Jinn Market: A Market Made Invisible In Plain Sight

Just because you like Tigers that doesn’t mean there are no Elephants or a Hippos. There is something gravely wrong with our idea of a consumer or potential buyer. Now we know that Elephants do exist and they have different needs and you can’t change an Elephant into a Tiger. It’s what we call nature. Likewise are humans. There are huge numbers of people who aren’t in anyway Tom cruise, Megan fox.

In simple terms they are ordinary peoples and that’s what Organization around the world seems to overlook. They consider world around on idealistic basis while in reality in this world there are many different things that plays an important role but it seems that the majority of organization finely defining a category is not helping people to buy but rather to alienate them. Think how many of people would buy an brand that gives the impression of lean, ripped and fit physiques.

There about 63% Americans adults according to Gallup highways who are overweight or obese(2009). Now imagine you are telling these 63%

• Our brand is not for you go away.

• You don’t fit with our values.

• You are just another nobody.

• You need to lose weight to put on our outfits.

Exactly that’s what their advertisement, mass media campaign are trying to deliver to US majority and you imagine them to buy your product after that. That’s what most of the giants are actually doing though they don’t understand it that it is actually they are self depriving themselves of a potential huge market with their own investments.

For instance Abercrombie & Fitch has their brand perception strategy which suggest to its market “no fat girls” examiner reported in its article on May 2013 “In “The New Rules of Retail”, author Robin Lewis focuses on why Mike Jeffries, CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch hates marketing to fat girls, equating the overweight as the unpopular kids in high school who do not belong in the company's clothes. Jeffries also explained that the retailer only hires thin, good-looking employees because they attract other good-looking people.” That’s what I am talking about only the Tigers no Elephants we don’t want Elephants because Elephants aren’t Tigers.

But the truth and fact is there are Elephants so deal with it, and these Elephants are in greater number to Tigers so perhaps you should reconsider your approach to these giants as they are great and thus belongs to that part of the market that I called the Jinn market( jinn is an Arabic term for invisible rational beings created from smokeless fire who are capable of super human abilities like flying, shapeshifting etc) now imagine your company is focusing on non Jinns which are rare and their number is shrinking. As Mr Jeffries admitted that they only want the Tigers, but that doesn’t mean other aren’t pouching them either.

Look at ads all around on internet, social media, mass media, billboards do you see anything wrong with them off course most of us find something  wrong with ourselves when we come across these campaigns but it is actually them that are gravely wrong. You will find these perfect human’s beings on these ads which in real is something very rare. Smart perfect ramp models, perfect looks, perfect heights just like a Tiger.

I was talking to a friend of mine couple of days back he told me he loves skinny jeans but the problem is he is bald so as per his POV. Skinny jeans aren’t for bald guys “a red flag to all the skinny jeans manufacturers” likewise another friend of mine, we were talking about Ray Ban glasses and he was of the view that Ray Ban is really cool brand but you shouldn’t buy it unless you have at least one Ferrari or BMW parked in your Garage. Likewise I heard from many guys we don’t buy this and that because we don’t have or we aren’t this and that though we like and we can buy it.

The perfect Tiger’s advertisement is doing no good to those who want to attract potential buyers rather it is making a jinn market that would prefer things that are not advertised for the perfect Tigers neither for Elephants but are rather unknown.

Disadvantages of such strategy

• It alienates a major portion of your potential market pushing them into jinn market.

• The organization unknowingly portrays itself as discriminatory.

• Creates an artificial sense and image of beauty perfection which bring in troubles and depression in Elephants lives.

• Promotes a sense of personality that could be devastating in real life for organizations, families, cultures and even regions as we can’t underestimate the power of mass media. All these parts of our societies becomes judgmental on basis of “use the perfect Tiger image to capture market” this perfect Tiger image is not limited to one type of individuals but to specific groups in our society thus giving false impression of the reality that imprints on individual level, social levels, organizational levels, regional level thus resulting in conflict and chaos in many ways.

New perspective:

Add those Elephants in your cool list of Tigers,  try to appeal to the whole society relate your product with all that doesn’t mean you should go on media with awareness campaign that you offer for all, off course that would be great but if you can’t. The next best thing you can do is to stop finely defining your target market into your media campaign. As we know Elephants do exists and they aren’t similar to Tigers.

Your Marketing should be based on:

“Just be natural”

References:

·         http://www.examiner.com/article/abercrombie-fitch-markets-to-skinny-women-only-no-fat-girls-allowed