Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Other Added - Beehives: How to Attract these New Market Segments
Complexity. Change. Uncertainty. These are the “givens” in your world. Yet, one simple “rule of business” remains constant. Your organization’s ability to execute is the ultimate determinant of your success. And, when it comes to effective execution you just can't do it in a vacuum. You must create stakeholder-based innovations, strategies, systems and processes, and metrics if you want to really execute. You need to become an outerprise.What is an outerprise? Simply stated... your enterprise alone is no longer enough. Superior execution demands a new way of thinking – one that takes an “outside in” approach. We call this the outerprise. You need to invite your customers, suppliers and other key stakeholders into your organization, integrating them into your team, and enablin
Just like Me
Parents of young daughters are aware of the American Girl doll phenomenon, where customers will spend hours in American Girl Place, shopping for branded dolls, clothing, books, accessories, and memorabilia. American Girl even has its own restaurant, the American Girl Caf? (with a four-month waiting list). Dressed in matching outfits, girls come from all over to dine with their little plastic friends.
Investing and real estate clubs
Scores of people who wouldn’t otherwise leave their homes are getting together once or twice a month to learn and talk about finance and investing. They invite speakers, have group projects, exchange tips, and go on trips together.
The bottom line buzz
All of these groups are bound together by their chosen interests and passions; that’s what makes them strong. It wasn’t necessarily that the people in them were born at a certain time, or as a certain gender, or into a certain ethnicity, or had anything else happen to them that was beyond their control — they chose these groups, they made an effor
One of the most important aspects of developing a business mindset is to invest in ourselves. Most people refuse to invest in anything good for themselves other than food (Americans tend to consume pizzas by the truckload and that is investing in ourselves the wrong way). What we need to do is to really invest in ourselves such as educating ourselves and growing in wisdom. Your education doesn’t stop when you leave college.One thing that schools and colleges don’t teach you is SUCCESS 101. It is something the academic schools won’t teach you, rather it is developed internally. Developing the fundamental attitudes and desires to succeed takes character, not a spur of the moment decision or because it sounds like a good idea.The moment someone stops learning, they stop growing. There is no such thing as
“This [population] growth will combine with increasing diversity to create an ever-growing list of market segments,” says Josh Calder, chief editor of the Global Lifestyles project, a research venture of an Arlington, Virginia-based consultancy, Social Technologies. “I saw a professionally made bumper sticker the other day that said, ‘Proud to be Sikh and American.’ Such niches driven by ethnicity, attitudes, and interest will proliferate,” he adds.
As the population increases, traditional niche markets may become difficult for businesses to target with a single marketing strategy. The niche market of today will become a mass market in its own right tomorrow.
These new markets will naturally become segmented not only by nationality or age, but also by spending behavior and other psychographic characteristics. It’s already happening today — as traditional social groups are breaking down, people are meeting their needs for connection through communities of interest, or “beehives,” that express personal identity.
“Beehiving is the growth of tight-knit, alternative communities sharing common values and passions. Marketers must tap into beehive rituals, customs, and language to build trust and patronage,” according to Vickie Abrahamson, co-founder and executive vice president of Minneapolis-based Iconoculture, a trends consulting firm.
The growing tendency to form new, small groups that share common interests, values, activities, and passions ranges from extreme snowboarders to the Happy Camper RV Club. Beehives offer the equivalent of a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for consumers, and represent the development of new marketing groups. Their common interests give marketers new and different hot buttons that can be used to attract customers more reliably than age, gender, or ethnicity alone.
How to communicate to beehives
For marketers, beehives are “good news and bad news.” The good news: Beehives help us identify new ways to connect with people, new hot buttons that people are reacting to, and a different way to slice the pie. So many tired and rehashed marketing methods fall on deaf ears that it’s exciting to think there might be something our audiences will listen to and react to in new ways. We just need to speak their language.
The bad news: It’s all new territory, and it’s all over the place. The audience you want to attract is probably fragmented into many different beehives, and you’ll have to learn how to navigate the new waters. For instance, if you’re an organizational communicator, your audience is probably not members of “Your Company Beehive” who are eagerly awaiting your next communication — instead, they could be rollerbladers, poets, NASCAR enthusiasts, etc., and you’ll have to figure out how to grab their common interests to create your own community. If you’re marketing a product, you might want to find out how different beehive segments can use it, and communicate to them individually — at least in some part of your marketing. Interesting, huh?
It does give us all food for thought. And another thing to think about: not all beehives come into being naturally — beehives can be directed, and they can be encouraged. The following is a list of some examples of beehive behavior — some of which were brought about deliberately by experience marketing.
