Appealing to everyone doesn't work (fill in The Gap)

aarongerdes@gmail.com (Aaron Gerdes) — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:04:00 -0800

Speaking of niche marketing, the New York Times ran an article about three weeks ago on how The Gap is struggling without a niche:

Gap has served up a steady diet of simple, unobjectionable casual clothing designed to appeal to everyone. [..] In an era of niches, when exclusion is as vital as inclusion, Gap has become an anachronism: a single chain, selling only its own brand, with one point of view, chasing shoppers from birth to death. [..] Indeed, consumers are abandoning the chain in staggering numbers. Sales at stores open at least a year, a standard measure of a retailer’s health, have fallen or remained stagnant for 28 of the last 30 months.

I found the article through Duct Tape Marketing, which has some great commentary:

Attempting, intentionally or accidentally, to appeal to all is a sure way to kill sales and buzz. Find a way to narrow your market focus to the smallest niche possible and you will no longer need to worry about competing on price.

Do you have to have a niche?

aarongerdes@gmail.com (Aaron Gerdes) — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 16:03:00 -0800

I recently heard about a presentation given by a well-known consulting guru. The audience, a professional association of management consultants, was eager to hear how the presenter has built his business to earn over seven figures a year for two decades.

While taking questions on the subject of finding/developing new business, the attendee I know asked if one needed to have a niche to build a successful consulting practice.

“No one needs a niche,” the presenter replied brashly.

Music to the ears of the new independent consultant. Most entrepreneurs know the feeling when you’re starting out that you’d take any paying work. While getting our feet on the ground, we hesitate to target to any particular audience.

Letting that fear sit too long, it becomes a reality. And a bad one, at that. By not having a target market and clarity as to what problems you solve, you lose the ability to communicate why you’re the best choice for a client. If you can’t communicate that, you’re a commodity.

But who I am to say that someone who’s built a successful business is wrong about this? After all, it worked for him!

I doubt he’s lying, so I’d submit that to build a business as successful as his, our presenter must have a niche. The question is: does he know it?

You may have heard the phrase “You cannot not communicate.” It’s very true in a marketing context. In other words: we are all marketing ourselves, whether or not it’s on purpose. For example, when someone asks you what you do, your answer is a marketing activity. If you’ve thought about it that way or not, you are marketing.

The presenter told the audience that “nobody cares about your unique approach, only what results you create” and that “all selling is relational”. He also discussed the difference between himself and the massive consulting firms he often competes against. His says his clients enjoy that he bills by results, not focusing on hourly/time & materials systems.

Excellent. He’s targeting a segment of people who think a certain way. He’s also differentiated from large, impersonal firms in his sales approach and results-based method of delivery. And at seven figures a year for two decades, I think it’s working for him.

So do you have to have a niche? Yes, but you can call it whatever you want.

Aaron Gerdes: Tag differentiate

Appealing to everyone doesn't work (fill in The Gap)

Do you have to have a niche?