Geomarketing: The Merkel next door The Merkel next door advertising strategists never knew so much about us as it is today. From each household, they know beer consumption, arthritis risk and payment habits. "Geo" now links these data with digital maps. At a glance, see who buys what where. What the readers know about the chancellor and her neighbors?
By Max Rauner
Max Rauner for this article, Acatech Prize for Engineering Journalism 2007 in the category "Magazine / journal has been awarded (ed)
It is no secret: Angela Merkel lives with her husband Joachim Sauer to the Pergamon Museum, on the fourth floor of a yellow-painted tenement, by a copper trench 6, 10117 Berlin. Is everything online, googled with a photo of the front door, simply "copper pit," and "Merkel".
Since Google Earth allows the flying around in satellite photos you can see the Chancellor and the roof. A surveillance camera in the Pergamon Museum recently accidentally peered through the windows of the Merkel-sour-home.
Who really look behind the facade of the Chancellor House would like who goes to the best in the west of Germany in Bonn-Bad Godesberg. Here, the company infas geodata in the former residence of the Indian Ambassador up quarters. Managing director Michael Hertzberg, a Rhenish young entrepreneurs with new-economy experience and American optimism, has built up his laptop and conference room projectors. If desired, he typed in the address of Mrs. Merkel.
appears on the wall is a city map of Berlin-Mitte with the road of the Federal Chancellor. About the House knows Herter's computer a lot: before 1900 built, six households, design satisfactorily, there is no garden, no foreigners, affinity for customer cards: moderate, affinity for private health insurance: Medium, residents: disinterested financial type, traditional fixed-line users, no Internet Power User, dominant Ages 51 to 60 years, diabetes and arthritis than average, below average fitness, a lot of Audi, Mercedes and BMW, Volkswagen little.
intimate Germany in 2006. It's not about the Chancellor, it is about us all. For 19 million buildings in Germany - almost all new homes - can get Michael Herter dozens of data, from net income of the residents about common diseases to people purchasing power. Who wants to know? For example, E-Plus, the Postal Bank, AOL, T-Mobile, Rossmann, Vorwerk, Arcor, the ADAC, Novartis, Teyssen Sold you infas Spatial maps identifying the anonymous consumer and environment data of Germans are shown detailed. A topography of consumption.
It is the nightmare of data protection and the dream of marketing and advertising strategists. There are comprehensive databases with customer information, although for some time, they fill the hard drives from address brokers, government agencies, banks and insurance companies. But now comes a new dimension to the game: the combination of the data with digital maps and maps you can zoom in as the vice with the binoculars at a nudist beach. "Geo" is called that when abstract number columns are to walk-in customer environments.
Michael Hertzberg is right to ride when he enthuses about the possibilities of consumer cards - "we think geo," he cries, "What others think in tables." He pauses, as if waiting for the echo from the stucco ceiling. "That is our extremely" missionary, he finally says, "few have understood it."
On Herter maps company at a glance, in which roads people BMW ride, Where the young families in which street a Lidl would run better than Edeka business. The net income and household consumption are included in the statistics.
On the copper trench should be open, for example, not a sports store, because for sportswear, knows the Society for Consumer Research (GfK) in Nuremberg, give Mrs Merkel and her neighbors on average only 10 euros a year, almost 40 percent less than the national average. Plants for Home and Garden (132 €), and Hardware items (474 €) are in the Merkel-quarter sales well below average.
quite different in the country, such as the Palatine village Steinfeld, the home of Kurt Beck. As much as distinguish the new SPD leader and the Chancellor in their political views, so different are their souls statistically identified consumers.
Beck and neighbors buy for an average of € 602 per resident per year at the hardware store, they give from 172 € to plants, and the tradition of butchery Katus may be a high demand pleased to meat and meat products (334 € per inhabitant per year, 10 percent above the average). Palatine liver sausage, the GfK in their statistics are not yet separately, but to determine their own consumption probably would not be a problem.
The Credibility of the Germans captured on road plans. When Kurt Beck and his neighbors in online shops or order by mail order, they can safely deliver the account, the payment practices of stone fields - typically land - very good. In the next small town of Bad Bergzabern where Beck works as a hairdresser wife Rosie, the risk of default rises sharply in some areas. And in Berlin, it is teeming with payment and muffles Debtors, including Merkel's District (see map on page 40).
know How they do that? Of a puzzle of house inspections, surveys, mail order and debtor information, snippets of data from address brokers, government agencies and businesses. The rest is statistics. "There are endless data in large companies that are screaming to be prepared," said Herter, "almost every piece of information has a spatial reference."
