What could you sell me and why?

International Calls Offer

We spend around 15 hours per week communicating with our families over the phone or internet. Currently I use telephone cards such as "i-phone" etc. But I believe if I was offered a suitable and convenient deal on international calls I would definitely take that offer.

You could reach me at home when I'm watching TV or on the internet, on the bus or in the tube and at the university.

Probabely direct marketing is the best way of communicating with me as I check my mails every morning having my breakfast.Specially by sending me pesonalised messages. I already have contract with two telecommunication companies for my landline and mobile phone. Neither of them has offered me such a deal so far and that is quite silly I suppose because they have all my profile and call lists and that is not difficult to notice what I really need.

Well..., bad for them and good for you!

About me ...

My name is Ali. I'm 29. I was born in Surrey in 1978 but as my parents are Iranian we moved back to Iran when I was 2. So I grew up in Iran-Tehran (the capital). I got my BA in Visual Communication- Graphic Design from university of the Arts, Tehran. Meanwhile, I started my career in advertising and design industry since 2001 for about 5 years. I met my wife at university and we used to date for about 4 years. She is a graphic designer too so we had a lot in common. Then we got married 3 years ago in Iran and came here almost two years ago and no children so far.

Geranigah Advertising Group

Photoshoot Backstage

The reasons I came back to the UK were:
1) The opportunity of coming here was easily ready for me and I wanted to use it.
2) Getting new life experience
3) Upgrading myself for my new career
4) And finally, evaluating the new situation as a place of living.

I suppose Why I am telling you about my past could be useful to get to know me better and maybe could find some clue to my consuming behaviour.

So far, we know I was grown up in middle eastern culture and carry the middle eastern attitude with myself but I am trying to learn more European culture and adopt it with the thoughts and behaviours I already have.

My daily life...

At the moment I'm working part-time as a graphic designer in a food company. But it's not a proper job for me and I'm looking for a full time job in advertising industry. So I normally wake up at 8 o'clock and leave home around 8:45. Every day I get my mails around 8:30 and spend at least 10 minutes on them before leaving and if anything important comes up among them I would take it with me to spend more time on my way to work. I try not to miss anything!

I don't have car and I always use public transport. Depend on where I am heading to I choose the tube or bus but always my first choice is bus specially to go to work because it is more convenient and economical. Besides, I love to travel over ground and see the city live and people rushing specially at the beginning of the day.

As I've spent a lot of time in my life on dealing with images I'm really sensitive to the images I see around me. I notice every advertising in the street, papers and on the web as I am a graphic designer and this is what I've been doing for a long time and because UK in the leader of the advertising in the world and I want to make the most of it.

I usually take London Paper and Lite!!! Not because of their "content" but because they are full of images and photos and that is what really cheers me up.

At work I have the opportunity to surf the internet, check my emails etc. Therefore I'm pretty aware of what is going on around the world.

Usually I finish work at 5pm and get home around 6:30pm. Watching TV is one of my routines, about 2 hours a night and in average I watch two movie dvds a week. I don't listen to music a lot but I do listen to BBC online or even on the bus when I'm coming back home.

We come from Iran and that is the country with a lot of problems but I believe it still has one thing adorable and that is the "Value of the Family". In Iran we used to spend most of our times with our families and each person is emotionally dependant on his/her family. It is common between Iranian families, even those live outside Iran, always have the meals with all family members together. Therefore it is not unpredictable that how much hard it is for us to live far away from them. We spend almost 10 hours a week talking with our families in Iran just on the phone and we spend around 5 hours chatting and talking to them on the internet.

At weekends we usually spend our time at home doing cleaning, having good lunch together at home and mostly on Friday and Saturday nights we go to eat out.

At the moment we don't go on holidays abroad because we haven't seen enough of the UK yet.

I don't have a clear plan to stay and live in the UK forever and at the moment it is most possible to go back to my country after a year or two. Therefore I'm not looking for mortgage or any long term investment. I have rented a flat in London, NW11 and at the moment I'm happy with that. Although it's a little bit expensive for me but it's just going to be for a while.

My Neighbourhood Statistics

Unfortunately, this diagram is expressing Barnet council area generally rather than my specific area which as far as I know it has to be one of the least deprived areas. Specially in terms of "income" (except me!) and "crime" what I have seen during last 6 months I've been living here was opposite of what is expressed in this diagram. Well, I suppose that's because of the small size of the area which considering the whole Barnet Council is a tiny part. In fact, to plan a strategic marketing plan for me and my neighbourhood it needs more detailed research. However, in terms of employment, education & health deprivation I think it's quite accurate and about the "Housing", I just don't have enough information. You can find out more about my neighbourhood in coming posts...

