In recent years, we have seen how the great “gurus” of marketing, those who tell us about new trends and theories, and that according to which it seems that all of the above is not valid, tell us that customers no longer have to divide them by their age, sex, religion or geographical area of residence, but we have to do it in a new way. This is just defining them by strange names that come from English and sound foreign to our ears. Now the client is no longer middle class or upper class, nor is he between 30 and 45 years old, now the client belongs to a new universe where he lives with “dinkies” kidults or bobos.
But what do these names mean? Has a new breed of clients been born and we have not heard about it? And what is more important: how should I treat them now?
Quiet that the world does not end. All these typologies respond only to a new way of segmenting them, of understanding them better, and what is more important, this segmentation should not be done only by large companies or by multinationals, but can be understood and carried out by any company, regardless of its size. We must not forget that being close to customers and responding to their needs is an obligation of every company however small it may be, and insofar as we know our clients better, and we can better segment them, the more we can give them a good service and loyalty, with the consequent benefits for our organization.
Given this new segmentation, what types of clients can we find?
The first of them and perhaps better known are the Dinkies. This is a term that comes, of course, from English (like almost all the terminology of the world of marketing) and that is nothing more than the acronym of “Double Income, No Kids” (double entry, no children). This target defines all those couples in which both parties work, have a good income level but do not have children, most of the time because their jobs do not allow it. This is a term that applies to couples regardless of their age, sex, or marital status, referring only to the actual state of the same, their needs and their economic resources. These couples tend to have quite similar consumption habits, usually reflecting their good economic situation (two incomes and no family burdens),
But if we are a SME, how can we attack this segment of customers? We must first locate which of our clients correspond to this typology and launch offers or loyalty actions aimed specifically at them: discounts on dinners for couples, trips with charm for two, etc. and think about everything, in leisure products for this type of public.
Another niche that we can not despise, is that of the Bobos or “Bourgeois Bohemian” (bohemian bourgeois). This type of clients correspond to a social stratum that, although they enjoy an economic relief, they like to get away from the image of rich, or posh, boy, taking rather a more casual, almost grunge image, something romantic and bohemian very far away normally , of your social situation. They suppose an ideal target for fashionable shops of the Desigual style, in which urban aesthetics prevails, happy and carefree, although the price of the same ones is not so “urban”. This public is a great consumer of art, leisure and clothing, which makes it a very attractive target for any company.
Although we must take into account that you will never be associated with a company that does not represent your values, so if this is our public, the Corporate Social Responsibility policy should be the order of the day and be one of our horses of battle.
Kidults: undoubtedly, one of the targets that has grown the most in recent years. Kidults are children, who want to be adults, they want to grow very fast, that is why they take adult habits at a very young age. The example of the typical girl who puts on makeup like her mother is very clear. Or the child who begins to dress in the same style as his father. This, without a doubt, is one of the fastest growing niches, largely due to changes in society and especially in families, as it is now common to find many families with only one child where the phenomenon occurs. of the “little emperor” or what is the same, the child who has everything. Proof of this is the great entertainment industry that has been generated around this type of customer and that focuses on this type of audience,
Something remarkable of the Kidults is that despite being a public of very low purchasing power are great prescribers, they have great influence on people who do have that economic capacity, their parents. This, together with a great permeability and influence before the messages of this public, make this ideal target for our communications.
But how can an SME attack this audience? It is perhaps the most difficult of all, since it is an audience moved by the mainstream media, although if we know how to use them, it is one of the most juicy. We must rely a lot on the image, the messages and more on the appearance than on the background of them. Transmit a concept of “becoming”, treat the child as an adult, with adult messages but with phrases of children, we must convey the same as if they were large, but adapted to their language.
Adulescentes : along with the previous one, this is the biggest niche of growth, but the one that more.
They are people who, despite growing up and becoming adults, have not abandoned their tastes or their adolescent habits, so we can meet 30-year-olds who play video games almost every day when they arrive from work or They are avid collectors of comics. In many cases they dress with careless clothes and almost never see them with shoes, unless it is because the job demands it. This target combines the good of the previous two, they are as passionate as the children but they have the purchasing power of the parents, and they are able to pay an extra bonus for having something they really like, so we put together the prescriber, the decision maker and the buyer in the same person, an ideal situation for any company.
The objective with this audience is clear. There are many possibilities for any company to reach this audience, and many are adaptable products to get their approval. Examples we have thousands in our society: from special versions of video game consoles, to movie merchandising material or special editions of clothes and accessories.
And how can an SME attack the adulescent? Simple, the message is just the opposite that with the kidults, we must transmit messages of children but with phrases of adults, we must flatter, to convince the child that they have inside and to which they want to satisfy and move away from the responsibilities of being adults.
Another very interesting niche and perhaps one of the niches that has grown the most in these years is the Alfa women. This is the group of women who are the ones who support their partners, or who earn more money than they do. They are independent women who want to demonstrate this fact, who flee from the advertising stereotypes of the woman who persecutes the man or tries to be in the background. She likes to be the protagonist of the story, to feel that she has the reins and that she is the one who makes her own decisions without being influenced by society or feelings. This profile is a very good profile for luxury, prestige and quality products, since they are willing to spend more to show the world and society that they are the ones who make the decisions. This makes them a relatively easy target for representative brands, since it is easy to attack their ego and their need for social representation to get them to buy us. But do not think
We mean that this means that they are easy to convince, but that it is an audience that offers many buying facilities when they know what they want.
Finally, we can talk about a niche that is growing in recent years, Singles: are those who either have decided to live alone, or because of circumstances are in this situation. They are people without family responsibilities, who usually have money available to spend. Therefore, they tend to be great users of leisure products: travel, movies, clothes, etc. In this sense, we are witnessing the appearance in recent years in our country of specific products for this sector, such as houses for singles, where everything is designed for a person who lives alone, trips for singles where activities are organized with other singles to avoid that one can “feel only”,
These are just some of the customer segmentations, and possibly if we continue to deepen, we will find more divisions, not only for consumption habits but for any other type of habits or for different needs. We will find, for example, people who go to a gym in the morning before entering work and who need short and intense sessions to get fit and others who leave after work, and what they need is a more long-term job. , with more tranquility, since they have more time. Therefore, the important thing is to understand our client and their needs, and adapt our product / service so that it responds to them, only in this way we will be able to build loyalty in a more competitive and professionalized market every day.