We have discussed story tellers at length, but most of that discussion applies to established business and not to entering a new market.  The concept, however, applies to both.  To understand this, it is easiest to refer back to our tackle shop example from before.

Rather than already owning the tackle shop, assume we want to open one this spring.  We have found a location in a somewhat remote but popular fishing location just outside of town.  In any given day, 100 people pass through the area.  Of those one hundred, 15 are "Dock Dwellers," 35 are "City Slickers," and the remaining 50 are "Locals."  We know nothing of their buying habits yet, but we can easily determine the kind of brand image each segment would favor.

The Dock Dwellers and Locals are very much the same, but the first group spends their days fishing and chatting with tourists while the Locals just live here and work nearby to run the local infrastructure (farmers, school teachers, boat shop mechanics, etc.).  The City Slickers show up wearing expensive clothing, driving large cars, and usually seek out the Dock Dwellers after they get lost.

A Dock Dwellers store would highlight fishing equipment, a Local store basic home goods, and a City Slicker store would be clean and have EVERYTHING they might have possibly left at home.  Without referring back to the outcome of our last scenario, who might we select to tell our story?  We have to design our store layout, product offering, and brand image to target this group.

Do we have enough information yet?  What else might we need to know or understand before moving forward?  If you have enough information to make a decision, which segment would you target and why?

Please leave your comments and we will discuss the outcome tomorrow.