Jaguar Just Proved Why You NEED to Know Your Target Audience…
One of the core tenets of marketing is knowing and talking directly to your target audience.
What is a target audience? Here is an excellent definition:
“A target audience is the group of people you want to purchase your products or services. Very few companies will ever have a target audience of “everyone”—trying to sell to everyone will often result in selling to no one. Instead, your target audience will be made up of people who will benefit the most from your products. This group is defined by certain demographics and behaviors, which can be segmented into specific personas. These personas give you a mock individual who represents the average person in a specific target audience” (source)
Your target audience are the people who, when they interact with your marketing, know that it will meet their needs, fix their problems, or fulfill their desires.
That doesn’t mean you refuse to serve other people. Not only does that not make financial sense, but is unethical for medical professionals.
But it does mean that your email should not try to resonate with a hip Zoomer and an aging Boomer. Just pick one and direct your messaging at them!
Your marketing material… everything from messaging to logo design to the actual marketing channels you use… is designed to communicate well with your target audience.
In this regard, healthcare is no different from other industries. Your entire marketing strategy hinges on whether or not you connect with your target audience.
So what happens when you do the opposite of that?
This is going to be a quick one, because the example makes the point SO WELL that it requires little explanation.
Recently, the Jaguar Cars automobile company did a 180-degree rebrand; they changed their customer-facing identity.
It would be like a friend of yours changing the way they talk, dress, eat, read, etc. They are “becoming a new person”.
Originally branded as luxury vehicles for the British aristocracy, the marketing departments and board of Jaguar decided it needed to rebrand itself for the 21st century.
In case you haven’t seen it, here is the commercial below.
Now I’m not here to comment on the merits and morals of this particular social/political messaging. Nor am I criticizing the marketing merits of “going woke”. It has worked well for many businesses, and many more (particularly small businesses) genuinely hold those values, and therefore should display them in their branding.
Furthermore, one COULD argue that no publicity is bad publicity, and the ubiquity of the ad on every news station and social media channel is a good thing. But that would be a stretch
That said, I do want to talk about what a…
TERRIBLE…
NO GOOD…
VERY BAD decision…
THIS commercial and branding…
was for THIS brand.
Why?
Because the people in that commercial are NOT the people buying Jaguar cars!!!
Avant-garde artists are not interested in buying Jaguar cars. They never have been, and this commercial likely would not be enough to make them interested in buying. And even if they were, there are not enough avant-garde artists to sustain the Jaguar company!
They might as well have featured aliens, dogs, or pine trees instead of brightly dressed individuals.
And the funny thing is, those non-human things might have resonated MORE with their target audience!
And if that wasn’t bad enough… not only does it not attract new customers…
It also repels their old, faithful customers!
For better or worse, that new Jaguar commercial is an affront to everything the notoriously conservative British aristocracy stands for.
That commercial is basically a big, bright, beaming billboard saying: “We don’t sell to YOU people anymore”.
Now you might be thinking: “Riley, maybe they were trying to use bold imagery to convey that Jaguar is so unique that it “copies nothing”. Why does being creative automatically ruin their target audience?”
That is an excellent point, and I have two quick responses:
1) That deserves a separate blog post on what and how imagery communicates.
2) Creativity ALWAYS comes second to clarity.
In marketing, both digital and physical, CLARITY IS KING (read this tabletop games blog post to see why).
To give you an idea of how radical a shift the new ad is, watch this MARVELOUS ad Jaguar put out in 2015:
This ad is not only on brand for its past and present target audience, but it also does something very, very important that the other ad completely neglects…
IT HAS JAGUAR CARS!!!
Jaguar is not a fashion company, it is a CAR COMPANY.
They sell cars.
Cars are what they sell.
People shop at Jaguar to buy cars.
And in case you didn’t notice, while the new commercial makes all sorts of “bold promises” of its brand ( I personally think they are all empty buzz words, but I’ll be charitable)…
The new ad does not show a single car!!!
No car on the road. No car on the lot. No person happy to drive a car
Which causes just about everyone… INCLUDING THEIR TARGET AUDIENCE… who watches the ad to say to themselves:
“Wait… so… what are they selling? “
When interacting with your brand via your marketing materials, it should be immediately and painfully obvious to your target audience WHAT you are offering and WHY they should care.
It does not matter what marketing medium you are using…
It does not matter what marketing channel you are using…
If it is not clear about what you do…
And who you do it for.,..
Then your marketing is a waste your time and money.
And given that it is 14x easier to sell to an old customer rather than a new one, that is borderline malpractice!
Long story short, before you market anything…
You need to know specifically who your target audience is.
And the more you know, the better.
So ask yourself:
What are the concerns of your TA?
Where do they live?
What do they look like?
What is their fitness level?
What is their diet like?
What is their relationship with doctors?
Do they trust the healthcare establishment?
How long have they suffered, struggled, or been in pain?
How do they talk?
Where do they work?
What do they do for fun?
What other health concerns do they have?
Long story short, the better you know your target audience, the better your marketing will perform.
