Australia’s first ever research study into the progressive mindset revealed
In a rapidly changing digital world, mindset trumps demographics. But just what does a progressive mindset look like?
Guardian Australia will host an exclusive breakfast event in Sydney next week that will reveal the secrets of reaching progressive consumers. Register your interest at the bottom of this page.
Ahead of the event, Guardian Australia’s managing director, Dan Stinton, explains why mindset is triumphing over demographics, and why context will always be king.
The Guardian Australia has commissioned the country’s first-ever study into progressive mindsets.
The result of a joint-partnership with research company Pollinate, the study examines the progressives cohort on a national basis, and delves into their social views, attitudes, lifestyles and consumer behaviour.
For Dan Stinton, managing director of The Guardian Australia, the research fills a crucial knowledge gap in Australia’s advertising landscape.
“No one in Australia had ever researched what a progressive mindset could look like. Progressive values are likely to be the values of the future – we wanted to know whether or not this cohort of people was interesting to advertisers,” he says.
Stinton says that the research project came about partly in response to a growing swing towards targeting mindsets over demographics, as brands started to retreat from large social spends and unsafe brand environments.
“We know that brands are going back to contextual advertising, rather than putting everything into social,” he says.
“Value has shifted from targeting demographics en mass, to reaching the audience in the right environment, in the right mindset. For us, that’s the progressive mindset.”
The research polled a diverse base of Guardian readers and non-readers, from a range of ages and locations across Australia, to define what a progressive looks like, how they see themselves and the world.
“If you wanted to get a new message across to a bunch of influential people, you really couldn’t find a better audience to go after,” Stinton says.
“People with a progressive mindset are genuinely more open-minded than the rest of the population. They are far more influential with their peer group and are genuinely interested in informing themselves of all sides of an argument. They also tend to spend a little bit more on luxury than the rest of the population.”
According to the research, most progressives are a highly sophisticated audience, who are discerning about the kind of content they consume. They are receptive to a broad range of content and advertising, but rank trust and reliability as key considerations.
“We take a very transparent and ethical approach to our use of user data in advertising, which is becoming increasingly important to both readers and marketers,” Stinton says.
“We are one of the few publishers in Australia that’s adopted the GDPR framework, for example. There’s likely to be a similar framework introduced in Australia in the coming years, and we’re well placed to take advantage of that.”
One of the most effective ways to reach this mindset can be through a branded content collaboration, he says.
“What we found was that consumers have no problem with branded content – in fact, they like it, as long as it’s labelled correctly and clearly,” Stinton says.
“You can’t trick users into thinking it is pure news – you have to respect the user, label it correctly and create value for them. We think it’s more valuable for the advertiser that someone actively chooses to look at their paid content – and this is backed up by an average dwell time of above three minutes on our branded content.”
One key to winning over a progressive audience is creating a respectful relationship between the advertiser, the publisher and the reader, that truly benefits everyone.
“If you do it well, it can be a tremendously effective way of getting a brand’s message across.”
The full research findings will be released at an exclusive breakfast event in Sydney next week that will reveal the secrets of reaching progressive consumers.
Simply fill out the form below to register your interest to attend on 4 June between 8:30am–10:30am at The Hilton, Sydney. We’ll be in touch shortly if you’re successful.