Pithy phrases are created to describe whole segments into which consumers are divided. Very rarely are they seen as and referred to as “people”.
One of the world’s largest car manufacturers spends years of testing and millions of rupees adapting a so-called luxury car for Indian conditions, but provides power window switches for the front seats only, when the car is most likely going to be chauffer-driven.
An international fashion house launches an old collection aimed at people who are likely to travel abroad frequently and therefore know that the collection is old. Examples of misunderstanding the people who will actually buy products or services are numerous.
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| Rupin Jayal |
The market is littered with examples of products that do not require hindsight to see that their chance of success was about as likely as Delhi car drivers becoming disciplined just by being asked to do so. Yet they were launched and as expected they swiftly disappeared.
There are several such examples in advertising and in the entertainment industry as well. How about an ad for a leading soft drink brand that is hopelessly contrived and clunky, aimed at an audience that prides itself in being on the cutting edge of what’s cool and slick? Or TV commercials cluttered with features and facts that become hard to absorb even if you are glued to the TV set avidly waiting for the next commercial? And then there are movies that defy understanding as to why they were made in the first place, convoluted story lines, never-ending endings, hackneyed plots and millions spent on covering them with a fine patina of special effects to cover up their deficiencies.
At this point it is important to differentiate between genuine innovations that did not work because of reasons like they were ahead of their time, or because technology moved faster than they could adapt, and simply misunderstanding the people you seek to address. The times are tough enough for new products and brands without loading things against them further. So why these apparently obvious mistakes? Did the companies lack resources for research? Did the creators lack experience?
The root of the problem often lies in the way the people for whom these products, services or communications are created are perceived. They are called “consumers”, as though their only aim in life is to consume. They are called “target audiences”, as though they are immovable objects at whom anything can be aimed. Pithy phrases are created to describe whole segments into which they are divided. Very rarely are they seen as and referred to as “people”.
Many manufacturers see them as a grey mass. Hence while the brand may well be statistically “India’s largest selling motorcycle”, what’s sometimes missed out is that for the individual buyer purchasing it, it is a moment of pride and achievement. In a country of burgeoning aspirations, the person buying the bike has probably stretched himself a bit beyond what he can really afford. He has probably spoken to friends and family and had endless debates discussing the strengths and weaknesses between the newest model available and this bike. When he makes his final decision it is both a moment of pride and of trepidation. It is a lot of money, has it been wisely spent? A fog of post purchase cognitive dissonance hovers over him. What that essentially means is (like all of us) a little voice is saying in his head “Is this the best decision?” Instead of celebrating his specialness, many marketers see him as a statistic. A consumer. One of millions. In doing so any loyalty he may feel tends to become more a factor of practicality and behaviour rather than attitude and emotion.
Thinking about the people you are selling a product or service to, as “people”, means that you acknowledge that they do more than just consume your product, service or communication. You acknowledge that your brand might actually play a very important role in their lives, as one of the anchors of familiarity and living memories. Or it may just be something that enables them to live a comfortable life. So it isn’t about the flavor, color, shape or other product related factor, but really about the meaning that that brand is enriched by, built up over years of individual usage, anecdotes and moments in which the brand acts as a hot button.
If the product or brand is a new one then it might help to understand in what actual context it will be used. What role will it practically play and how much bigger can that role become?
We all lead very hectic lives. Time is increasingly becoming a very scarce commodity. Value for time is, for many, exceeding value for money. For a husband, time spent before the TV is precious time spent recovering from the day’s challenges and is time used to reconnect with his family. For the woman, it is time spent enjoying the sight and sounds of her family together, a sense of bonding, a sense of togetherness. For the kids it is that special time when they can be with their parents and just play or share the day’s adventures and frustrations with them. The TV set can be likened to the fireplace of old where the family used to gather to spend time together.
At such a time how welcome would a salesman be? And if that was the only time a salesman would have to sell, what would he need to do to not be an unwelcome intrusion? How do all of us like to be treated when we go to a restaurant, visit a dealership to buy a car or enter a shop to buy a special shirt? Yet, when we don the mantle of “marketer” and talk to that entirely different species called “consumers”, how does our attitude change? What do we, when we become so-called “professionals”, consider to be most important? How is that different to when we are just being “people”?
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Sometimes it seems as though when we become marketing people we are like assassins. If you do not think of the people you are targeting as people, then it might just be easier to get them. By bestowing the anonymity of “consumer” or “target audience”, they suddenly become statistics, homogeneous segments, always consistent, always predictable. They inhabit a comfortable world of certainties. And then when they act like “people”, you can shrug helplessly and criticize their inconsistency. All the while forgetting that they were and still are just like “us” marketers, people who had better things to do, were savvy enough to realize that the product was irrelevant or worse, deficient, or did not understand what was being sold to them and with time at a premium, simply ignored it.
There is just too much happening in people’s lives to believe that they are primarily driven by the need to consume – whether it be products and services or communications of any kind. India has evolved with breathtaking rapidity from being a sedate, rationed marketplace where people had to book watches, to becoming a cluttered, cacophonous, fast-changing bazaar maelstrom. Now is the time to start thinking of whom you are selling to as people, not “consumers”.
Today, personal ambitions, social acceptance and applause, adaptability, competitiveness, peace of mind, relationships, maximizing opportunities and juicing the most out of what life has to offer, are just some of the more pressing things on all our minds. Hence brands have to reflect these, counteract these or at least take cognizance of these tectonic concerns to be able to effectively appeal to real people. Those that do will be guaranteed a special place in the hearts and minds of people who choose them. Those that do not, will not be challenged, criticized or even rejected, they will simply be ignored.
Before all the complicated definitions, pithy names, statistical calculations and professional analysis we have to see our “targets” first as people. By doing so, we can understand just how big a role what we offer really plays in their lives. Only then can we truly appeal to them, and in the process effectively market to them.
The author is Director-Strategic Planning at M&C Saatchi.
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written by Gucci outlet, July 03, 2010
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