Marketers Misjudge Market
Happy New Year!
Things don't always go as planned for automakers. Sometimes buyers have minds of their own. Adam Geller reported for the Associated Press in the Los Angeles Times today:
It turns out many of the people buying the Element — which looks like a cross between a minivan and a Hummer — aren't the young surfers and mountain bikers honda Motor Co. expected. It's the same for many buyers of Toyota Motor Corp.'s Scion models.
Those vehicles were designed and pitched by automakers to capture the hearts and dollars of buyers in their 20s or even younger.
But a funny thing happened on the cars' way to the youth market — people in their 40s, 50s, or 60s found that the vehicles suited their lifestyles too.
Honda was "hoping to get parents to buy it for their kids. It didn't work out that way," said Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research, which tracks consumer spending. "The parents who bought it decided they wanted it. The whole car got hijacked by the baby boomers."
The demand for these cars from older buyers has thrown a small curve to Honda, Toyota and others trying to broaden their appeal and build allegiance with customers who will be key to their future business. Automakers are hardly upset that boomers are buying their youth-themed cars. On the contrary, they are happy to sell cars to whoever wants one, manufacturers say.
But the embrace by drivers across the age spectrum of models such as the Element, the Scion xB and the Vibe from General Motors Corp.'s Pontiac brand reveals some of the unpredictable features of the marketplace. Mainly, that in this age of highly targeted marketing and myriad product choices, customers will often make purchases that fit their lifestyles and self-image, even if it's not exactly what the manufacturer had in mind.
I love it when the marketers are foiled by the marketplace.
Comments
Leave a Reply