Social class reclassified

While reading the latest report on the pre-election opinion polls and the sinking chances of the Conservatives to form an overall majority, rather than a hung parliament, I stumbled across the terms AB top social group, C1, C2 and the bottom DE group. It's clearly just another way to classify voters (or consumers) that comes as an alternative to the classic breakdown into upper, middle and working classes. It seems to have more to do with business research than academic sociology and is designed to direct products or advertising with greater precision. And since politics adapts rapidly to the demands of economic efficiency, it gladly resorts to the same, sharper, more analytical instruments businesses have at their disposal.