Targeting Everyone, Reaching No One

Have you ever started a business, or do you have a business idea in mind and want to implement it? You may be thinking that your product fits the entire market and will sell to everyone who has a need for it.

Business ideas often start from things we encounter in our daily lives. Imagine you're an entrepreneur, starting with opening a café.

If you were to start a café, you might naturally think, "I sell coffee, so my customers are anyone who drinks coffee," a thought that seems obvious to everyone. But hold on! When you think about this beverage, which names come to your mind? Right now, Starbucks comes to mind for me, and I see that they don't sell coffee to all demographics. Obviously, not everyone who wants coffee chooses Starbucks. Let's observe specifically who they sell coffee to:

• Starbucks sells coffee to Businesspeople: Providing a premium and upscale experience, it's easy to recognize Starbucks cafes as places to work and meet partners during business interactions. Every aspect of the space, such as sophisticated design, ergonomic seating for laptop use, natural lighting, strong Wi-Fi, etc., enhances the work experience here.

  
  

• Starbucks sells coffee to Connoisseurs: Of course, coffee must be sold to coffee lovers, but specifically, Starbucks targets those who appreciate high-quality coffee and have a taste preference. They offer customers a wide selection of coffee brewed in various methods and specialty drinks according to the season, as well as visually appealing and luxurious souvenir items for collectors. Starbucks has truly captured the attention of this sophisticated demographic with its professionalism and refinement.

Second example, let's say this time you venture into another field, such as fast-moving consumer goods, specifically bottled water. "I sell bottled water, so anyone who drinks water is my customer," selling seems straightforward because everyone has a need for it, and the market seems vast for us to exploit. But think about Aquafina (a brand of PepsiCo), they sell water, but their target customers are dynamic, trendy, well-off individuals who want to assert their personality. Do you observe that? Consider some of these factors:

• The bottle design is very stylish with minimalistic curves, providing high aesthetic value.

• Collaborations with many A-list celebrities in fashion and lifestyle, sponsoring reputable events in the entertainment and fashion industry.

• Slim bottle design to minimize plastic waste, addressing environmental concerns, which is a topic of great concern among this "elite" customer base.

Talking about an industry other than food and beverage, I want to mention a Vietnamese beauty brand, a familiar name to urban young people, 30 Shine - "Want to look handsome by 30, Shine," don't we, guys? Walking on the streets, stopping at some major intersections, you can hear catchy music and see eye-catching hair salons, but surely, sisters would never choose to have their hair cut here, right?

Usually, it's perceived that sisters are the main consumers of this service, spending more, right? Yet this brand targets men, young men who emphasize appearance, and the 30 Shine chain has developed across major cities nationwide and is larger in scale than all other brands in the industry. And at least, if we think about men's haircuts, we think about 30 Shine.

If you want to sell to a very broad and generic customer base, that will be a very difficult challenge, usually only successfully accomplished by giants with almost infinite resources. Instead, break down your target market into more specific customer segments. When you analyze and narrow down your target customer base, aiming accurately, you also make your brand more distinct and tangible, not getting lost in the market.

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