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I was wandering the Hallmark aisle this morning in search of an appropriate canned sentiment to give to the Mrs. in honor of her birthday. Unlike many holidays which seem to have been created specifically for Hallmark and various retail segments, I celebrate birthdays, especially those other than my own.
As I was sorting out the card options, I heard a phone ring. Actually, it didn’t “ring” in the traditional sense; it played. MC Hammer, to be specific. His 1990 hit “Can’t Touch This.” And that’s when the business point hit me.
I couldn’t see to whom the phone belonged but a picture popped into my mind. The song is 20 years old so not someone under 30. Then again, it was a dance tune and the ringtone had been loaded onto the device so probably not someone my age either. Dance tune – probably female. Given my years of marketing expertise, I assumed I had the target pretty well figured out – a 40-50 year old female.
Who took out their phone to answer the call? A man who was using a walker and had to have been at least 80. He was by himself so it wasn’t his daughter’s (or granddaughter’s) phone. Nice job, Keith. Except for the point it made.
Those of us in marketing do an awful lot of assuming. We think about age as a differentiator rather than where folks are in their life cycles. For example, I have retired friends my age who are well off as well as those who are working hard just to make ends meet. Their consumer behavior is very different. We talk about geotargeting except that even within my zip code there are some of the wealthiest consumers in the country as well as low-income housing.
If we’re going to have meaningful conversations with our consumers or users, maybe we need to approach them as we would someone in a business meeting. Very few assumptions and no judgements until we have a few exchanges. It will probably save us a few bucks in mistargeted ads as well as some potentially negative impressions when the wrong message is delivered. I know we have to start somewhere but that place might be in understanding more about our customers and potential customers than in the big buckets of sex, age, income, and geography.
After all, our consumption patterns are only as old as we feel! What do you think?
Consult Keith 