If The Name Fits... ''New eco-topia''...''Old money flats''...''Kids & cul-de-sacs''...if these areas don't sound familiar, listen to what Michael J. Weiss has to say: Your customers live there.

Marketing meeting: Take One. "We sell electronic organizersso we should market to anyone who needs organization or likesgadgets. Let's send a flyer to everyone in town."marketing meeting: Take Two. "We've cluster analyzed ZIPcodes in a five-mile radius of our store. Area one and four aremostly seniors and blue-collar families, so we'll focus onareas two, three and five professional singles and white-collarmiddle class and affluent families who buy personal electronics.We'll target 30 blocks with three separate mailers."isn't it nice to know the person you're marketing to mayactually want your product or service?

Geodemographics, also known as cluster or lifestyle marketing,jolts demographic marketing up a few notches. "Geodemographicsis kind of a holistic approach to marketing," says Michael J.Weiss, author of The Clustered World: How We Live, What We Buy,and What it all Means About Who We Are (Little, Brown andCompany). "It doesn't just consider demographicinformation like age, income and marital status. It also looks atthe effect of whether people live in a city, a small town or arural area. It looks at lifestage whether you're young andsingle, a couple with kids, or a retiree. And it also looks atother factors, specifically how you behave in themarketplace."

Weiss, a freelance writer by trade, initiated his study ofgeodemographics after interviewing Jonathan Robbin, founder ofClaritas Inc. Robbin, a social scientist, merged census data,marketing surveys and ZIP codes into a lifestyle segmentationsystem called PRIZM (potential rating index for ZIP markets), thebasis for cluster marketing in the United States. Intrigued by thegeodemographics concept, Weiss took on the marketing-sciencebeat.

We've asked Weiss to provide the lowdown on clustermarketing to help you make the most of your marketing efforts. So,who are the people in your neighborhood? Keep reading to findout.

LAURA TIFFANY:Why is cluster marketing more effectivethan other types of marketing?

MICHAEL J. WEISS: It's based on a powerfulsociological phenomenon that birds of a feather flock together.That is, people who live on the same block tend to share similarbackgrounds, values and consuming patterns. So by looking at whatclusters are found in a given trading area, an entrepreneur canlearn from surveys what the residents tend to eat, drink, drive andthink about. And that information can help a person decide whetherto open a store in a particular area, what products to stock, whatmusic to use in a commercial and even what colors to use whenthey're designing a brochure.

It's much better than intuition, which is what a lot ofsmall-business people use when they're trying to plan theirmarketing. And it's more powerful than demographics because itconsiders lifestage and urbanization.

TIFFANY:The number of PRIZM clusters increased 55percent from the 1980s to the 1990s. Do you see a similar increasein the approaching decade?

WEISS: I really think we're becoming more and morediverse in this country. I think we'll see a continuedpopulation growth out in exurban America, so you're going tosee more telecommuters countryside taking their city tastes withthem. Also, the high cost of housing inside the nation'sbeltways is pushing younger families out to rural America.

Baby boomers are going to start entering their retirement yearscome 2005 and 2010. As a result, we'll see more activeretirement communities in the Sunbelt. Boomers will also want toretire to college towns where they have great memories and are neara cultural center. There's also going to be a group of boomerswho have no desire to leave their neighborhoods in cities andsuburban areas.

Another big trend that's going to create more clusters isthe increase in immigration. Half of all U.S population growth inthe next 50 years will occur among immigrants coming to America. Alot of people don't realize Hispanics will be the largestminority group in this country, so we're going to see moresecond generation Hispanic Americans who are upper middle class andaffluent with their own lifestyle types.

TIFFANY:In your book, you say there's a"thriving homogenized culture" exemplified by places likeWal-Mart and Home Depot. How does this mesh with the idea ofclustering?

WEISS: Basically you have several different culturalphenomena taking place. America still has a very thrivinghomogenized culture, and you can see it in all the cookie-cuttermalls you see off the interstate, and in the spread ofMcDonald's and Home Depot and Wal-Mart stores all around thecountry. But the reality is that a lot of these mass-appealbusinesses really don't reach dozens of the clusters.

