The Holodeck | Marketing Segmentation

Here we are in a shiny new quarter with a fancy little segue from Principles of Marketing to Digital Marketing. Same BlogFest. Same cool teacher. (And no. I’m not trying to score brownie points with Mr. Dude. Okay, maybe a couple. Don’t judge. You’d do it, too.) Like last quarter, we’ve been tasked with writing blog posts that speak to an assigned topic. This quarter we’re focusing on The Holodeck, a fictional new business that needs our help with their marketing efforts. So, what’s on the menu for our first week? Marketing Segmentation! (Is anyone else having a déjà vu moment?)

Fortunately for me, I’ve already written about that here and touched on it here and here.

The end.

Okay, fine. While it is indeed fortunate that I’ve already touched on the topic (and I’m pretty sure I can’t top the original headline), I’m down with researching this further because I definitely see the value in evolving (and fabulous grades). Let’s dive in, shall we?

As a business owner, I imagine the instinctual go-to is to share your product with the entire world because – obviously – everyone will think it’s marvelous and, side bonus, you’ll become a gazillionaire. Guess what? You’re not that cool. (No offense, of course.) As it turns out, the world is full of humans and no human is alike. (What!? I know. Your mind is blown right now. You’ll be okay. Just breathe through it.) Plus, it would cost an insane amount of money and take an absurd amount of time to market to everyone. It’s just not possible, nor is it smart. So, what do you do?

The obvious angle in narrowing down your target market is demographics – age, gender, religion and ethnicity, income, marital status, kiddo situation, education level, and occupation. And then throw in geographics, psychographics, and usage behavior. All the above are important because they weed down the melting pot of humanity into ‘itty bitty’ groups that make the most sense for your marketing efforts. You wouldn’t focus your marketing dollars for a squishy little teething ring on a single 35-year-old male without children. (Then again, maybe you’re into that. You do you.) Which brings up a good point. Segmenting your market is all about analyzing the data surrounding someone’s age, gender, culture, etc. Be careful with that. Our world is ever evolving, so be mindful of inclusivity and not putting someone in a box they don’t belong in or by alienating someone else based on generalized assumptions. It’s tricky sticky, but absolutely worth making that extra effort.

I recently watched a clip from Adam Erhart who put a great spin on the idea of segmenting your market. One of the most neglected – yet uber important – angles is who you want to serve. Again – who are your people? The ‘ographics’ (and loner non-ographic) mentioned above are critical, but when you find your people, you find the glorious folks who appreciate the value in what you have to offer. This, in turn, brings you a stupid amount of joy because your consumer genuinely cares about your product, which leads to customer loyalty, word of mouth (aka: free advertising), and general warm fuzzies. (This will also answer who you don’t want to serve, which is an essential side bonus since it’s ideal to avoid people who suck the awesome out of your life.)

This brings us to fictional Anne Nolan who’s looking to capitalize on the lack of wholesome family fun in her small hometown. The Holodeck will be the place to go for all things family fun, complete with a unique arcade comprised of rare and unusual games, food offerings from partnering local restaurants, and a large activity space that boasts a flexible and dynamic experience – all with a super cool vintage vibe at a reasonable price. One of Anne’s goals is to make The Holodeck a children’s birthday party destination. Anne’s also throwing around the idea of creating a forum for game developers, where they can install their games and take advantage of free public beta testing before they officially launch their product.

Anne is looking to target teenagers and parents of little kiddos. Considering her birthday destination goal, along with her wholesome family fun game plan, targeting parents of littles definitely seems appropriate. Targeting teenagers also makes sense given the gaming and vintage angle. My husband and I have been in the vintage community for years and nostalgic love is legit – especially among the younger generation right now. They’re totally into what we were into when we were kids and vintage arcades are all the rage. The challenge will be the messaging. Teenagers and parents of littles can be vastly different in their surface-level desires about a family fun center. Fortunately, their end goal is the same . . . FUN!

I’ll be honest, though. I’m not sure targeting teenagers or parents of children is the right thing to do here. (Nor would I target parents of babies and toddlers or their great grandparents. Or people who hate fun – duh.) Why? Because I don’t think this is the best venue for young people. (Debbie Downer here.) Allow me to explain.

Being someone who understands the irreplaceability and prices of vintage items, children with sticky fingers and banging fists make me nervous. Even teenagers stress me out. I think The Holodeck has an interesting opportunity to shift gears and target the college students and nostalgic lovers in the community. Instead of a kiddo birthday destination, make it a super cool 18+ destination. However, this defeats Anne’s purpose of bringing a wholesome family fun center to her hometown and my job is to support her dreams through fabulous marketing. So, I shall go to a happy place . . . and lovingly suggest she invests in vintage-inspired gaming for a kiddo section while exploring an after-hours option for adults. Two totally different angles, but two intriguing revenue opportunities.