Are your customers the right ones?
It’s a given we all need to know as much as we can about our customers. But what happens when the customers you have aren’t the ones you want? Hear how Mercedes Benz dealt with that very same issue.
BRANDING BEFORE BREAKFAST EP30 – Are your customers the right ones?
So we recently did a talk and a workshop on becoming customer obsessed. And when we were in the workshop, a participant asked me, what happens if you don’t want to be obsessed with the customers that you have? Tricky! We worked out some solutions for him, but it got me thinking about what other brands have had this same issue.
One interesting example I found was Mercedes-Benz. In the UK they had an ageing demographic. So they did what you might think. They bought out smaller, sportier models with a more accessible price point but then what they did is they created the Mercedes-Benz World. They took that ageing demographic and wanted to spread the brand throughout their entire family. When you go to Mercedes-Benz World, it’s a day out for all the family. If you’re under 17, as long as you’re over 1.5 meters tall you can test drive a range of cars and they have an entire track dedicated to Little Learners. So 3-5 year olds can drive miniature Mercedes-Benz that are battery-powered. They have a restaurant and a cafe, and at any given time of year, they have themed activities and events so that everybody can experience the brand in a positive manner. I think that’s a great example of using something that may seem to be an issue for the brand but then working out how you can really connect.
So what I’d really like you to think about this morning is who is your customer base? And do you really want to connect with them? Be careful when you’re thinking about this because some of the smartest brands I know have come undone when they have looked down upon or disregarded their current customer base. But if you do need to change, is there a way that you can leverage your current consumers like Mercedes-Benz did it? Or if it’s a complete change that’s needed, make sure that you become obsessed with those that you want to attract so that you can really start to form that bond. That’s it from me. It’s time for brekkie.
Written by: Jo Whelan
Published: October 3, 2019