So you have these two tracks going on in American business--abooming homogenized mainstream business culture, as well asnumerous specialty stores and boutiques, which are really cateringto these cluster niches. I think the nation is big enough tosupport both kinds of business types.

TIFFANY:As the country becomes even more clustered,will the Wal-Marts and McDonald's still have massappeal?

WEISS: I see two conflicting trends taking place. Thiswhole notion of shopping as entertainment will still draw people tothe big-box stores and megamalls in the same way that town centersdrew people to be around their neighbors 100 years ago.

On the other hand, the blossoming of niche marketing, where youhave dozens of cable television channels and Web sites that reflectvery specific tastes and values, also reflects the fact that moreand more Americans want to be targeted in the way they receiveinformation. There's so much information clutter out there thatpeople are going to want to have a filter. I see a real boom inInternet-based marketing, specialty-boutique marketing and verynarrowly focused stores in the business community.

TIFFANY:Which clusters are the trendsettingones?

WEISS: The rich and sort of funky clusters in the bigcities are the real trendsetting cauldrons. These are areas whereyou have a lot of art galleries, specialty boutiques, museums,small theaters and colleges nearby, so you have a very receptiveclimate for new products, services and technology. These are areaswhere you have the early adopters, like the Urban Goldcoast,Bohemian Mix, and Money and Brains clusters, who are the first toglom on to different ideas and trends. The products and servicesthen slowly filter out from the city centers to the hinterlands,down the socioeconomic ladder to smaller towns and more downscaleareas where they're spread out to the entire populace.

TIFFANY:In your book, you give an example of a camerastore that should market to Winner's Circle addresses (thesecond most affluent cluster, residing in new money suburbs),whereas the local hardware store might do better marketing to Kids& Cul-de-Sacs addresses. Isn't this limiting your possiblesales? Shouldn't you explore all your options--not just themost likely?

WEISS: That's a very critical question because Ireally look at cluster-based marketing as a risk-lowering device.When you do a cluster analysis of a trading area, you are findingpeople who are most likely to be interested in your product orservice. But then the question becomes, what happens afteryou've saturated that audience? How do you reach out to newkinds of consumers for your product? That has to be part of yourcluster-based analysis.

The great thing about clusters is when you do a profile of yourtrading area, you can find that out of 62 clusters, there are 35that are nowhere near this area. They're just not interested ina lawnmower in city neighborhoods or a swing set in a singles area.So the clusters can really help you focus in on the people who youwant to go after, in addition to those who you really know arecompletely outside your area.

TIFFANY:If someone can't afford to hire a clustermarketing firm, how can they use this method themselves?

WEISS: First of all, companies like Claritas sell verybasic trading-area profiles for only a few hundred dollars. But Ibelieve in guerilla marketing, and you can do some of your ownanalysis right from your own cash register. Look at receipts andthe people who are coming into your store, and try to map your owntrading areas.

Then do some test-marketing: Send out a flier featuring one kindof product or service at your current price or at a discount to thearea and see which kind of customers respond. Then do a biggermailing to the different neighborhoods or the different ZIP codesthat reflects what you found.

Small businesses should do focus group research, even if it justmeans bringing a dozen friends to your house and asking them ifthey like this cookie or that one, this book or that hammer. Findout exactly what they like about it, and then figure out wherethese people live to do your own cluster marketing. I'm a firmbeliever in the idea that homegrown cluster marketing is a lotbetter than no-target marketing and a lot better thanintuition.

TIFFANY:What types of things should you ask yourcustomers when you're analyzing them at the purchasepoint?

WEISS: Talk to people who are regulars and ask them wherethey live, what they like about your store, what they don'tlike about it, what they wish you had in the store, and what otherkinds of stores they like.

Or, if you think people will be sensitive about answeringpersonal questions, you may say, `What kinds of people live in yourneighborhood? What kinds of stores are really popular? What kindsof cars do people drive? What kinds of homes are in theneighborhood?' So you're not just asking what theparticular customer is doing.

