Football commentators are often heard say "form is temporary, but class is permanent" when a player performs well after a string of terrible games. But what difference, if any, does social class make in terms of marketing communications?First off, let's break down the subject matter. What is social class?http://quizfarm.com/quizzes/Style/gonewiththegale/what-social-status-are-you/
Having taken Michael's test on the above link, I came out as exactly as I imagined...dirty, stinking, on the breadline lower class. Well thanks, tell me something I and anybody else who knows me didn't know. According to the quiz, being lower class means "You're stressed over money and unfortunately you're 'maid' to work hard for little money. The only wealthy people you know are the ones who make you clean their floors. Just like the upper class, the government doesn't listen to you either". I resent that! Chances are if I ever had to clean wealthy people's floors, they may well find that some of the lovely oil paintings they have on their walls might just start mysteriously disappearing...
I would define social class as the grouping of people according to their wealth, social status and occupation (among other things). Some people may argue that the social class system does not exist anymore, but I would beg to differ. Consider this; I (as working class scum) struggle every month to meet my direct debit payments and generally live my life praying to the heavens for that one big win. Whereas others (those born with silver spoons in their mouths) receive a more than generous "allowance" from their parents each month to keep them living in luxury. This would seem to suggest that the social class system is alive and well, and persistently trying to piss on the parades of poor little buggers like me.
Social classes can be broken down into the following groups;
A – upper middle class
B - middle class
C1 – lower middle class
C2 – skilled working class
D – working class
E –lower class
Now, having sat through Ruthy's lecture on social class, my opinion of how the social class system works has changed somewhat. I used to believe that you are what you are, regardless of what financial improvements you make in your life. However, it would appear that the classing system only really exists because we as people are continually putting ourselves into categories and pidgeon-holing ourselves as a particular type...just because I would class myself as working class (D) it doesn't mean that when I finish university (hopefully having gained a degree and with full working use of my liver intact) I cant be in a job that would be reserved for the middle class (B) and aspire to have the wealth of the upper working class (A).
But what difference does all this make to marketers? Well, a marketer's goal is to appeal to the correct grouping of people that the product is mainly aimed at (as we saw in the earlier post on segmentation). If people can be defined into social classes, marketers can easily identify which group they are supposed to be trying to capture the attention of, and use the right language and imagery to isolate and appeal to that social group.
Watch the above advert and then answer me this...who was this advert specifically aimed at; The builder down the pub, supping his pint after a long, hard day on site? Or the toffee nosed old boy, sitting in his London town house in his silk pyjamas and slippers, who just so happens to have accidentally changed the television over from ITVs "spiffing" drama Jonathan Creek. Personally, I think the marketers who designed this campaign were aiming it specifically at the working class man, who works hard, plays hard and enjoys nothing more than a night down the boozer followed by a scrap in the kebab shop. And as such, some might call it a "Chav-vert"...BU-DOOOM CHHHH!!!
So in summation, social class may only be a figment of our imagination. But considering we all have an opinion of what class group we fall into, it is important for marketers to recognise this and (as always) to aim the product at the right group.
Just as a light hearted way of looking at how people are always striving to move up the social class ladder, watch the video on the link below. The video contains probably the biggest example of a man motivated by trying to move up the social class ladder. And it also shows that the "one big win" I was talking about earlier can really happen, so watch it you plonkers!
1 comment:
Great fun and very informative
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