Beehive behavior
Wristband fever
Lance Armstrong and the Wear Yellow campaign made wristbands popular, and groups everywhere started asking you to wear your passion on your wrist. Approximately 55 million people across the globe wear a LIVESTRONG™ wristband in support of people living with cancer.
Online communities
You can find a web group for almost every interest. There are online communities for owners of miniature dachshunds, Star Trek lovers, and migraine sufferers. And more than 85 groups of fans gather online just to discuss the Italian comedian, Beppe Grillo.
Belief-based products
In the Middle East, cola drinkers link taste to faith when they buy the anti-Western “Mecca Cola.” Part of its corporate philosophy is its pledge to donate 10% of its profits to fund humanitarian projects in the Palestinian territories, and another 10% to charities in the countries in which the drink is sold. This activist stance is reflected in the company slogan, which appears on all its products: “No more drinking stupid, drink with commitment!”
Just like Me
Parents of young daughters are aware of the American Girl doll phenomenon, where customers will spend hours in American Girl Place, shopping for branded dolls, clothing, books, accessories, and memorabilia. American Girl even has its own restaurant, the American Girl Caf? (with a four-month waiting list). Dressed in matching outfits, girls come from all over to dine with their little plastic friends.
Investing and real estate clubs
Scores of people who wouldn’t otherwise leave their homes are getting together once or twice a month to learn and talk about finance and investing. They invite speakers, have group projects, exchange tips, and go on trips together.
The bottom line buzz
All of these groups are bound together by their chosen interests and passions; that’s what makes them strong. It wasn’t necessarily that the people in them were born at a certain time, or as a certain gender, or into a certain ethnicity, or had anything else happen to them that was beyond their control — they chose these groups, they made an effor
An exhibition is a great way to generate a broader range of customers. Exhibitions are attended by hundreds, even thousands of people, who will be able to learn about the products or services that your company has to offer. Having an excellent exhibition stand is a must then, especially when first impressions are everything in the business world. It wouldn’t be a good idea to leave this kind of job to someone who isn’t familiar with exhibition stands, instead opt for an exhibition stand contractor.Oftentimes an exhibition can be a rewarding but overwhelming experience for the attendees as there are so many different businesses providing information and other resources. How does one business stand apart from the next? The answer is clearly in the design and set-up of your exhibition stand. Just the right exhi
“Beehiving is the growth of tight-knit, alternative communities sharing common values and passions. Marketers must tap into beehive rituals, customs, and language to build trust and patronage,” according to Vickie Abrahamson, co-founder and executive vice president of Minneapolis-based Iconoculture, a trends consulting firm.
The growing tendency to form new, small groups that share common interests, values, activities, and passions ranges from extreme snowboarders to the Happy Camper RV Club. Beehives offer the equivalent of a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for consumers, and represent the development of new marketing groups. Their common interests give marketers new and different hot buttons that can be used to attract customers more reliably than age, gender, or ethnicity alone.
How to communicate to beehives
For marketers, beehives are “good news and bad news.” The good news: Beehives help us identify new ways to connect with people, new hot buttons that people are reacting to, and a different way to slice the pie. So many tired and rehashed marketing methods fall on deaf ears that it’s exciting to think there might be something our audiences will listen to and react to in new ways. We just need to speak their language.
The bad news: It’s all new territory, and it’s all over the place. The audience you want to attract is probably fragmented into many different beehives, and you’ll have to learn how to navigate the new waters. For instance, if you’re an organizational communicator, your audience is probably not members of “Your Company Beehive” who are eagerly awaiting your next communication — instead, they could be rollerbladers, poets, NASCAR enthusiasts, etc., and you’ll have to figure out how to grab their common interests to create your own community. If you’re marketing a product, you might want to find out how different beehive segments can use it, and communicate to them individually — at least in some part of your marketing. Interesting, huh?
It does give us all food for thought. And another thing to think about: not all beehives come into being naturally — beehives can be directed, and they can be encouraged. The following is a list of some examples of beehive behavior — some of which were brought about deliberately by experience marketing.
Beehive behavior
Wristband fever
Lance Armstrong and the Wear Yellow campaign made wristbands popular, and groups everywhere started asking you to wear your passion on your wrist. Approximately 55 million people across the globe wear a LIVESTRONG™ wristband in support of people living with cancer.
