Niche Marketing in Troubled Times
During the Great Depression, my grandfather urged his children to be farmers because everybody has to eat. Today, we might say the same about food marketing.
The difference this time around is that we have many more choices. So it’s not enough just to produce food. Marketers are battling for share of stomach. This is where niche marketing comes in.
The auto industry is suffering, but Smart Cars and Mini Cooper sales are booming. They’ve found just the right niche in this environment — small, but cool cars that are fuel-efficient at a fairly reasonable price point.
According to today’s Wall Street Journal, (subscription required) another industry looking for a niche is the $25 billion appliance industry. With the housing slump, appliance sales are declining. Consumers aren’t likely to upgrade for new features in this economy. But they just might — to accommodate a lifestyle change.
The biggest lifestlye upheaval in American society is the aging of baby boomers, the roughly 76 million born between 1946 and 64 who have the biggest purchasing power. As boomers get older, they will want appliances with bigger, easy-grip controls; panels with better lighting; and refrigerator and oven doors that open and close easily.
The Journal reported that General Electric Co. actually holds empathy sessions to enable its young designers to replicate the sensations of older people. They stuff cotton balls in the ears to emulate hearing loss, tape knuckles and stick them in rubber gloves to simulate arthritis, and wear special glasses to cloud the vision. The company also has people come in to cook a meal in a model kitchen while being observed through cameras and one-way mirrors. And GE videotapes appliance users cooking in their own homes. Here is a company making an honest attempt to walk in its customers’ shoes.
Food manufacturers also hold focus groups and do in-home cooking tests. But not a lot has been done to support older people. One positive development has been smaller size packaging for single households. But one area where we haven’t seen much empathy is in packaging. Pop-top cans of soup require strength and dexterity, plastic packages are often difficult to open and TV dinner instructions are set in miniscule type.
My 89-year-old mother is a focus group of one for me. This summer, she fell trying to open her refrigerator, and fractured her hip. (What she would give for a push-button refrigerator door opener!) She struggles with opening just about every food product, except for peel-off covers of single-serve Tree Top apple sauce and Yoplait yogurt.
Food manufacturers looking for a niche might consider package design to court seniors and boomers. According to the accompanying Wall Street Journal video, the fastest-growing segment of the American population is the 85+ age bracket.
Consumers will gravitate to products that are tailored for their use and they can become loyal consumers. Manufacturers who cater to this segment could do good for the community, while doing well in business.
