I Choose To Exclude You!
This morning I awoke to a Tweet from the venerable and extraordinarily memorable Mark Ritson, in response to a fellow MWminiMBA cohort, who was complaining about Mark’s semi-nakedness whilst teaching the targeting module of the online Marketing MBA programme. Could this be a masterclass in the virtues of salience? Actually, in his defence, he was at that time discussing the prowess of Abercrombie & Fitch and their ability to truly nail the matter of targeting.
Whilst in general there is an understanding of targeting, alas far too many marketing professionals and agencies offering guaranteed success, prefer to focus their talents on the glamorous and creative side of our profession opposed to getting their hands dirty and doing the work that has greater assurance of long-term results. At times, all business professionals discuss their target audience, but how do they define who that person is, and based on what criteria?
In recent years, avatars and personas have become commonplace, with a lot of digital agencies defining organisations ideal ‘target audience,’ however these, in the most part are based on an assumption of the market place with very little knowledge or evidence. For targeting, is part of the Holy Trinity of marketing - three distinct elements that only work, when they come together as a threesome - Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning.
Segmentation is based on real life consumer research. It places people in groups that share commonalities based on values, beliefs and behaviours, but much more than this, done correctly it allows the company to understand the size and value of each group, its market share within the group and therefore the opportunity to grow. So what?
Targeting is the seemingly simple, yet inextricable process of deciding which segment to choose. And choose is what you must do. So, say to yourself, “I choose not to include you.” “I choose not to invite you.” “I choose to exclude you.” And now, we are talking good marketing.
So, I hear you say, what has this got to do with Abercrombie & Fitch and a semi-naked man? Back in the early part of this millennium, Abercrombie & Fitch took targeting to the pinnacle, by choosing to pay a well-known MTV reality show celebrity, NOT to wear their clothes. On the one side they could see the potential of sales to him and his followers and on the other side they could see the masses of Abercrombie fans deserting the brand as a result of their lack of association with the celebrity.
A vital part of the targeting process is to understand the positive and negative influences one segment may have on another. Much like a maze, there are routes that trap you, and routes, which lead you to another area and ultimately to success. In choosing a single segment, you want to also find a group that can sway others to their way of thinking. In doing this, your marketing budget and efforts are kept tight and efficient, with positive influencers playing a critical role in the communication process.
And now you have chosen whom not to target, you must focus all of your efforts on who to target. Armed with your research responses from all the participants within your chosen segment, its time to create a true reflection of the person you want to become your customer. What do they look like? What are their beliefs and opinions about you? Who do they say are your competitors? What do they like most about you? What do they like least about you? What do they think, when they think of you? It’s only now you have a true avatar, segment portrait or persona.
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