Sweet target market tactics

When I’m persuading somewhat reluctant clients to try something new I often use one of my favourite expressions:

“If you always do what you’ve always done, 

you’ll always get what you’ve always got”

However, it seems that you may not even get that…

I was intrigued to read an article in the Times that began “How to capture that old Black Magic…” this was about the chocolates that were positioned as THE romantic gift of the sixties and seventies.

Launched by Henry Rowntree in 1933,  the Black Magic brand now belongs to Nestle who are faced with the challenge of their main consumer base getting older.

Because of this they cannot simply do what they’ve always done, but are getting to grips with “inclusive design” which helps Nestlé’s service those loyal consumers who - with age - may have limited dexterity and deteriorating sight.

Whilst I personally cannot believe that it is will EVER be difficult to tear into a box of chocolates at 90mph,  in a timed trial one elderly man took over a minute to break into the packaging. And in a separate test a woman struggled to read the menu of chocolates in the box in order to select one of her choice.

The principles of inclusive design have already been applied to Nestlé’s After Eight Mints as part of their 50^th Anniversary. Apparently, there are easier to remove trays, more visible cellophane tear-tape and easier to read text. And the designers are not only designing for the age group but for the occasion, after all most chocolates will be consumed in the low wattage of an atmospherically lit dining or living room.

Nestle now wants the principle to apply to other divisions and apparently there's a big push about this in the US pet care division.

As with all things marketing success depends on understanding that your target audience may have very different needs to your own… as we go into 2013 have you considered that you too may need to make changes?

Thanks to Asif A.Ali on Flickr for the pic