CINCINNATI — Nielsen Catalina Solutions (NCS) has introduced Choice Fragmentation, a new approach to audience segmentation that enables brands to identify the most relevant audiences for any marketing goal.

The advertising analytics joint venture said Friday that Choice Fragmentation, based on purchase data, makes it possible to spotlight the most likely buyers of a consumer packaged goods (CPG) product and deliver advertising to the audience that will drive the highest sales.

“Just as data has revolutionized media activation and consumption, it has also impacted audience segmentation,” stated Leslie Wood, chief research officer for Nielsen Catalina Solutions. “Marketers are re-evaluating how they plan and buy television media, using ultra-focused audience segments. We’ve gone from demographics to buyergraphics, and this work takes the buyergraphic approach to a whole new level by identifying which non-buyer segments have the most sales potential through Choice Fragmentation.”

Choice Fragmentation is designed to help drive higher returns on ad spend for strategies and targets aimed at deepening penetration. The crux of the methodology is the evaluation of consumers who have not purchased a brand’s product in the last year and their segmentation into groups that are likely and unlikely to be converted into brand buyers.

Driving penetration of consumers who haven’t purchased a brand, or nonbuyers, is critical for marketers seeking to increase market share, NCS noted. Still, the company noted that it’s difficult to achieve sales impacts against nonbuyers, who as a group tend to have very low sales lift.

For instance, across an average of 13 brands tested so far, NCS saw a 51 responsiveness index (percentage of the sales lift against the percentage of reached households). For a sample brand, that means 40% of the households reached delivered roughly 20% of the advertising sales lift. With Choice Fragmentation applied, the average index across those 13 brands becomes 149 — a three times higher delivery of lift. That means that marketers can focus their media spend on the nonbuyers who would be most likely to convert to buyers.

The Choice Fragmentation approach was piloted with Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) and CBS Television using valuations of the various buying segments, such as potential nonbuyers to drive penetration and high-responding buyers to increase brand loyalty. These multiple targeting strategies were then analyzed based on the media buys.

“As a leader in precision marketing, SMG is always honing its approach to audience segmentation,” commented Jeff Chaban, global senior vice president for business integration and analytics at Starcom MediaVest Group. “Our systems can fully integrate with buyergraphic segments allowing us to select the programs that optimize sales, and align with our clients brand strategies.”