Avatars
Now there’s a conundrum.
👤👨🏻🙍🏼🚶🏿🙋🏽♂️👱🏽👧🏿👶🏼👵🏻👸🏾💁🏾🙆🏼♂️
“We have a new marketing firm. We chose our target, right down to what he wears, how he travels, where he works, age, marital status. He’s obviously a he. We call him Josh.” she said, after the presentation.
“He is middle-aged, rides his bike to work and is single.” she continued.
My inner turmoil was bubbling as I tried to sort out my target. Gender, race, age, single or married? Jesus, how do I know who wants to buy my product? Everybody likes food!
It felt like putting on a coat that was too tight.
It was the beginning of the end for me — this presentation on effective marketing. Somewhere inside, no matter how desperately hard I tried to stuff it, I knew my heart was not in it. The business of selling was not for me.
Let me re-phrase that.
The business of trying to convince tens of thousands of consumers, of a select demographic, that eating a healthy snack food would significantly improve their life somehow, felt shallow, hollow and false.
Was it a great tasting, high quality product? Heck, yeah! Did it appeal to a wide range of eaters? Heck, yeah! Did I feel like I had to exaggerate the benefits to get people to buy it? Yup.
Beginning of the end.
I’ve learned a lot about marketing in the last several years. I now see through the coaxing and appeals to my emotional brain. I have stopped listening and shopping.
Sorry economy. I’ll decide what I need and when I need it.
Replace my mattress because it just turned eight? Full of dust mites and skin cells you say? Well, disgusting as that sounds, I’m fine right now.
Be a “good” mom! Replace that smart phone. Buy the cool new shoes. Not today, honey….unless you are willing to buy with your own money. What’s that? No? You’ve decided you can live without?
I will not buy green eggs and ham! I don’t care if everyone else is eating them! I do not like them. I do not need them. I do not want them.
Yesterday, I read an article here on Medium in which the author espoused the value of creating an avatar. Your ideal reader. Really?here too?
I get it. I do. If you want to “sell”, you have to be strategic. You have to find your audience. Can “selling” ideas be different than selling stuff? I’d like to think so. Ideas are universal.
My ideal reader is not an avatar. My “target” is a person. A person curious about different perspectives. Seeking ideas. Relishing entertainment through the written word. Too broad?
I don’t think so.
You can target a story to specific readers, but are unlimited in the stories you can tell.
