Media Target Market and Segmentation
According to our research, the most active commuter group in PA is often the less than one mile group, with August 2020 seeing 9 million daily commutes, compared to August 2021 where the trips less than a mile rose to 14 million (which is close, if not topping pre-pandemic levels) (“Daily Travel…”). These people are getting their activities done as close to home as possible, and all indications show this number has increased during COVID, and stays high as some people fear travelling (in general though, this year has seen much higher levels of transportation than the year previous). For that reason, as a tourist location, we thought the most obvious target group would be the “Medians” themselves. The Media Business Authority backs these inferences with fact: “The Borough of Media (less than a square mile) is located just outside of Philadelphia and has a relatively stable population of just over 5,668 with an average age of 40…” (“Media Business…”). Our interview with Brian Messick, an authority at Media Business Authority, noted a transformation in the changing demographics of Media since COVID though: “We’ve seen a trend recently in Media– gone from a majority 55 and older communities to a much younger family. Young [people are] moving in from the city” (Nunan). Our targeting of the local Media market would have to appeal to a more “young professional.”
But since Media’s population is less than 5,000 we looked at ways to add additional numbers to the segment we are appealing to locally. Per the MBA’s website, Media already draws large crowds: “As the largest and most active town within a 5 mile radius, Media draws more than one-quarter million people from its surrounding townships. With weekday activity at the Delaware County Courthouse, Media brings in over 300,000 visitors and employees during normal business hours” (“Media Business Authority…”). We thought to capture young professionals in this group as well, appealing to day trippers that come in from the surrounding areas every day to work or visit. 300,000 is a lot of people, and seeing how the main goal of The Media Business Authority is to direct some of this passthrough traffic to make Media a destination town to bring “as many people to shop and dine as possible” (Messick).
We see opportunity in the fine dining and local restaurants in Media, thinking that a focus on food and drink may bring in this targeted group to make up lost funds for local restaurants because they were not able to host the large gatherings they typically host. For example, Brian Messik of the MBA commented, “Right now we’ve cancelled any events requiring us to be outside, which, unfortunately, is our music series which brings crowds to local bars and restaurants in the past. We’re not doing our food festival which is in October which usually draws 10,000 people. Even though it’s an outdoor event, you can’t social distance which is not a good time.” We need to leverage people’s love of social events without the large draw that Media is used to relying on.
With that in mind, our ideal visitor to Media would be thus: young professionals that live near or around the Philadelphia area and suburbs. They ideally live or travel through or close to Media on their daily commute and would consider going to Media on a day trip during the weekend, or for a planned evening during the week (there’s around 1.6 million people in Philadelphia and on average, people spend 51 minutes driving there every day, according to BizJournals). They would ideally come to dine and stay to shop, or vice versa.
Citations
“Daily Travel during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.” Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, 2 Sept. 2020.
Cukier, Eileen. “See How Philadelphian Commutes Compare.” Bizjournals.com, Philadelphia Business Journal, 16 Jan. 2020.
“Media Business Authority: Doing Business in Media.” “Everybody’s Hometown” Media Business Authority, Media Business Authority.
Nunan, Amanda K. “Interview of Brian Messick about Media Business Authority.” 8 Sept. 2021.