Do you ‘Who’?
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Do you ‘Who’? By Sedick Sasman

It’s all good and well that you have a brilliant concept for telling your story, but now the hard part starts. Who wants or needs to hear it? Are you strutting your stuff to the right audience? Is your story relevant and will they understand it?

We know that a guy randomly dancing around in a tight yellow leotard is not going to get the attention he wants, or really needs. If he maybe chose a better place to show off his package loose dance moves, he might have just gotten the attention of a few theatre loving people. Or people who like yellow for some reason. (Maybe even people into men in tights, but hey, I’m just putting it out there!)

Anyway, some of these people thought: “Hey, this looks really interesting! I want to see more!” They bought tickets, front row mind you, and enjoyed the mind-boggling spectacle of men and women in under-sized clothing.
And that’s what we want initially, those few bright, savvy minds. Find them, and you can convey your story… in vivid detail! Because they will WANT to listen. If it’s compelling enough, your story will be told and retold… continuously. (or 10-Fold, if that makes sense to you)_ Brands forget, sometimes, to connect with their customers as people and not just mobile ATMs. They lose sight of what their core message is and just sell to make money.

The audience becomes expendable to them.
Now you might be wondering where to find your devoted, long standing followers. The idea that ‘everyone, everywhere’ is your market does not work. Yes you might pick up a few customers outside your market, but that’s not the ideal place to focus your energy. _Most die-hard business folk will tell you to rely on “Market Segmentation”. This involves things like demographics, age, gender, income, race (yeah, they STILL do that!), education, lifestyle, and so on. This is important stuff but is it still the only essential factor in your strategy? Audiences can change, so you need to be ready for it. Research your target market until you nail it, then, keep on researching. Once you’re in the process of conveying your story “on the ground” you’ll notice that this could also be a valuable source of information.

Think about it.

The world has evolved and shrunk tremendously. People have become more intelligent (seriously), more open to suggestion, more curious and, dare I say, immune to marketing and design tactics of old. They see through all the fakeness that bombards them everyday.

This is the situation that we as small businesses find ourselves in. Some will see it as a bad thing. To others it’s the best situation to be in. We need to be part of those ‘others’. _It all depends on WHO you are telling your story to._
As for how? Well… that comes next.

~~~ About the contributor ~~~

Sedick Sasman is a independent creative contractor based in South Africa. His goal is to help other small businesses/ start-ups to get their message out there. He believes that a successful brand combines it’s vision, creative strategy and design into one meaningful and impact-full force. To find out more, visit  www.substance-creative.co.za

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