Brand Rant: Target Market

Let me start by defining what a target market actually is—the audience in which your product/service is marketed to, usually consisting of age, gender, demographics, lifestyle, and/or socio-economic grouping.

It seems an easy task but I’ve found over the years that it’s very much easier said than done. The reason for this being that when one chooses a target market, it’s not just a shot in the dark. You’re target market corresponds directly with your brand. Who are you trying to hook? It’s much easier to fish if you know who you’re fishing for. You want to bait your hook with something that’s appetizing to your target market. Your fishing pool is determined by your brand.

For example, if you are an upscale, men’s active wear/gear store then you aren’t going to cast your line into a pool of geriatric men with no money. You want to cast that line into a pool bubbling over with active, adventure seeking young to middle-aged men with mid to high incomes.

You really don’t want your pool to be too large which is the mistake that most entrepreneurs make. Of course you want to reach everyone, but that’s just really unrealistic and only waters down your efforts. If you’re busy trying to appeal to everyone then you can’t become an expert. In order to become an expert, you have to reel in your line, define a niche, and focus your efforts within that niche. That doesn’t mean that other fish won’t be swimming in your pool but your focus is on catching your niche fish.

Karl’s Kick “Defining Your Target Market”… by francismedia

Define it, own it, be the best. Carry forth entrepreneurs…carry forth and conquer.

Peeps I Dig – Nov ’10

The weather is getting chilly and the holidays are upon us! It’s November and because you’ll be spending more time inside this month’s inspiration is about sites that I dig. So grab a cup of hot chocolate, snuggle up with your laptop, and enjoy.

Abduzeedo

Abduzeedo.com is “a collection of visual inspiration and useful tutorials…The blog is run by design junkies for design junkies, always striving to provide the community with the latest and hottest of what the web has to offer”.

The site is Brazilian born but has expanded it’s workforce to the USA and has readers from across the globe. I enjoy a majority of the inspirational posts and actually comment on quite a few of them. There’s daily, weekly and monthly themes ranging from illustration to architecture. They even have an iPhone app!

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COLOURlovers

COLOURlovers is a global, creative community where people who are tickled by color gather, share, and discuss colors, palettes, patterns and trends.

I have often used this site to light a fire under my color creativity.

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Yahoo Directory

The Yahoo Graphic Designer’s Personal Exhibit Directory is simply a listing of portfolios.

It is a fantastic place to spend a bit of time for inspiration. There’s a wide range of talent from all over the world and I find it very exciting and extremely inspirational to peruse this listing.

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Graphic Design Blog

Graphic Design Blog is “a podium giving professional insight on graphic designing, graphic designers, logo designs, typography and much more”.

I frequently enjoy GDB’s posts and they’ve recently added a forum that I’m sure will become a valuable resource.

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Toxel

Toxel is a design, inspiration, and technology blog.

I love this sight for the sheer variety. It examines inspiration from everything. When I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. It’s a really cool site to peruse but make sure you have time because you’ll definitely get lost in the world of Toxel.

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Be sure to check back monthly for more Peeps I Dig. Next month’s theme: holiday designers that inspire me. Who inspires you?

Cancerous Design for a Cure

Mom has cancer, ovarian cancer.

Technically, she’s my mother-in-law but we’ve never been big on the in-law title. Miki doesn’t come with all of the cliche baggage. The truth is that she’s all sorts of awesome. I often wonder how I lucked out with such a great guy AND great mother-in-law. She’s not only my husband’s mom—she’s my mentor, my friend, my mom.

You could cut the tension in the air. Today is her first day of chemo. The first of many, many treatments over the next five months. What does one do while your mom’s getting chemo? Well, being a designer, it made me think about logos—cancer logos.

I’ll start with the big gun. The American Cancer Society researches, reports, and provides support for just about every cancer out there. A patriotic logo set in red, white and blue with a caduceus sitting solidly to the left creating a sense of confident guidance. It’s a logo that’s clean and straight forward. One might even venture to say that it’s a little cold for the subject matter. Although, they are an organization that’s rooted in hardcore research.

Another big one is Susan G. Komen for the Cure. An organization that raises extensive funds for breast cancer research. The sans serif typography is modern yet soft enough to remain humanistic. The all too ribbon icon has a slight modification of the dot on top mimicking a human silhouette which adds a unique factor to a well used symbol.

The Gynecologic Cancer Foundation’s mission is to “support research, education and public awareness of gynecologic cancer prevention, early detection and optimal treatment.” The logo is about as generic as the mission statement. Don’t get me wrong, they do vital and amazing work that I have the utmost respect for. Unfortunately, from a graphic standpoint the logo leaves much to be desired.

Ovations is dedicated to the pursuit for a cure for ovarian cancer through funding of new and ongoing research and treatment initiatives, increasing awareness of the subtle signs and symptoms of the disease and give hope, education and comfort to those currently battling ovarian cancer. The subtle scaling of the O and S create the illusion of them hugging the tagline giving it a very humanistic feel. The butterfly icon nicely balances the typography and is an image of hope and metamorphosis.

The High Heals Foundation’s mission is to “raise funds to develop methods for early diagnosis of Ovarian cancer and aid in the discovery of a cure through research, advocacy and education.” Although I don’t wear heals, I do think this lockup is fantastic. What’s more go-go-girl power than a patent leather spike heal paired with lipstick red? It’s fun, accessible and dares you to be courageous.

There’s countless logos out there that range the spectrum from all medical business to bleeding heart humanitarians.

All-in-all I’d have to say that Team Miki takes the cake when it comes to cancer taglines. The official logo is still in the works (that is, as soon as I design one) but you gotta LOVE this tagline:

We put the balls into fighting ovarian cancer.

That’s what happens when your mother-in-law’s circle of friends are all knee deep into Marketing. She definitely puts the balls into fighting cancer though. Miki is a tough woman and logo or not she’s fighting cancer with style.