Beyond the Boxes: Why Demographics Aren’t Enough Anymore
You know what I’ve been thinking about lately?
Maybe we don’t use demographics because they’re accurate. Maybe we use them because they’re convenient.
“Target 18–34-year-olds.” “Focus on urban Gen Z women.” “Speak to tech-savvy millennials.”
It sounds clean. Familiar. Makes the strategy deck feel complete. I also wonder:
Do we actually know who we’re talking to? Or are we still talking to spreadsheets?
Let’s be honest — how many 28-year-olds do you know who behave the same?
🧍🏽♀️ Let Me Get Personal
I know a 26-year-old who earns ₦600k a month, has two degrees, runs a side hustle, but won’t make a major life decision without calling her mum for prayers.
Another friend tweets confidently about Web3 all week, but won’t sign a contract until after midnight prayers. Why? “I no wan make village people run me local.”
Spiritual logic and digital fluency — in one person.
So, how exactly does “age 26, upwardly mobile, university-educated” explain that?
📉 Why the Old Boxes Don't Fit Anymore
Demographics once helped us understand reach, but today, they fail at relevance.
Psychographics tried to fix that — “let’s segment people by aspirations, values, motivations.” Sounds good.
But here's the flaw: they assume we always act on our personal values.
In Nigeria? That’s rarely the case.
We're not just individuals. We’re daughters, employees, uncles, online creators, Sunday school teachers — all before noon.
And we don't make decisions in isolation. We live inside situations before the locus of control is external and not internal.
So yeah — values matter. But context shapes behaviour more deeply.
That’s why I’ve stopped asking “What segment are they in?” And started asking:
We're not just market segments.
We’re shapeshifters — reacting to scarcity, status, spirit, and survival.
🔍 A Campaign That Got It Right
MTN Nigeria’s “Wear It For Me” campaign still sticks with me.
It didn’t come to Nigerians with data or rules. It used something far more effective: a mother's voice saying, “Please wear your mask — for me.”
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No scare tactics. No big grammar.
Just emotion.
Duty.
Maternal love.
Guilt — the kind only Nigerian parents (especially mothers 🫠) can deliver effortlessly.
That campaign didn’t say: “Let’s target women aged 35+.” It said: “Let’s speak to something deeper than data.”
That’s not segmentation. That’s cultural intelligence.
👀 Now, to Be Fair…
Are demographics completely useless?
Not at all.
If you’re allocating media budget, planning logistics, or mapping out national distribution, you still need some structure.
But if your goal is resonance, not just reach? Demographics alone won’t cut it.
🧠 So What Should We Be Asking?
If your brief/strategy deck still leads with “urban millennials aged 18–35,” respectfully… You’re still speaking at people, not to them.
Here are 3 better questions I’ve started asking — maybe you should too:
1️⃣ . What contradictions live inside your audience that your strategy ignores?
These contradictions aren’t mistakes. They’re how real people live. And they deeply shape how they choose, trust, and spend.
2️⃣ . What roles do they switch between, and how does that affect what they need from your brand?
Each role comes with different time pressures, emotional needs, and spending habits. If your product doesn’t flex across their real-life rhythms, it won’t fit.
3️⃣ If age, gender, and income were off the table, how would you earn their trust?
Because in Nigeria, trust isn’t just logical — it’s cultural
The old frameworks are wearing thin. Time to start mapping people, not just personas.
Let’s go beyond the boxes.
Really interesting perspective. I completely get where you’re coming from. Demographics can sometimes feel like lazy shortcuts when deeper insights are needed. But I think it is more about when and how we use them. In some cases, like planning for a tech conference or building a strategy around digital accessibility, traditional demographics like age or location might not be the most useful lens anymore. The world has changed and so have the patterns of behavior. That said, for other categories such as feminine care, sexual wellness, or even regional FMCG adoption, demographic segmentation still offers critical context. It is all about balance. Layering demographics with psychographics, behavioral data, and cultural insight helps us build more nuanced strategies. So while I agree that we should not box people in, I think there is still value in knowing which boxes matter and when to break out of them. Thanks for sparking the conversation. Definitely made me think.