Who am I?
I don’t subscribe to magazines or newspapers. I subscribe to cable but my television watching is less than 1 hour per week. I do record shows that I might watch eventually, or might just delete without watching. The only radio I listen to is a few hours of NPR per week. I don’t go to the mall. When not engaged in one of my hobbies or interests, my leisure time is spent on the internet, which is also where I do my shopping. You won’t reach me through traditional advertising. Although I cannot avoid billboards, I consider them an eyesore. You might think I dislike advertising, but that is not true. I really do enjoy great advertising, but most of the advertising I see isn’t targeting me, it’s for someone else. I dislike unnecessary distraction, and that is what “someone else’s advertising” is.
You want me for a customer. I have money and I spend it. I have strong brand awareness, especially for luxury and boutique items. Things I like are handcrafted, are good for me, or give me a great perceived value for my investment. Brands I buy include Apple, Canon, Sony, Denon, Gibson, Fender, Harley-Davidson, Indian, Columbia, Merrill, Tom’s of Maine, L.L. Bean, and Johnston & Murphy. To me, value rarely means cheap. I want quality, performance, and longevity from my purchases.
I am not necessarily brand loyal, nor do I always buy the best. I used to buy Canondale bicycles, but when I replaced my last mountain bike, a full suspension frame Canondale offered little real value to a recreational rider over an upper-end Mongoose with similar features at one-third the cost. I believe Nikon DSLR camera systems are superior to Canon DSLRs, but the difference in quality between #1 and #2 is not great enough to justify the difference in price.
If you want to sell a product to me, it better have a great reputation on the internet. I look for peer reviews. I compare products, features, and prices. I make an informed decision, and in the end, the decision I make is my own and for my own reasons. If you want to engage me, don’t pitch me. Develop a relationship, offer to help, occasionally remind me that you’ve got something I might be interested in. Harass me and you will quickly learn that I stop paying attention. Don’t tease me with deals that sound great until I read the fine print, because that will give you a bad reputation in my eyes–are you listening, eCost? And you better take care of your other customers, because they’re the ones who will support your reputation on the internet. Their experiences count and if I read that your product tends to break or that customerr support is terrible, you won’t win my business.
Who am I? I am the new consumer.
Share this post/Save for reference
Comments
Leave a Reply
