Read an interesting Technology Article in today's Sunday Paper.............but before that. Who is our target audience? What do we know about them?  A client and marketing team will identify a specific demographic group and develop a program "targeting" that group of individuals. Veteran marketers know that hitting the mark with an effective campaign is hard to do at times and involves many elements.
Often the demographics of the team is sculpted to replicate the "target person", which would make sense. Have you ever found yourself on a team and you were older or younger than the majority, perhaps you are of a different ethnic group, or religion. A tweak of one's perspective -- like a consciousness can make all the difference. Why aren't people stopping for me? Am I being effective?.........if you're goal and results oriented these are some of the questions you may be asking yourself. Consider the following example of a mindset that might be unfamiliar to a 20yo or a 50yo. It has much less to do with how old you are or feel, and rather understanding who you are marketing to. ............My 2-year-old daughter surprised me recently with two words: “Daddy’s book.” She was holding my Kindle electronic reader.................Here is a child only beginning to talk, revealing that the seeds of the next generation gap have already been planted. She has identified the Kindle as a substitute for words printed on physical pages................My daughter’s worldview and life will be shaped in very deliberate ways by technologies like the Kindle and the new magical high-tech gadgets coming out this year — Google’s Nexus One phone and Apple’s impending tablet among them. She’ll know nothing other than a world with digital books, Skype video chats (very elightening article) with faraway relatives, and toddler-friendly video games on the iPhone. Add this somewhat humorous observation -- that even in real life how fast technology is changing our world. ............My friend’s 3-year-old, for example, has become so accustomed to her father’s multitouch iPhone screen that she approaches laptops by swiping her fingers across the screen, expecting a reaction. Did you ever have a hamster as a pet? - LOL. ........my 4-year-old niece received the very hot Zhou-Zhou pet hamster for Christmas, I pointed out that the toy was essentially a robot, with some basic obstacle avoidance skills. She replied matter-of-factly: “It’s not a robot. It’s a pet.” This technology shift is also creating "mini-generations." ................“People two, three or four years apart are having completely different experiences with technology,”..........These mini-generation gaps are most visible in the communication and entertainment choices made by different age groups... Some of the above examples are more dramatic. b/c these toddlers perspectives of the world are the furthest for all of us. Their initiations of their environments, their cultures, heritages, and socio economic upbringings which shape all their perspectives on life. And yet who among those reading this can imagine the perspective of a world w/o books. Or let's fast-forward to the time when there is no Kindle. It used to be enough to smile and hand out samples of food on crackers, and offer a coupon.....next! Functional Foods are emerging that are designed to support specific healthy attributes or nutritive deficiencies in our diets. What is your Nutritional IQ? (Examples of Functional Foods) Car makers are targeting certain groups as the "perfect transportation" creating portable work environments. we recently completed a campaign for an auto manufacturer -- we picked up the vehicles at a local dealer. This particular vehicle was an entry level sports edition, starting at $16-k came equipped with Blue-Tooth Car Technology -- the General Manager of the dealership didn't know anything about it (which must be why they hire you!) -- we set it up while driving in Boston traffic -- consumers loved it -- we loved it -- our enthusiasm transferred to the consumer. We knew this to be true because repeatedly we would be asked, " Where -can we see the car and test drive one?" We're about to embark on an exciting convergence of technology within our industry that drives traffic to live promotional events. Our phones will become tracking devices, and marketers will be able to send an SMS message or IM via the Mobile Web directing us to these events, as well as live couponing. It's never been more important and more difficult to understand the subtleties of our target audience. With our own healthy perspectives and openness to each other's differences the client gets what they're paying for. Lots of exciting ops on the horizon -- get ready -- and BTW, Facebook isn't the new Wikepedia. Social Media maybe a great way to locate and create awareness -- once we have them listening -- be prepared, knowledgeable, engaging -- be conscious. Keep growing your knowledge base. Information for this post came from the NY Times, Week in Review |
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Fitting In, Our Communication And Perspectiveposted Jan 10, 2010 8:04 AM by Kevin Kirshner [ updated Jan 16, 2010 6:23 AM ] |