If you watched The Apprentice this week you will have seen that the two teams were challenged with the task of coming up with a concept for a 'Freemium' magazine, creating the content and then selling as much advertising space in it as possible.
The teams came up with ‘Hip Replacement’ which was aimed at the over 60’s market and ‘Covered’ a lads mag aimed at business minded lads.
The strongest message to come from the episode was how vitally important it is to understand and LISTEN to your market .
For example, the lads mag focus group told the team working on ‘Covered’ that they didn’t want to be underestimated and spoken down to and yet they still ended up with a half naked model on their front cover and an article asking them ‘How Do You Blow Your Load’ referring in a rather crude way, to how they spend their money! Sounds like underestimating your audience and talking down to them if you ask me... what do you think?
The ‘Hip Replacement’ focus group said that they didn’t want to be treated as old - however, they still received a magazine called ‘Hip Replacement’ (hardly vital and young in energy) that contained features on how to make a phone call!
It just goes to show that sometimes even when customers are crying out for something the businesses in question aren't listening to them.
So - how well do you know your market? Are you delivering what they want or just what you think they want?
It’s no good trying to sell something if your market don’t want what you’re offering! Ask, listen and make it happen. Your customers will thank you for it if you do!