TIFFANY:Can you explain the idea behind globalclusters?

WEISS: There are now cluster systems in 25 countries, andit's possible for multinational companies to target the samekind of consumer in one country or another.

Nearly every country has its neighborhoods of Old Money Flatsand New Family Suburbs and Working Class Villages and WaterfrontRetirement areas. And the consuming patterns of each of theselifestyle types tend to be the same, whether you're inAustralia, Italy or England. So a company can now find thelifestyle type that's most receptive to its product or servicein America and then pick and choose the same kind of lifestyle typein Spain, France or Italy, and market its product there as wellusing similar kinds of messages. There's even a global clustersystem called MOSAIC, from Experian Information Solutions Inc.,which has classified 14 common lifestyles in 19 countries. This isthe way of the future--doing cluster-based marketing throughout theglobal village.

TIFFANY:How can global clustering help Internetmarketers?

WEISS: There are now Internet marketers using clusters,and they're able to learn where people live by using cookies onthe Internet and getting demographic data from people who fill outapplications and customer profiles. So you don't have to use ageographic-based address to reach people in the different clusters.They can came to you in what historian Daniel J. Boorstin hascalled consumption communities: communities based on people withshared tastes and consumer behavior.

TIFFANY:Some arguments against cluster marketinginclude concerns about privacy and that clustering stereotypes andoversimplifies consumers. How do you dispute this?

WEISS: Cluster systems are very good arguments againstconcerns about privacy since they're based on geography. Theydon't really care about what individual households are doingbecause clusters are based on the theory that birds of a featherflock together--that, essentially, you reflect the neighborhoodwhere you live.

When it comes to the concern about being pigeonholed into theseclassification types, I see that concern as reflecting good newsand bad news. The bad news, of course, is that Americans hate to bepigeonholed, and they really resent that they can be so easilytargeted into one of these different lifestyle types. The good newsis that we're really a very diverse people, and there are atleast 62 kinds of us in any appreciable number in this country.

We have to recognize that marketing technology is able toidentify patterns of behavior and different lifestyle types withinthe great American population. That's a good thing becausebusinesses have a way of getting out products and services thatwe're interested in as opposed to a lot of stuff that we reallydon't have time for. I look at that as a positive force.

Latino America

The United States is the fifth-largest Latino nation in theworld with 31.1 million residents. In 2009, Hispanics are expectedto surpass African Americans as the largest U.S. minoritygroup.

All the more reason to pay attention to the Latino Americacluster, which, as 1.3 percent of the nation, is comprised ofyounger Latino middle-class families. Usually found in metropolitanareas like Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago, money can betight. Leisure time is important; nightlife is bustling, thoughoften dangerous. One resident with whom author Michael J. Weissspoke says Latino America is "an immigrant gatewaycommunity," with families building a better life forthemselves and their relatives.

• With a median income of $30,000, these large, youngfamilies (under age 34), live in predominantly Latino households,are high school graduates (10 percent have graduated college), andwork at blue-collar and service jobs.

• Voting booth: Although voting rates aren't high,community involvement is. Often liberal Democrats, they voted forClinton and are concerned with gun control, public-educationfunding and defusing racial tensions.

• Reading material:Baby Talk (384),Cosmopolitan (228), Muscle & Fitness (188)

• Watching and listening: Spanish radio (992), All MyChildren (333), Late Night With Conan O'Brien(298)

• Eating and drinking: avocados (230), tequila (204),canned ham (140)

• Driving: Kias (238), GMC Safaris (180), Toyota N81pickups (151)

Source: The Clustered World: How We Live, What We Buy, andWhat It All Means About Who We Are (Little, Brown and Company)by Michael J. Weiss

Kids & Cul-De-Sacs

The largest cluster in America, these minivan driving,Disney-worshiping families center on the pint-sized set. Threepercent of the population, this cluster creates the commondefinition of suburbs: predominantly white and Asian,upper-middle-class professionals, soccer moms and barbecue dads.Weekends are comprised of trips to Price Club to spend $150-plus ongroceries, renting videos for their two or more VCRs, orderingpizzas, organizing the kids' activities, and trekking to thelocal theme park or zoo.