My VALS!

Experiencer/Innovator

My primary VALS type is Experiencer, and my secondary type is Innovator.The primary VALS type represents my dominant approach to life. The secondary classification represents a particular emphasis I give to my dominant approach.


Experiencers

Experiencers are motivated by self-expression. As young, enthusiastic, and impulsive consumers, Experiencers quickly become enthusiastic about new possibilities but are equally quick to cool. They seek variety and excitement, savoring the new, the offbeat, and the risky. Their energy finds an outlet in exercise, sports, outdoor recreation, and social activities.Experiencers are avid consumers and spend a comparatively high proportion of their income on fashion, entertainment, and socializing. Their purchases reflect the emphasis they place on looking good and having "cool" stuff.

Innovators

Innovators are successful, sophisticated, take-charge people with high self-esteem. Because they have such abundant resources, they exhibit all three primary motivations in varying degrees. They are change leaders and are the most receptive to new ideas and technologies. Innovators are very active consumers, and their purchases reflect cultivated tastes for upscale, niche products and services.Image is important to Innovators, not as evidence of status or power but as an expression of their taste, independence, and personality. Innovators are among the established and emerging leaders in business and government, yet they continue to seek challenges. Their lives are characterized by variety. Their possessions and recreation reflect a cultivated taste for the finer things in life.

Well, it's not that easy to fairly judge your behaviour but at the same time it is just you who can judge whether some comments about you is right or wrong. Here I'm not judging myself. I'm just giving my honest opinion on my VALS report.

My first primary VALS type is Experiencers which according to the explanation it's exactly me! Unbelievable! This is me who just easily gets carried away about new ideas and even more quickly forget everything about them. And of course that is true that I am taking risks. I want to try anything new although I always have this fear inside about experiencing new things and that makes me a little bit slow in my new decisions in my life. But at the end of the day usually I do something unpredictable even for myself and I am usually happy with new decisions, NOT because they were the "right" decisions but because I'm doing something different. I spend a lot of money and time on watching movies and eating. Yes, I love to eat. No matter how much money I earn, I have to go to restaurants at least twice a week and for the rest of meals I spend a lot of time in week on preparing them. Well, that's me ...

My secondary VALS classification is Innovators which doesn't seem totally me. Actually it's exactly what "people" think of me, and it's not real me. For instance, I don't see self-esteem in myself. Although it's believed behaviour is the result of personality but there is slightly a contrast in my behaviours and my personality or I haven't known myself good enough! Anyway I believe as a customer my behaviour is important. Therefore this classification could represent me as a consumer.

My ACORN profile (Golders Green, Temple Fortune)

Often, many of the people who live in this sort of postcode will be affluent urban professionals living in flats. These are known as type 15 in the ACORN classification and 1.17% of the UK’s population live in this type.
Neighbourhoods fitting this profile are found primarily in London (Wandsworth, Hammersmith and Fulham, Merton, Kensington and Chelsea, Richmond-upon-Thames and Ealing) as well as in Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh. Here is an overview of the likely preferences and features of your neighbourhood:

These people live in affluent urban areas, where large attractive houses have often been converted into flats. Whilst many do own their home, the proportion of rented accommodation is relatively high. People in this type are very highly qualified; one in four have postgraduate and professional qualifications. They work in professional and senior managerial occupations, with many spending very long hours at work. Most residents are either young singles or couples. There are very few children and those there are tend to be under five, which suggests that young families move on from these areas. As one of the highest earning types, they have relatively high disposable incomes. They invest in a broad range of products including high interest accounts, ISAs, and stocks and shares. They are comfortable using the Internet to do their financial research. In the winter, this type is the most likely to go skiing. They will then take at least one other holiday which is usually foreign and often far flung. When at home they take advantage of the range of theatre and arts available to them from living in the city. They also enjoy good food and wine, both at home and in restaurants. They are interested in current affairs and are very likely to buy a daily paper, which they probably read as they commute to work. They usually choose from The Guardian, Independent, The Times and Financial Times. At the weekend they like The Sunday Times and Observer.

This ACORN profile is relatively more accurate than "Deprivation" report as it has investigated my neighbourhood, which is not large area, instead of the whole Barnet council. For a marketing plan it seems more trustworthy. As I live in this area completely accidentally and it is going to be short time, all aspects of this profile does not necessarily apply to me. As I live here temporarily and I don't have a proper job and I've just started my new life in the UK I suppose the first three prefrences; family income, interest in current affaires and housing status wouldn't apply to me. However, it is true that I'm studying to degree level, we are a young couple with no children and we don't have sattelite as watchiong TV is more like an English class rather than entertainment for us.