The success of a business is directly linked to the degree to which the companies products and marketing strategies, especially communication, reflect the lifestyle of the targeted people. This gives them a competitive business advantage in the market. The role of brands and products in consumer lifestyles is tremendous, and definitely provides insights into companies marketing and advertising strategies. The outcome is very high visibility and vital awareness of the product among the consumers. In a nutshell, successful companies are those that recognize lifestyle as a tactical tool for a marketer to have an enhanced understanding and knowledge of the market and the target consumers.
In
the 21st century, the outlook of "lifestyle marketing"
as the latest merchandising strategy to enthrall the
customers has become the buzzword after the 1980s'
"Niche Marketing" and the 1990s' "Branding"
craze. In the ever changing business scenario, one
may find lifestyle being the defining factor that
keeps a company one step ahead, since lifestyle marketing
has assumed a new paradigm in today's competitive
business world.
Lifestyle
has a psychological influence that affects buying
behaviorreflecting a person's choice of how one spends
time and money, and the attitudes and values attached
to these behavioral patterns. It is a pattern of living
that is articulated through activities, interests,
and opinions, and affected by demographics like a
person's age, education, income, social class, etc.
While, lifestyle marketing attempts to group customers
according to some amalgamation of three categories
of variablesActivities, Interests, and Opinions (AIO)and
identifies the potency of a customer's chosen lifestyle
to determine the sort of products purchased and the
specific brands that are further likely to appeal
to the chosen lifestyle segment.
Lifestyle
marketing is defined as "... any promotional
activity shaped around the interests, attitudes, opinions,
and way of life of consumers". Essentially, therefore,
lifestyle marketing works best when companies are
able to connect with the lifestyle pattern of how
their existing and potential customers live, by developing
effective marketing strategies that seamlessly fit
with their way of living. This is evident from the
success stories of lifestyle brands across various
groupsapparel, motorbikes, shoes, cosmetics, etc.where
the companies have won the marketplace by spending
millions of rupees or dollars in developing the work
and making efforts that support the beliefs and core
values of the consumers. |
