The Belgian start-up SoPrism has developed a tool that identifies profiles the way Facebook sees them. To do so, it uses the information in Facebook Ads to calibrate an audience from multiple queries. For the presidential candidates, it is thus possible to see those who have an “interest in” a given figure. It carried out the analyses for the 4 main presidential candidates. The breakdown of people with an interest is as follows:
To understand the following charts, it is important to know that SoPrism compares the French population as a whole with people who have an interest in one of the candidates. It then sees which segment of the population is most specific to each candidate.
I. Demographics
On Facebook, all the candidates managed to reach 18-24 year-olds, except Fillon, who performs particularly strongly among seniors, and Mélenchon, who manages to capture the 13-17 target.
In terms of qualifications, Fillon captures the most university graduates, while for Le Pen the profiles are secondary-educated.
II. Mobility
Those interested in Macron are fonder of shared cars than the French average. For Fillon and Mélenchon, it is the tram, while Le Pen's audience favours the car.
The most distinctive brands for each candidate relative to the French population. For Le Pen, more people own a Renault than the average. For Fillon, it is Tesla, for Mélenchon Subaru and for Macron Volvo.
III. Media
For favourite radio stations, we are almost in stereotype territory, since the most distinctive station for audiences interested in Le Pen is Rire et Chansons. A more classic profile for Fillon and Mélenchon with France Info and France Inter. (As an aside, France Inter is by far Mélenchon's favourite station, both in volume and in specificity relative to the French population.) For those interested in Macron, it is BFM Business Radio.
We stay with the classics, as the most distinctive newspaper for those interested in Fillon is La Croix, La Voix du Nord for Le Pen and Le Monde diplomatique for Macron. Finally, it was Direct Matin for Mélenchon.
Magazines are a little more twisted. Auto Plus for Le Pen, Fortune for Macron, Ici Paris for Fillon and Vanity Fair for Mélenchon.
At channel level, since we mainly analyse specificity relative to the French population, the picture is highly segmented. AB1 for Le Pen, BFM for Macron, France 5 for Fillon, while the youth of those interested in Mélenchon shows up as MTV.
The favourite programme of people interested in Le Pen is Cauchemar en Cuisine. This popular side is also found among those interested in Mélenchon, who are particularly fond of Danse avec les Stars. For Macron, it is Le Petit Journal, while the age of those interested in Fillon shows in their choice of “Des Racines et des ailes”.
For favourite series, Macron and Fillon agree on the Palma Show. Camping Paradis is the top pick for those who like Le Pen, while Supernatural is the series of the Mélenchon addicts.
IV. Banks and insurers
Rather amusing, but Mélenchon's fans like no bank at all. All bank and insurer scores are below the French average... Fillon and Macron inherit... Goldman Sachs, while Le Pen supporters are rather fans of GMF.
V. The personas of each candidate
These are the 3 most representative profile types for each candidate.
Fillon
Fillon's personas are rather far from the criteria seen above. The targets are more 25-55, university-educated, living in Île-de-France, and mostly male.
Macron
For Macron, the target is 18-35 (slightly younger), university-educated and living in Île-de-France.
Le Pen
Le Pen has profiles from the north of France, aged 18 to 34, with a high-school education. All of them also male.
Mélenchon
Mélenchon is the only one with female personas. His target is much younger, between 13 and 24, all in the Île-de-France region.