One should, however, the misunderstanding in any case. The entries for copper trench 6, which had no data on Mrs Merkel and her husband, "what is personal," we do not. Privacy Policy. Although much information from authorities and companies personal collected, but the address dealers then form to anonymize the mean of at least five households. Only these values are again based on an address. They describe a statistical Angela Merkel is not the true person.
addition Herter sits Eckhard George, chief marketing officer. He says. "We describe coordinates, not people"
for the Federal Data Protection Commissioner Peter Schaar is exactly the problem: "Who lives in the wrong place that is assessed a flat rate and get also a loan granted or with bad conditions," At. This so-called geo-scoring individuals could contribute only limited to his image, such as Relocation of residence. "This is highly questionable social policy." It threatens social exclusion. Schaar urges new rules to prevent that.
Where it becomes critical, showed two years ago, an electronic phone book of the Germany company Klicktel. There, not only addresses and telephone numbers were available for each person were also purchasing power and payment behavior displayed. Klicktel got the data on infas geodata. Although only back averages for at least five households, but the presentation suggested otherwise. Klicktel received a warning and took the CD from the market.
Today we fit in better, which hired the customer with the data, says Michael Herter. He However, it remains a friend, "the fact that information is up to a certain level of access."
There is anyway no escape. Geo has long become reality, more and more companies and government agencies rely on the spatial analysis of customers:
- The mobile operator E-Plus responds with his trademark Ay Yildiz ("Crescent and Star"), the Turks in Germany. The company is using geo-marketing software to divide the map into areas where they live with the same number of Turks. With these cards, sales regions are planned. From geo-ethnic marketing is here.
- shoppers in the online bookstore can, in theory, usually by direct debit, invoice or Credit card. When it's virtual office read: "In this case, the account number is not possible," are probably indebted to many neighbors or do not pay their bills. Some call center apparently having a similar profiling analyze the phone numbers so that callers get from better-off roads in the queue to the front.
- The health insurance fund AOK experimented for a few months with spatial data to assess the quality of hospitals and to advise their insured. Must be an AOK-heart surgery patient, the offices can see at a glance, in which hospital the doctors have much experience with this surgery. The prescribing practices of physicians may soon be physically present.
- If McDonald's is planning a new store, select an area manager of expansion with 30 km radius. On the digital map will appear including purchasing power and age distribution of residents. This is how the manager to see if and where a new branch could be expected. Drug stores and many chain stores have in practice only.
- More than 90 percent of all households in Germany will receive unaddressed leaflets added, were 1.7 billion last year, addressed direct mail. With the help of spatial data the companies try to place their advertising on target. In Hamburg snob-road lands Advertising for designer eyewear, high-rise buildings in Berlin-Moabit be supplied with bargain advertising. The advertising objectors are recorded on cards.
We can now connect to the front door and attach the faith to live in a cozy neighborhood with mature habitat structures. For the Turkish greengrocer on the corner may be true yet. Otherwise, however, is the realistic assumption that there is left little to chance.
The kitchen shop around the corner - did not have it analyzed by GfK purchasing power in the kitchen area. The direct bank advertising in the mailbox this morning - has identified us as the online-spending budget of the civil center. The ear, nose and throat specialist over - got his site analysis of the Geosoftware the physicians' association. The new neighbors - have relied on the geographic information system of their broker.
Life is a Truman Show. Do not be surprised if the house next door, opened a store for your favorite jam.
geo works because the man is a social being. "Our guiding principle is:> joins DC and DC is like, '" Egbert said of the GfK Lohse, Department of Regional Studies. People with similar lifestyles, education, life purpose and age are found. Live in the university academics, artists in the local neighborhoods, wealthy families in affluent suburbs the city, next to retired pensioners, workers in addition to workers, in addition to Turks Turks.
Even those who opt for individual, nonconformist and has failed, needs only time to ring the neighbors. The talk turned out to be as safe, but probably bought the house one at Manufactum.
It is therefore sufficient if the readers know in a neighborhood about a few people notice something specific, for example, because the neighbor has taken part in a survey of GfK.
As Egbert Lohse last year and came to the GfK in Nuremberg was looking for a flat, he would stroll through the streets, cafes and visit the Town can sniff. Instead, he went to the Internet. In a rudimentary www.martviewer.com the GfK consumer for Nuremberg and Fürth Atlas has posted online. After a few clicks Lohse knew the environment of the advertised apartments. He looked young neighbors, no families, not retirees. An apartment in the Maxfeldstraße fit the profile.
reveals about Lohse's new neighbors, the demo software today: 25 households, 21 men, 18 women, 4 foreigners households, 16 singles, 8 neighbors are under 30, the purchasing power is 9 percent above the national average, 6 neighboring households have over 2600 to 4000 Euros , 4 are even higher.
If Lohse is to declare a party, what's geo marketing, He says: Something like Google Earth. He loves to fly with Google Earth over the earth. In geo-Mart called the programs viewer, MapInfo and market analyst. Marketing people, who once clicked around in it to be addictive.