Online communities
You can find a web group for almost every interest. There are online communities for owners of miniature dachshunds, Star Trek lovers, and migraine sufferers. And more than 85 groups of fans gather online just to discuss the Italian comedian, Beppe Grillo.
Belief-based products
In the Middle East, cola drinkers link taste to faith when they buy the anti-Western “Mecca Cola.” Part of its corporate philosophy is its pledge to donate 10% of its profits to fund humanitarian projects in the Palestinian territories, and another 10% to charities in the countries in which the drink is sold. This activist stance is reflected in the company slogan, which appears on all its products: “No more drinking stupid, drink with commitment!”
Just like Me
Parents of young daughters are aware of the American Girl doll phenomenon, where customers will spend hours in American Girl Place, shopping for branded dolls, clothing, books, accessories, and memorabilia. American Girl even has its own restaurant, the American Girl Caf? (with a four-month waiting list). Dressed in matching outfits, girls come from all over to dine with their little plastic friends.
Investing and real estate clubs
Scores of people who wouldn’t otherwise leave their homes are getting together once or twice a month to learn and talk about finance and investing. They invite speakers, have group projects, exchange tips, and go on trips together.
The bottom line buzz
All of these groups are bound together by their chosen interests and passions; that’s what makes them strong. It wasn’t necessarily that the people in them were born at a certain time, or as a certain gender, or into a certain ethnicity, or had anything else happen to them that was beyond their control — they chose these groups, they made an effor
Marketing. Ahhhh, Marketing! A 4-letter-word to some; a wealth of ideas to others. No matter how you market and brand your business ventures, it comes down to this: We want customers, we want to remain in business for the long-term and we want to be paid for our time and talents. The thing with marketing is that, at times, it can be a crap shoot. You try something in August and the customers flock to you in droves. You try something else in February and it stinks like last week’s garbage. Don’t let the latter get you down; indeed, take the “stinky garbage” attempts and turn them into learning experiences. Do the research, check your numbers and figure out what went wrong. Whatever you do, don’t think of these attempts as failures--they’re not! One of the successes in my marketing and
The bad news: It’s all new territory, and it’s all over the place. The audience you want to attract is probably fragmented into many different beehives, and you’ll have to learn how to navigate the new waters. For instance, if you’re an organizational communicator, your audience is probably not members of “Your Company Beehive” who are eagerly awaiting your next communication — instead, they could be rollerbladers, poets, NASCAR enthusiasts, etc., and you’ll have to figure out how to grab their common interests to create your own community. If you’re marketing a product, you might want to find out how different beehive segments can use it, and communicate to them individually — at least in some part of your marketing. Interesting, huh?
It does give us all food for thought. And another thing to think about: not all beehives come into being naturally — beehives can be directed, and they can be encouraged. The following is a list of some examples of beehive behavior — some of which were brought about deliberately by experience marketing.
Beehive behavior
Wristband fever
Lance Armstrong and the Wear Yellow campaign made wristbands popular, and groups everywhere started asking you to wear your passion on your wrist. Approximately 55 million people across the globe wear a LIVESTRONG™ wristband in support of people living with cancer.
Online communities
You can find a web group for almost every interest. There are online communities for owners of miniature dachshunds, Star Trek lovers, and migraine sufferers. And more than 85 groups of fans gather online just to discuss the Italian comedian, Beppe Grillo.
Belief-based products
In the Middle East, cola drinkers link taste to faith when they buy the anti-Western “Mecca Cola.” Part of its corporate philosophy is its pledge to donate 10% of its profits to fund humanitarian projects in the Palestinian territories, and another 10% to charities in the countries in which the drink is sold. This activist stance is reflected in the company slogan, which appears on all its products: “No more drinking stupid, drink with commitment!”
Just like Me
Parents of young daughters are aware of the American Girl doll phenomenon, where customers will spend hours in American Girl Place, shopping for branded dolls, clothing, books, accessories, and memorabilia. American Girl even has its own restaurant, the American Girl Caf? (with a four-month waiting list). Dressed in matching outfits, girls come from all over to dine with their little plastic friends.
Investing and real estate clubs
Scores of people who wouldn’t otherwise leave their homes are getting together once or twice a month to learn and talk about finance and investing. They invite speakers, have group projects, exchange tips, and go on trips together.
