Predictive Geodemographics

One of the many criticisms of geodemographics is that they are static - typically build using census data, they are out of date as soon as they are released, a snap shot of what the population was like 3 years previously (this is, on average, the time taken for census agencies to release census data). The next step is to make geodemographics dynamic - what do people truly look like now, and what changes in their characteristics or circumstances will move them into another segment? This is important for timely communication, in for example, marketing activities. However if long-term customer value is considered, it is what the consumer will look like three or five years hence that becomes important. The ability to identify the association of individuals with a defined social trajectory, a socio-economic path through life, is a powerful concept. Using new forms of data, is it possible to build a geodemographic system for the UK, that provides a predictive path through a CAMEO-like hierarchy, to enable our customers to evaluate consumers' lifetime value, and also serve up the right mix of timely information for consumers to make better decisions?