Looking at Demographics Differently

Marcus Collins, SVP of Social Engagement at Doner Advertising, explains how people are being looked at in the wrong way in his talk on marketers.

He starts out by boldly stating that he hates marketing as an industry, as it tends to approach people in a way that's alienated, and fully profit driven. He delves into this a little more by explaining how marketers tend to separate people, and expects them to behave in specific ways based off of their age, gender, race, and location.

After picking apart the dehumanizing effect that comes from thinking of people strictly in terms of demographics, Collins continues his talk on marketers by explaining the shortfalls of psychographics. Despite the fact that this lens is more likely to be able to accurately describe people, he states that looking at networks is a much better way to consider groups of people, as they are generally made up of people who have shared beliefs and who are governed by a similar set of social norms.

With his talk on marketers, Collins encourages his audience to look at how people see the world when trying to understand them, rather than putting them in boxes.