The bottom line buzz
All of these groups are bound together by their chosen interests and passions; that’s what makes them strong. It wasn’t necessarily that the people in them were born at a certain time, or as a certain gender, or into a certain ethnicity, or had anything else happen to them that was beyond their control — they chose these groups, they made an effor
Remember the days when you were in high school or college and you had to write a term paper with a typewriter. Actually, some of you reading this article have never seen a typewriter let alone have used one. Technology has changed so fast that equipment that was “cool” and expensive in its day is now given away for pennies on the dollar at a flea market.Now enter the age of internet job search. In the past, it was sufficient to have a resume to submit to Human Resources (HR) via fax, mail or simply hand it to a friend to give to HR. Well, those days are over and you need a better method, unless you want to remain unemployed.In a competitive job market, not only must you have a solid resume, you must also find a way to differentiate yourself from the herd. iAdverto.com empowers job seekers with the too
Beehive behavior
Wristband fever
Lance Armstrong and the Wear Yellow campaign made wristbands popular, and groups everywhere started asking you to wear your passion on your wrist. Approximately 55 million people across the globe wear a LIVESTRONG™ wristband in support of people living with cancer.
Online communities
You can find a web group for almost every interest. There are online communities for owners of miniature dachshunds, Star Trek lovers, and migraine sufferers. And more than 85 groups of fans gather online just to discuss the Italian comedian, Beppe Grillo.
Belief-based products
In the Middle East, cola drinkers link taste to faith when they buy the anti-Western “Mecca Cola.” Part of its corporate philosophy is its pledge to donate 10% of its profits to fund humanitarian projects in the Palestinian territories, and another 10% to charities in the countries in which the drink is sold. This activist stance is reflected in the company slogan, which appears on all its products: “No more drinking stupid, drink with commitment!”
Just like Me
Parents of young daughters are aware of the American Girl doll phenomenon, where customers will spend hours in American Girl Place, shopping for branded dolls, clothing, books, accessories, and memorabilia. American Girl even has its own restaurant, the American Girl Caf? (with a four-month waiting list). Dressed in matching outfits, girls come from all over to dine with their little plastic friends.
Investing and real estate clubs
Scores of people who wouldn’t otherwise leave their homes are getting together once or twice a month to learn and talk about finance and investing. They invite speakers, have group projects, exchange tips, and go on trips together.
The bottom line buzz
All of these groups are bound together by their chosen interests and passions; that’s what makes them strong. It wasn’t necessarily that the people in them were born at a certain time, or as a certain gender, or into a certain ethnicity, or had anything else happen to them that was beyond their control — they chose these groups, they made an effor
For many small medium sized businesses, cash flow has received and will continue to receive the highest possible attention.Why?Simply the cash flow is the lifeblood of the business, and without a sustained positive cash flow the business may stagnate and eventually fail.Business owners will recognize the import of a positive cash balance in their business. Decisions on new investment in areas of business development marketing, staff, plant, machinery, systems and so on are much easier to take. The investment appraisal is done, an acceptable return on investment is forecast and if cash is readily available to the business, the investment can go ahead.However, a major problem for most business is the management of the cash.The key aspects t
Just like Me
Parents of young daughters are aware of the American Girl doll phenomenon, where customers will spend hours in American Girl Place, shopping for branded dolls, clothing, books, accessories, and memorabilia. American Girl even has its own restaurant, the American Girl Caf? (with a four-month waiting list). Dressed in matching outfits, girls come from all over to dine with their little plastic friends.
Investing and real estate clubs
Scores of people who wouldn’t otherwise leave their homes are getting together once or twice a month to learn and talk about finance and investing. They invite speakers, have group projects, exchange tips, and go on trips together.
The bottom line buzz
All of these groups are bound together by their chosen interests and passions; that’s what makes them strong. It wasn’t necessarily that the people in them were born at a certain time, or as a certain gender, or into a certain ethnicity, or had anything else happen to them that was beyond their control — they chose these groups, they made an effort to belong. As the population continues to increase, people will continue to form new beehives, and new markets will appear that will segment by spending behavior and other psychographic characteristics. Marketers can take advantage of this trend by recognizing these beehives, taking note of how they affect spending and behavior, and tapping into what makes them tick — and then communicating to them on their own terms.
Sources:
American Demographics
Fast Company
CityGuide.aol.com
Wikipedia.org
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.otheradded.com/article/26375/otheradded-Beehives-How-to-Attract-these-New-Market-Segments.html">Beehives: How to Attract these New Market Segments</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.otheradded.com/article/26375/otheradded-Beehives-How-to-Attract-these-New-Market-Segments.html]Beehives: How to Attract these New Market Segments[/url]
Related Articles:
Free Advertising vs Paid Advertising Campaigns (Part 1)
To Be or Not to Be a Medical Transcriptionist
Bookmark it:
|