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In our everyday lives, both online and in the physical world, we all present different versions of ourselves to others. People speak differently to their friends, a clerk at the grocery store, their boss, or a bartender at their favorite pub. These different personas, which are the focus of consumer behaviorists and analysts, have made a smooth transition to the online world. A version of you, complete with avatar and login name, will be vastly different on LinkedIn vs. Facebook, or Mog vs. World of Warcraft. So how can businesses coagulate all these different personas into a profile of one single customer? They may not have to.

Researchers at Gartner have coined the term Generation V (for virtual) to describe these consumers. They have created different imprints of their personalities on many different Web 2.0 sites, and marketers are struggling to identify with and appeal to them. As Baseline Magazine recently wrote, “Unlike previous demographic containers like baby boomer and Gen X, Generation V is not defined by age, gender or geography. Instead it is based on achievements, accomplishments, and a growing preference for digital media when it comes to learning and sharing.” These online personalities are not necessarily fake; they do belong to real consumers, and they do reflect real needs, desires, and behaviors.

One of the problems with multiple personas, however, is that they reflect a desire for anonymity in a web world that is increasingly open. Active online personas often say and do things online that they would never do in a real world setting. A good example of this can be found in vitriolic blogging and commenting. As blog Identity 2.0 points out, “With respect to comments on a blog…Since it takes a sequence of good behavior to build a positive reputation, there is a cost to that reputation, that good netizens will want to preserve if having a good reputation provides additional value.” While you might be circumspect and thoughtful when commenting on the election at the Huffington Post, you might let loose at Perezhilton.com with foul language about the actions of some drunk starlet. In both cases, you are essentially anonymous, but the setting influences your online actions, just as it would in the real world.

So how can businesses target both OrcSlayer21 and Bluegrass4Ever, particularly if they’re the same person? Adam Sarner, the Gartner researcher who coined the term Generation V, suggests to Baseline that marketers reach out to them individually. “We need to recognize that people have a different set of desires while on Amazon.com or Second Life,” he says.Gartner recommends targeting individual online personas in ways that appeal to the reputation and personality they’ve created for themselves. Sell to the personas, not to the people behind them.

The way to do this, according to Sarner, is to examine your product’s place in the customers priorities and needs, just the way you would for an offline consumer profile. People have vastly different desires for different products or services on theirwishlists, and marketers have yet to fully exploit this. For example, OrcSlayer21 and Bluegrass4Ever would likely find value in both new PC games and the latest Allison Krauss CD from Amazon.com. Amazon could send email flyers and targeted messages to each persona, even though they represent the same person. The same strategy could work for a single product, which might appeal to different aspects of a consumer’s personality.

The bottom line is that personas are not flat, simple organisms. They never were in real world situations, and they are even less so online, where it is so easy to segment one’s personality for different activities. Businesses who use consumer profiles will need to expand their strategies to appeal to every aspect of the customer. In an increasingly competitive online marketplace, there is room for all of our multiple personalities, and all the products and services that we crave. A marketing plan that capitalizes on this diversity will be successful.

Thursday, April 24th, 2008 You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

By Haley January Eckels