• Family folks with money, the Kids & Cul-de-Sacscluster has a median income of $61,600, are college grads, and workin white-collar professions.

• Voting booth: Conservative Republicans who voted for BobDole, they treasure their kids above all else and are concernedabout family values, tax reform and public-school funding.

• Reading material:Golf Digest (230),Bicycling (215), Travel & Leisure (210)

• Watching and listening: soft rock (160), Wall StreetWeek (152), news/talk radio (152)

• Eating and drinking: low-fat sour cream (158),Entenmann's snacks (148), candy bars (137)

• Driving: Toyota Previas (323), Nissan Quests (300),Mercury Villagers (290)

Source: The Clustered World: How We Live, What We Buy, andWhat It All Means About Who We Are (Little, Brown and Company)by Michael J. Weiss

Bohemian Mix

One of the trendsetting clusters, Bohemian Mix are real-lifeFriends, the young singles and couples who dress hip andfrequent coffee bars, microbreweries and arthouse movie theatres.This cluster is open to new things. With almost three-quarters ofthe Mix single or divorced, and almost a third gay, author MichaelJ. Weiss notes this cluster is "a haven for alternativelifestyles." This is where the Gay Pride parade will be held,the multiethnic clothing boutique located, and the McDonald'sand Wal-Mart willfully rejected. Also called "the young andthe restless," these singles consume almost twice the nationalaverage in alcoholic beverages, enjoy aerobic activities to workthose imbibed calories off, and lead sales in condoms.

• Living in the heart of downtown, theseapartment-dwellers are ethnically mixed white-collar professionalswho earn an average salary of $33,700.

• Voting booth: Predominantly liberal Democrats, theyvoted for Bill Clinton and are concerned about gay rights,legalizing marijuana and defusing racial tensions.

• Reading material:New York Magazine (440),GQ (340), Esquire (307)

• Watching and listening:Nightline (270),Homicide (185), contemporary rock radio (184)

• Eating and drinking: imported beer (201), gourmet coffee(191), imported wine (180)

• Driving: Alfa Romeos (277), Volkswagen Cabriolets (234),Audi 90s (228)

Source: The Clustered World: How We Live, What We Buy, andWhat It All Means About Who We Are (Little, Brown and Company)by Michael J. Weiss

New Eco-Topia

City dwellers are returning to the good life in small-town,rural America. New Eco-Topia, comprising one percent of the UnitedStates, mixes an interesting bunch of folks: those escapingdowntown and those who've never lived downtown, or as authorMichael J. Weiss says, "a mix of granola and grits."Although they're earning middle-class incomes ($35,300), theEco-Topians bring a touch of big-city tastes to the back countrywith a penchant for imported cheese and organic gardening, AOL andpublic broadcasting, Subarus and Humvee trucks.

• Averaging 35-plus, New Eco-Topians are ruralblue-collar, white-collar and farm families living in single-unithousing. They're predominantly white, some have children, andmost have graduated high school and attended college.

• Voting booth: Overwhelmingly moderate Republican, theyvoted for Bob Dole in 1996, and their key issues are tax andwelfare reform and legalizing marijuana.

• Reading material:Country Living (223),Organic Gardening (195), T>Today Show (158)

• Eating and drinking: beef (145), imported cheese (143),low-fat sourPopular Science (151)

• Watching and listening:NBC Nightly News (218),As the World cream (136)

• Driving: Dodge 4WD pickups (586), Humvee trucks(580), Jeep Grand Wagoneers (491)
  
  Source: The Clustered World: How We Live, What We Buy, and What ItAll Means About Who We Are urns (200),

Contact Sources

Koplovitz & Company, (212) 551-3585

National Foundation for Women Business Owners, (301)495-4975, ext. 13, http://www.nfwbo.org

Viridian Capital, 220 Montgomery St., #946, SanFrancisco, CA 94104, (415) 391-8950