Rob Young is a founding partner and senior vice-president, planning and research, at Harrison, Young, Pesonen & Newell, one of Canada’s largest media management operations.

These are busy media times.

This morning, I watched two TV channels, two specialty sports channels and part of a kid’s program with my nine-year-old. During the 10-kilometre drive to the office, I listened to three radio stations and was exposed to a slew of billboards and bus backs. Then, once I hit the desk, I scanned five trade and four consumer magazines, plus three newspapers. Later today, during my lunch-hour walk, I’ll no doubt see ads in washrooms, elevators and on bus shelters.

And these are just the ‘traditional’ media vehicles – they don’t include last night’s movie rental, this morning’s Internet search and last weekend’s visit to the cinema.

I’m not unusual in this regard. I’m sure you all share the realization that tectonic shifts are occurring in our media environment – witness the exponential expansion in hours of TV programming, the launch of even more specialty TV channels and the explosive growth in all kinds of commercially accessible media options.

The new and very broad definition of media or communications channels includes standard, traditional mass-media vehicles, a suite of newer, commercially available forms, and a whole range of extra-curricular activities (concerts, sports) as well as lifestyle choices (hiking, canoeing).

My clients certainly are aware of these changes and they’re concerned about how this constant ‘buzz’ affects the impact of their marketing messages. Wouldn’t any one message, in any one communication channel be overwhelmed in this new, noisier environment?

It’s a valid concern – but it’s also true that a media plan can be designed to take advantage of this new array of channels. Fragmentation should not be feared for its diminishing effect on media impact but rather celebrated because it increases the chances that different targets will consume unique blends of media channels.

Thanks to fragmentation, consumer segments are now mirrored in unique and mutually exclusive media segments. In other words, the kind of person you are determines the kinds of media you consume. The media practitioner’s true value to the client’s marketing team lies in his or her ability to read these consumer ‘media maps’.

The explosion in communications channels has been enhanced by the proliferation of media research and complementary software tools to analyze the data. Using the PMB Print Measurement Bureau media and product consumption survey as a base, for example, we’ve experimented with cluster analysis and found that communication channel usage – using the broadest definition of channel – is a robust and powerful way to create target segments. Consumers fashion their own personal, unique media ‘blends’ and those choices are a very powerful way to differentiate a target group – certainly as powerful as demographics, psychographics or geo-demographics.

Consider these two ways of targeting the same group of women:

One approach describes them according to their media or communications channels usage. They’re young women who tend to read fashion/ lifestyle publications and the entertainment/arts sections of newspapers. They drive around town more than most and go to the movies more often than average. Their ownership of computers is significantly higher than the norm and they surf the Net three times more than average.

Now, let’s look at the same group, as defined by demographics. They’re women 18-34, who tend to be employed, single and earn $50,000-plus in household income.

I would argue that the target’s tendency to consume specific kinds of media channels provides a richer, more actionable description of these women than demographics. And I would further argue that a media plan using the target’s unique media choices would deliver messages with the greatest impact.

A media plan coming out of this analysis might include fashion magazine and entertainment newspaper ads, special types of TV programs, Internet advertising plus an outdoor showing. It’s the kind of segmentation that allows us to recommend multi-media plans that surround the target in a kind of comfortable media ‘coat’ that fits her perfectly.

When it comes right down to it, today’s mass media isn’t so mass. Fragmentation, widely feared as the cause of message deterioration, can actually be marshaled to supercharge delivery of the client’s message.

Send your comments by e-mail to ryoung@hypn.com.