Out of the Box

In New Orleans and other Gulf states that are prone to heavy storms and even hurricanes, many stores, including supermarkets, sell flashlights, masking tape, and other supplies to prepare for inclement weather. Other retailers sell rain gear and even inflatable boats. As you might imagine, this was not the customary mix of goods in these stores prior to the now infamous Hurricane Katrina when the bursting dams flooded the city. While government rescue and relief agencies learned to be better prepared with their evacuation plans in the future, retailers adjusted to stock the goods that citizens would need in the event of a major storm or hurricane.

Retailers that carry the special goods have learned to market these goods even when there is no threatening weather. They simply capitalize on the fear of being caught unprepared at any time of the year. The retailers are thus able to stretch the business into an all year phenomenon, largely due to what marketers attribute to lifestyle changes. Every house in the affected areas automatically stocks these emergency supplies.

This principal can also apply to a more recent development related to the economy. Major food retailers are stepping up their marketing of home snacks and convenient meals, out of a belief that the recession is forcing many more people to stay at home rather than dine out. During a downturn in the economy people do not have as much disposable income which means they will be watching their food budget more carefully and eating many more meals at home than at restaurants. If you are a restaurant, on the other hand, the challenge is to come up with creative ways to fill tables. You might consider buffet meals, special discounts on off hours, fixed price menus and more. Some restaurants have even begun to offer a 50% discount on a second night out.

Many food establishments are adapting to lifestyle changes by using technology to take orders. Some restaurants in Downtown Manhattan do a banner business in computer, phone and fax orders. These restaurants did not even fathom doing business that way only five years ago.

Marketers say that often subtle lifestyle changes creep up on business to the point that they may be difficult to detect. They certainly can be missed by companies that are so rigid in their planning that quick changes become difficult to make. Car manufacturers of SUV’s should have noticed that the gas guzzling automobiles might not be bestsellers when gas tops $4 a gallon. But the auto industry is notorious for its long-term planning which means that they are not in the best position to make quick changes.

Of late, many large companies have added lifestyle specialists to their research and development teams. Their job is to monitor lifestyle changes on the ground. They actually go out into the field to detect these lifestyle changes, subtle or very visible and alert management to adopt marketing plans accordingly. They read letters to the editor and monitor other forms of communications very carefully.

In business, the circumstances in a lifestyle change are better known as opportunities. Many hardware stores and other retailers routinely adjust to these opportunities. A forecast for snow usually prompts the hardware store to stock shovels and salt up front. A threat of rain means that stores will show umbrellas as do the vendors in the street.

A great deal of marketing literature has been written around changes of lifestyle amongst the elderly. Thanks to the miracle of medicine, people are living longer and enjoying an active lifestyle longer. The travel industry has adjusted to this reality and has stepped up its marketing to seniors. In many Florida developments, you can find literature from cruise ships pitching the elderly. The photos on the brochures show mature adults enjoying their vacations aboard cruise liners.

In years when women drove less, retailers selling baby furniture and carriages marketed the large carriages that were used to stroll. Today, many women speed walk and prefer carriages that double as car seats.

It is very important to know your market well and to fully understand their lifestyles. The chances are that if you don’t, your competitor will. Imagine for a moment that you are a manufacturer of mobile phones and while keeping up with the industry on every technological nuance, you simply forgot or ignored to offer the camera feature. You might have been out of touch with a major change in lifestyle where people do use their mobile phones to take photos.

There is a consensus amongst marketers that while being on top of lifestyle changes is prudent, and even necessary, trying to affect change may be fraught with a great deal of risk. You may wish to equip every shopper with a small hand held scanner and in the process make an effort to change people’s shopping habits, but the shopper may not wish to be burdened either with the device or the trouble of scanning items while shopping. On the other hand, if your cellular phone had that ability, you might readily use it.

Lifestyle marketing is often used to promote products without even showing the product. For example, you might be able to market the electric car just by showing a gas station that has a recharging capacity. But before you entertain any sort of lifestyle marketing, you will have to be aware of the lifestyle changes and how they affect your product.

Out of the Box is a collection of strategic marketing articles that Lubicom has published on various topics, trends and ideas in the marketing world. The articles have been published in the Hamodia weekly newspaper circulated on three continents to a readership of well over 100,000.

The name, "Out of the Box" is a term used frequently in business nowadays to describe creative thinking that is not the norm. It is meant to help a business pull away from the pack or separate oneself from the competition. It is to some extent fraught with risk, simply because it is not the run of the mill thinking, but it is at the same time the key to reaching the next opportunity.

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