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Local Business  » Target Your Business to an Age Group, Not to the World!

Target Your Business to an Age Group, Not to the World!

As a consultant working with retailers, one of the first

questions I ask a client is can they paint a picture for me of a

typical customer. Some clients can be very specific, whilst

others just give me a blank look, then follow it up by saying

everyone is a potential customer; how can they paint a picture

of a typical customer?

Alas, very few retailers can claim to have the whole of society

as a customer base, the rest of us have to target specific

consumer groups.

Historically, these groups were targeted based on their likes

and dislikes; this still is an important factor, but in the next

series of articles I would like to take you back a step further

and analyse the likes and dislikes of consumer age groups.

Market researchers split the population up into Spoodles

(Spoiled Toddlers), Pester Power (children), Generation Y (15 -

25 years olds), Generation X or IKEA babies (25-35 years olds),

The Jones Generation (35-49 year olds), Baby Boomers (50-65 year

olds) and Greying Tigers (65 year olds upwards).

As retailers we need to decide who are our target group and are

we merchanding displaying, promoting and providing the customer

service this group finds attractive and appealing.

In this series of articles we will analyse each group from a

retail perspective and offer ideas on how to grow your business

when targeting one of these groups.

Spoodles

To some people a Spoodle is a breed of dog and to others it is

the under 11s. The name Spoodles comes from Spoiled Toddlers and

is a name used by Walt Disney for one of its children's

restaurants.

The chain of parent's icon for Spoodles is David and Posh

Beckham, who are looked on as classic Spoodle heroes.

To the toy industry, Spoodles are the key target market, but the

key is that if you can keep young children happy, you can keep

their parents happy and happy parents spend more money.

In 2003, the world's biggest retailer identified the importance

of this group and introduced an exclusive range of infant wear

'Child of Mine'. One of the reasons for this was Wal-Mart had an

eye on the mother-consumer. Even so, Spoodles are worth $3

billion a year to Wal-Mart in their own right.

The challenge is to look at your own retail sector and to look

at the opportunities you have to attract the mother-consumer.

Spoodle Food

The organic food industry and locally sourced foods is a huge

growth sector and also receiving political attention in many

countries.

Rachel's Organic is a leading U.K. organic dairy manufacturer

and they recently launched organic yoghurts for toddlers.

The objective behind the marketing campaign is that if toddlers

are introduced to organic foods, they are more likely to become

adult organic food buyers with the pressure on child obesity,

organic health toddler foods may have an opportunity.

The Toy Market and Spoodles

Traditionally parents went to toyshops for toys, but that is all

changing. The current trend for electronic toys means the

electronic retailer is winning out over the traditional toy

retailer.

55% of many toy retailers income comes from the pre Christmas

buying frenzy; the toy industry is probably the most fashion

conscious sector of the retail sector. It is often governed by

what is coming out on the movies. Once the movie has done the

rounds, they toy is obsolete in the consumer's mind.

Spoodle Gardeners

The South African garden industry introduced Mulberry Bear as a

character to encourage Spoodles to become interested in

gardening. Many garden centres now have a children's garden

sector where they have a whole category of products aimed at

children.

Garden centres in South Africa and the USA have started

children's gardening clubs with the aim of getting gardeners

into the habit at an earlier age as possible.

Pester Power

The 8-14 year olds, the tweens rely on pester power to influence

their parents when it comes to shopping. This market in Canada

alone is worth $20 billion (Ref. Ropin the Web, Alberta Govt.

Summer 2004)

The main source of enjoyment for this age group is music, TV and

sports. This means as a retailer you need to think through some

key issues.

As the Alberta research emphasises:

1. Make sure your business is connected in some way with local

sports programmes that are heavily supported by this age group.

2. This age group has a green streak, therefore make sure you

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have an environmental message you can get across to this group.

3. Sponsor school events, such as "Student of the Week",

"Athlete of the Year" or any other appropriate award.

4. Promote your business via S.M.S. This group will not see or

register your traditional adverts.

5. Relate your products to fundraising events wherever possible.

6. Look at fast food retailers and build into your offer

playgrounds, contests, games and other incentives.

7. If there is a company to closely watch when marketing to

tweens it is 'American Girl' Check out their web site at

www.americangirl.com

TV Does Have a Role

Why is it called pester power, look at the results of the

research carried out by Raising Kids in the U.K?

12% of parents think advertising to kids should be banned 30%

think adverts are a great tool to introduce kids to marketing

but

83% of parents have been pestered to buy a specific Christmas

toy 68% of parents have been pestered for snacks 30% of parents

have been pestered over a movie

If we reverse the coin, pester power is a highly successful

retail tool, especially as 30% of Australian parents take their

children shopping (Ref B&T 12 August 2005). Hence the success of

McDonald's Happy Meals. The kids and the parents buy.

How Pester Power Works

When my daughter was younger we fell into the pester power

market. In our location we had a choice of four garden centres

we could visit. Our daughter was adamant that we could only

visit one of them. When we challenged her why that one, the

response was they recognised her as a person and gave her a

flower.

You don't need a lot of money to capture the market; it's the

little things that make the difference. As a result of that

care, we are still loyal to Zanthorrea Nursery many years later.

About the author:

20 years experience in 15 countries. He regularly contributes to

retail magazines around the world and has authored several

successful marketing and retail books including the best seller

Just About Everything a Retail Manager Needs to Know.

www.johnstanley.cc