In this guest post, Andrew Birmingham, editor of Which-50.com, and Vaughan Chandler, executive manager of Red Planet and loyalty services at Qantas Loyalty, examine recent research into australia’s advertising and marketing industries and the people (that’s you) who work in them…

Today’s marketers and media professionals are increasingly savvy about using analytics to determine where customer’s interests lie and showing them the right ad at just the right moment online.

Data and analytics, it seems, are the new currency of the trade. But what do we find when we turn the magnifying glass back on our own trade? That’s exactly what we did this week by analysing what data from Red Planet’s pool of over 11 million Australian consumers tells us about professionals in the advertising, media and marketing segments.

In an industry where market segmentation can sometimes be mistaken as little more than stereotyping, it’s nice to see the data challenging some of the stereotypes associated with our industry professionals.

So who are we exactly? Professionals in the sector are typically younger than our index average, and made up of more females than males. Despite our relative youth, we are also well paid and are more likely than not to be earning over $50,000 a year.

Media folk also love the media. We have a very favourable view of the media compared to the general population, which opinion polls routinely show (and reporters love reporting) trust journalists less than car salesmen and politicians.

In keeping with the changes which have spread wildly through our sector in the last two decades, Australia’s marketing and media professionals are favourably predisposed to new technologies and typically consume media across all platforms.

And, while the industry that sustains us is still figuring out how to make a buck in the years ahead, the participants themselves are consistent in our attitude that online communication is the way of the future.

When it comes to online behaviour, a couple of things stand out. There are hints of environmental consciousness when you realise that the strongest result — and one which is massively above the index — is our interest in hybrid cars.

But on the opposite end of the spectrum, one vice stands out: gambling. Also, while Australia’s media professionals are also very interested in sport, we have little time for property and vehicle insurance.

Women’s interests rate highly with this cohort — as does reality TV, which we are likely to watch while sipping on a glass of wine. But keep the tequila in the bottle for now, as we are not as interested in spirits.

And for an industry that makes its money telling everyone else what to buy, how do media professionals spend our own loot? Wisely, it seems. We are much more likely that the average punter to shop at discount grocery stores — when eating in, though, we are more than happy to treat ourselves to quality ingredients for some healthy, home cooking.

We also like a little luxury when we get behind the wheel, and are more likely to be seen driving a Lexus (or at least an Alfa Romeo) than a Mitsubishi. And almost a quarter are likely to have stumped up for a new car with cash.

While we spend little time investigating car or home insurance, we take a different attitude when it comes to our own health. Nine out of ten have purchased health insurance.

Segmentation let’s us get closer to the mind of the buyer. Demographic segmentation, however, risks missing some key insights. Behavioural segmentation not only fills in the blanks but — used wisely — can identify the gold in the seam that might otherwise be lost.