GfK can for each road segment in Germany to create a purchasing power levels, specifically for 61 product lines of automotive supplies, to baked goods and women's clothing to pet food. Who pays for more than 10 000 €, you get the information for the entire Republic.
At issue is not the transparent citizen, says Egbert Lohse, on the contrary, the consumer benefits of geo-marketing. The more accurately know the trade, the customers, the more targeted to leave Advertising address. "Nobody wants to be bombarded with advertising."
The most personal data, many people appeared to be voluntary and would like price, income up to the holiday destination. The GfK recorded in her "ConsumerScan" regularly all food purchases of 20 000 households and collects the purchases in the non-food sector through representative surveys. Statisticians expect the whole of Germany is high, similar to pollsters.
Infas spatial data uses the data of the Schober Group, which evaluates each year around 600 000 so-called lifestyle questionnaires with more than 120 questions. By participating, can win a digital camera. The company guards 50 million Home addresses with detail information. By participating
not get on other channels in the file, for example by ordering the Otto-Versand, a partner of Schober - or, thanks to the peer-to-equal principle of geo-marketing. And then there are the home visits: On behalf of trained personnel infas spatial data travels through the towns and villages from Flensburg to Konstanz. The Hausbegeher not in the houses, but they are front and assess the state of making crosses in the garden, villa, bungalow, office buildings and so on. Almost all buildings in Germany has classified infas geodata. Many small parts in the consumer puzzle.
The address Microm dealer has opted for the "effective Soliciting "(brochure) a special trick that up. Each address in Germany, the company assigns a social class, the ten so-called sinus milieu. Representative surveys of more than 30 000 Germans are the foundation added, will in turn purchase power data and the assessment of residential neighborhoods. The Microm partners and DDS card specialist from London makes it colorful environment maps.
locates on Kupfergraben Microm especially post-materialists (see page 39), Kurt Beck, however, is surrounded in stone field of consumer materialists, says the German is the sine-shaped materialistic underclass. Microm also informed about the payment behavior of households - the information obtained from Creditreform, an association exchange in which almost all department stores and retail chains in Germany information about credit-worthy customers, and payment muffle.
All this can be considered a scandal, and the Geo-scoring, which assigns to every house at risk of default, the geo goes too far. From a commercial perspective it is indeed only logical zoom deeper and deeper into the realm of the consumer, as long as it is legally permissible. Questionable, however, the sale of information collected by law or by public funds:
- The Federal Motor Transport Authority offers "micro-geographical analysis of its ship register" upon payment of costs "." In each case approximately 20 households summarized on the KBA reveals which car brands they drive, how many new and used cars are available and how much hp have. Thanks KBA, we know that Mrs. Merkel travels environment Roadster, Van and Convertible, with car power house of the Federal Chancellor reaches 6 of 9 points. The Federal Data Protection Commissioner Peter Schaar criticized the business of the KBA. "I think it's problematic when authorities provide data for fiscal reasons, which are used for scoring"
. - The state survey offices of each house for sale in Germany, the coordinates down to the centimeter. In early 2006 came as the final states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Thuringia Community to disseminate the house coordinates (GVHK) at. Since then coordinates the national mapping agency of North Rhine-Westphalia, the data deal. The GPS data for all hotels in Germany - the basis of geomarketing - come on two DVDs, and cost 140 000 Euro, depending on the application even more. "Business is very good at," Karin Landsberg said of the Land Surveying Office NRW. Customers are insurance companies that use the elevation data for estimation of flood damage, and the so-called data finishers.
- The German post office is not a state company more, but one of the best suppliers address. They rented their database with 36 million residential addresses for a license fee, for example, Microm. The Post itself provides customer analysis for mailings: If a lawn mower Hardware on Sale, it can to filter the addresses of all single-family houses with gardens in a radius of 20 kilometers - such an application but also by the Federal Privacy Commissioner problems.
past resembled Germany from the perspective of marketing people an impressionist painting with blurred contours. It was known that the East Germans earn less than West Germans that there are families in the affluent suburbs of the cities and that attracts people to spend more money on the land for garden plants than city dwellers. Germany today is like a 50-megapixel digital photo. Each pixel in a household, each household a consumer cell.
we know Angela Merkel better now? We know enough to use their cell best to provide you with brochures, and also know what shops are there that would best settle. But the apartment building on the copper trench 6 is a difficult case, because in the vicinity of the Chancellor, many officers stationed by the Federal and the themselves are of good data capture detectives difficult. There are also some offices in the area, which increases the error rate statistics. In any case, the geo-analysis is wrong on one point. For the address on the copper trench 6, the software recorded in digital sobriety: "underclass.
Tell us what you think: What do you think if your market research purchasing behavior, their risk of disease and their payment practices visible in digital maps? Does that make sense, because in future we will still only get the deals that interest us? Or are you sounded out and spied on?
TIME knowledge 04/2006
