Let's talk about your buckets.

We marketers tend to do a lot of "bucketing."

We bucket social content.

We bucket budgets.

But most commonly, we bucket consumers.

People. In buckets. Usually based on their demographic data fitting a certain profile.?

While it all sounds a little Lumen-like (where my Severence fans at!?), this is what we call Audience Segmentation. And while it’s always felt a little icky to me, it’s necessary. Because if we want to create things to get the attention of our audiences, or elicit some kind of action from them, we need to know who they are, right??Our important work should not be mysterious (that's the last Severence reference, I swear).

Problem is, demographics don’t tell us who the people in the bucket really are. Because they’ve been put there based on their HHI, age, gender, regionality, education, and maybe some MRI-Simmons insights. They’re not really a “group" at all. That’s why in the early 2000s marketers adapted CX/UX personas — to add things like interests and behaviors into the mix. But even those feel surface-level. Seeing that "Sandy the Saver" indexes high for “social media use” isn’t exactly revelatory. At best, it makes me think, “Ok, great. So she's not Amish. Got it.” And as performance marketing flooded brands with first-party data, the human element got even blurrier. I believe this is why so many brand leaders feel stuck, buying their way to relevance instead of building it. I know I certainly did in the early days of leading the Carhartt brand. The reliance on demographics and even attitudinal and behavioral insight gathering hasn't changed much - and to add insult to injury, consumers are much more savvy and media is more fragmented than ever.

So, what to do? For D/CAL, the answer is pretty simple -- cannonball into the damn bucket! Every Client has their demographic-driven audience bucket, so we literally climb into it and get to know that audience. Our Clients have personas. So, we pretend that little “passions & interests” section is a door - and we kick it wide open. But, what do we do when we're in the proverbial bucket is the difference.

We call it the D/CAL SubMethod?. We first use a combination of AI tools and social listening to identify the top subcultures within the target audience. Then, we go deeper. We find the most passionate among them for good ol’ fashioned one-on-one engagement, uncovering a high-fidelity picture of their motivations and how the brand actually fits into their lives. Even brands that know their audience inside and out—like our client, Scotts lawn care—have been surprised by the fresh insights this process reveals. And that has led to the kind of creative work we like to create for our Clients — truthful, relevant, compelling brand narratives, in any medium and any channel.

This is effective because of one simple human truth: people are much more willing to talk about the things they enthusiastically spend their discretionary time and money on. Don't believe me? Next time you’re at a social gathering, try getting to know someone through their demographics. My guess is the conversation won’t last very long.?

By the way, the SubMethod? isn’t a methodology confined to the realm of endemic brands. In fact, according to Confidant/Vytal, 88% of people from Gen X to Gen Y are engaged in subcultures. In other words, it really doesn't matter what category your brand occupies or what product or service you sell. Your audience is ready chop it up about the things they care about. Thus, our strategic and creative mantra:

While our methodology is very much about wading into the world of subcultures, it also requires an on-the-ground understanding of how subcultures work. From Gardening to Gaming. From Hip Hop to Hackers. The structures, dynamics, and archetypes within subcultures are ever-changing. Which is why we don’t do it alone.?Our Subculture Advisory Board, led by co-founder Tony Hawk and made up of equity-holding subculture experts across diverse communities, ensures we can expertly navigate these spaces with authenticity. This truly sets us apart. As Tony puts it:

The best part? This process has never taken us longer than six weeks. And when your brand narrative is dialed in, you’re on your way to building more of your audience instead of just buying it. ?In other words, our approach is very good for your budget buckets.

If you’re a brand leader feeling stuck in the demographic-driven churn of buying your way to brand relevance, I invite you to bring us your buckets - your audience buckets - and a modest bucket of budget. We're ready to cannonball in.

- Adam