Customer: The king

On 20th November 2012 an Australian company launched the 'retail sale that stops the nation' A 24 hour online shopping bonanza based on the American model, the system was set up to take one million shoppers over a 24 hour period. In the first two hours they had over 2 million shoppers come online and the system crashed. This indicates something different is going on in 'consumer land'.

We have a new group of consumers who wants to get involved before a launch of a product or service, they want to be involved and they will promote your products and services for you, but, you need to be ready to engage these consumers otherwise they could crash your business.

Research reported by Trend Watchers November 2012 report indicates that 62 per cent of these passionate consumers are male,50 per cent are between 18 and 35 years of age: the group of consumer we all need to be watching as they are our future and 48 per cent are college educated.

Plan Your Marketing to Attract  Passionate Innovative Consumers

Prelaunch excitement allows you to promote your new product and sell the story to this group of consumers who will quickly spread the message through your  community for you. Before planning a marketing strategy it is worth taking a close look at these consumers and to identify what they are looking for as they have some clear traits.

•             They want to be First

These consumers love obtaining  a product before anyone else in their circle of friends. It does not matter if it is a plant, a piece of clothing or a new ornament or toy, the first is a huge conversational opportunity for these consumers. Create a marketing campaign where they can obtain the product ahead of the rest of the market. We have all seen the lines of consumers outside Apple stores when a new product comes out, you need to achieve the same excitement in your store. These are the type of consumers that establish projects through Kickstarter, ToGather Asia, CrowdCube or Idea.me and other crowdfunding platforms.

•             They need a story

These consumers want to talk about the product they have purchased, you have to tell them the story. It is the story that will be talked about amongst their peer group, not the product. The story telling needs to come from your team and be available online. Keep the story true ,but tell them the interesting facts that will engage a conversation with friends.

•             Status is Important

These consumers enjoy the status of being first. Play the game with them, as their permission to promote them through your social media and marketing as being one of the first buyers of the product. Your role is to make them a hero in front of their friends and peers.

•             They want to belong

By nature these are community members and want to belong to communities, this is an opportunity, if you can get them involved in your community and help them to help you promote new products and services.

•             They are 'Bricks and Clicks' savvy

These consumers are “bricks and clicks” savvy and expect you to be the same, you need to engage with them online as well as off line.

Get to know who are the customer you are serving who fit into this group and get them engaged in new products. You may want to establish a customer focus group with these consumers to help you promote the product.