realize that we would not truly know until we conduct a focus group, but I would postulate that the men in a relationship would be more highly involved and that the side-door approach would need to be used with those who aren't in a relationship.