Brand Strategy

April 22, 2019

Hyperlocalization: Changing the Face of Business and Politics

An understanding of local regions, embodied by personalized and localized messaging, is at the heart of delivering a better experience to people.

Hyperlocalization: Changing the Face of Business and Politics
Gary Ellis

by Gary Ellis

Co-Founder & COO at Remesh

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Editor’s Note: This post is part of our Big Ideas series, a column highlighting the innovative thinking and thought leadership at IIeX events around the world. Remesh’s Andrew Konya will be speaking at IIeX North America 2019 this week in Austin, TX. If you liked this article, click here to see what we’re up to in Austin.  


The ways that people discover products, services, and information is changing. A sharp rise in the number of “what’s-near-me” searches on Google maps – 82% of smartphone shoppers engage in ‘near me’ searches, according to Search Engine Land – represents consumers’ increased expectation of receiving on-demand, personalized results. In this era of hyperlocalization, understanding consumers’ locations and habits possess a significant potential to provide relevant and accurate results whether you are a brick and mortar store or a candidate running for Congress. Personalization and hyperlocalization presents not only an in-depth way to understand people in a well-defined area but is also a powerful way to drive traffic to physical locations and market to consumers in a more personalized, relevant manner.

Hyperlocalized Marketing: Boosting Business

Over the last few years, hyperlocal marketing has taken on an increased importance for both small and large scale businesses. Businesses are beginning to realize the tangible benefits of local and time-sensitive marketing, while today’s consumer expects to see relevant messages based on their locations –  whether at home, at work or in their local neighborhoods.

Increasingly, established retailers are adopting technologies that give them precise consumer information. This is where analytics comes into play; done right, it helps both small and large-scale retailers to tailor messaging, gather product feedback and diversify merchandise to meet local demands.

Several years ago, one of the best campaigns we know is still Spotify’s “Thanks 2016, it’s been weird” ad — creative use of customer data and personalization to deliver a vibrant, interactive and targeted message. Launched in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and France, and 10 other countries, Spotify’s brilliant hyperlocalization saw that each version of its ad was inspired by data from listeners in different geographical areas. Not only does the data lend perceptive insights to Spotify’s consumers, but it also presented an interesting take on how people reacted to socio-political developments of 2016.

Hyperlocalization in Politics: Understanding Voters, in-depth

The continuing advancements in the technology we use to understand our audience mean that campaigns can now understand citizens in profound depth. In particular, understanding residents based on their geographic location helps politicians understand the area’s culture, interests, and priorities so that they can resonate with voters and serve them better.

Director of campaigns at Forward Majority, Ethan Roeder focuses on state legislatures and districts where Democrats can gain elected positions before redistricting happens in 2020. The mission entailed embarking on a campaign in the 2018 election cycle that focused on six states. Incorporating hyperlocalization into his campaign, Roeder and his team sought to identify target localities by focusing on Republican states with candidates that had limited monetary resources. Through their AI-driven virtual focus group research, Roeder discovered deal-breaker issues to voters, helping him to shift focus from Foxconn in Wisconsin to healthcare and public school funding, for example. With the flexibility provided by virtual focus group research, Roeder and his team could correctly identify issues that mattered to respective political parties; enabling politicians to resonate with voters at a deeper level.    

When what a political campaign team really wants is to create relevant, personal conversations with their voter audiences from across the country, understanding their voter districts and what’s important to them is paramount. Ranging from personalized emails to tailored local messages in social media about ongoing parliament debates, hyperlocalization plays a significant role in politicians winning the elections of tomorrow.

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big ideas seriesmarket research for politics

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The views, opinions, data, and methodologies expressed above are those of the contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect or represent the official policies, positions, or beliefs of Greenbook.

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