Target Practice

"You don't like the material because you're NOT the target market!"
How many times do you want to say that to your client?

You can't really blame her.  She's not like you.  YOU have the uncanny ability to get in the shoes of your intended target audience.  You have the power to assume their personalities, their abilities.  Kinda like Rogue in the X-Men.  Without the creepy, life-draining part.

What powers you?  Research, exposure, interviews.  With or without a formal FGD, you find a way to know who you're selling your client's product to.  No, sitting in front of your computer just won't cut it.  You have to go out and find the truth on your own.  Leg work.  Nitty-gritty.

First, get into your target's specific culture.  Don't be afraid to go into her turf, mingle, and observe.

Chat with her.

And finally, mirror her.

When you know and feel deep in your heart what your target really wants, that's when you can give it to her properly, perfectly.  That's how you sell.  Insight first, concept next, execution finale.  Seriously, in that order.

As for your client --the person who's going to sign off on your good work and pay you for a job well done-- she sometimes becomes your roadblock.  For some, you may have to drag her down from her ivory tower and make her understand who her beloved product is really talking to.  And how it should talk to them.

Because if you don't, you'll be stuck with an irrelevant ad which your target market will just snort at and say, "Oh, puh-leeease, ad people!  Quit horsing around!" 



Selling to a client is tougher than selling to the target market. That will require a series of blog entries, me thinks. Stay tuned.

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