Although I spent last week's class @ a conference in Miami "wining and dining" prospective clients, I must say I still learned a little :)
I had a great conversation with a real estate developer from the west coast. His company is currently designing neighborhoods for Southern California which will be developed over the next 20 years. He has been stirring up thought that their current target market is wrong. Instead of gaining insight from today's 30 something and designing housing on their wants as they are doing now, they should be looking at today's 10 year old. After all, this will be their target market in 20 years when the neighborhoods will be fully developed. Today's 10 year old, he said, has a whole new way of thinking than what the current 30 somethings cared about at their age. This will effect their buying decisions in the future. He insisted that they need to design from the future "30 somethings" perspective; not today's and they can begin to gain insight from them even at their current age.
I think he brings up a great point. Percy points out that when selecting a target market, you need to understand their lifestyle and psychographic profile. 30 somethings in twenty years certainly will have a different set of norms and social awareness than today's.
Overall: Its important for any company to plan for the future and understand what their target market will look like tomorrow. This is where innovation is born!
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