Don't Alienate Your Target Market

Let me point out from the outset is the reason that we refer so regularly to television commercials is simply that they are the most visible and accessible manifestations of an organisation’s marketing strategy, and not the only ones and shouldn't we all be doing them. Good; that’s that out of the way then.

Target market - Get it right

One of the leading Japanese car manufacturers has clearly identified its target market so precisely that it is not afraid to alienate the remaining potential buyers. Unless you have a beard, have a simpering blonde girlfriend/partner/wife and live in ‘the City’, I'm afraid these vehicles are not for you. What of us that have fallen for the guiles of the Gillette ads and are clean shaven, prefer brunettes – or in my case, redheads – and live in the country? Of the three main ‘lifestyle’ boxes – image, ideal partner and living environment – I, along with probably a huge number of potential customers, can’t tick any of them.

Will your message alienate others?

And there is the problem of using some ‘City’ firms to create your corporate image. You run the risk of their failure to recognise that there is life elsewhere, and that failure could quite possibly result in lost sales. If, then, you are going to invest your hard earned into a marketing campaign, make sure that whoever you have entrusted your budget, credibility and brand isn't navel gazing and reaches all your potential customers and not just those that they have decided are fashionable.