Make a Product for Different Customer Groups
Last week I wrote about The Blind Side, a movie currently in theatres telling the story of Michael Oher a homeless teen who was taken in by a well-to-do family and offered a second chance at life. He grew to become the star athlete, playing Division I football at Ole Miss and being selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. The story was quite inspirational, but I was surprised to see that it was rated PG-13.
The story was a heart-warming tale and there were only one or two scenes which made the content of the film not suitable for those under thirteen. However, despite these few scenes, the movie was a great story for children, regardless of their interest in football, across the United States. I have no doubt that there were tens of thousands of kids who would have paid to see this movie but weren’t allowed to see the movie because of the PG-13 rating.
So I was thinking, why wouldn’t the directors create two versions of the movie, a PG version that children could enjoy, and the PG-13 version for more mature audiences? This captures the best of both worlds as everyone with any interest in this movie could purchase a ticket. If only a PG version was made, teenage audiences would be less likely to purchase a ticket to a movie for “younger children” when outer PG-13 or R rated movies were in theatres.
This is a lesson that I think that all entrepreneurs can apply to their own products and services. If you have a few large groups of users, make a product that is targeted towards the different customer groups you have.
A lot of companies are taking this further by allowing for products customized to every individual customer. Now, unless you are in a service industry, it is impossible to manufacture versions of your product so that every individual customer will find something that suits them perfectly. Instead, you have to let your customers design their own products. Nike is a great example of a company succeeding at this strategy with their NikeID program. Nike ID allows customers to customize nearly every aspect of a Nike shoe they wish to purchase online and get their customized shoe delivered to only them.
Just something to think about with relation to your business.
