Alannah Virtanen, pictured below, is a consumer insights analyst for AC Nielsen’s specialty group: Spectra, which uses geographic information to provide marketing advice to companies.
She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Western Ontario and completed her Master's degree in Geography from Waterloo while working at Spectra.
How did you get interested in geomatics?
After taking a course in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as part of my business degree at Western, I found that I really enjoyed geography and GIS and its ability to integrate so many different areas of life together.
I switched majors and was hired upon graduation to be a GIS analyst for a financial company.
How do you use geomatics?
My goal is to develop strategies that help companies maximize sales by analyzing consumer behaviour.
This is premised on the concept of “birds of a feather flock together” – that similar people go to the same places, buy the same products, and do the same things.
Using software called MapInfo, we determine which households should be analyzed when trying to understand a particular store. We use many different data sources with geographic location as the key.
Factors such as demographics, company information (sales), consumption studies and surveys are used to make inferences about the shopping patterns of Canadians. Some of the important traits to consider are age, family structure, income, geographic location (i.e., urban, suburban, town, rural), ethnicity, and lifestyle.
How do businesses use the information you provide?
I help retailers determine where to locate stores that best match their clientele, how to layout store departments, what products to carry on their shelves (and what not to carry), what to advertise, and what events and co-promotions to run.
With the trend towards micro-marketing, a strategy is developed for each store or cluster of stores. We often use ethnic analysis to improve the shopping experience for a store’s clientele. For example, employee workforces are hired to match the languages needed and specialty products are sought out to satisfy local demands, e.g., what countries’ flags should be carried in each store for the World Cup.
Do you find some surprising insights based on location?
Some geographic decisions are easy to make: snow-blowers will not sell well in a densely packed urban centre. However, not all products are intuitively clear as to who the true consumer is.
During one research project, I determined that the primary consumer of baby oil is not in fact babies but instead senior men – particularly Chinese men - who use it for their hair. I also found that Hamburger Helper and Cracker Jacks are much more preferred by the French, marshmallows are a strongly Maritime product, and organic products are in highest demand in urban centres.
What do you enjoy most about your career so far?
I love that I can meld two things I enjoy – geography and business – into a highly marketable skill. Each day I discover something new about Canadians that I wouldn’t have known if employed in any other field. The diversity of this job is exciting – a new different project is always on the horizon.
The possibility for growth in geomatics is large. Since I’ve started working, people from other companies regularly contact me asking if I’d like to work for them. I hope to move into a leadership role soon, considering the exponential growth in the field of marketing geography.
