We talked last issue about the “oh my gosh” effect that happens between like-minded people recognizing each other, and as I promised in a previous article, I’ll explain it in more detail.
Shattered Girlz Profile
I met the designer of a fantastic t-shirt brand the other day that operates under the label “Shattered Girlz.” She has a passionate personal story that instantly inspires one to support her success. She suffered betrayal from men to whom she poured her heart and soul, and who in one case left her for another woman while she cared for her terminally ill parents. This designer has an avatar, Dolly Tatume, a tattooed cartoon beauty whose life and loves are chronicled through the line’s various t-shirt designs. Dolly has also been involved in some dead-end relationships with men that have caused her a lot of pain, to the point that she refers to the men in her life as “Piggys”. There are several female characters tattooed in the line that represent different examples of female empowerment, such as a dancer, a corporate lawyer, a college student, and even a soldier. The Shattered Girlz catchphrase at this time is “Shattered Girlz: They can’t break me!”
Psychographic analysis of Shattered Girlz
The Wikipedia definition of psychographics is as follows:
Psychographic variables are any attribute related to personality, values, attitudes, interests, or lifestyles. Some categories of psychographic factors used in market segmentation include social class, lifestyle, behavior, opinions, and values. Psychographics can also be seen as an equivalent to the concept of “culture” that is more commonly used in country segmentation.
Let’s break down the various aspects of this product line in psychographic terms. This is what occurs to me:
- Social class: young urban women of college age, perhaps in a street counterculture
- Lifestyle: gothic and tattoos
- Behaviour: seeking self-expression and empowerment
- Opinions: a negative attitude towards men in general, even if it is fleeting
- Values: Women can rise from the ashes
Now, I don’t know about you, but every time someone tells me their heartbreak story, I am instantly captivated. However, it would be a wrong move in this case to market this product to all women, even though we can all relate to it. Instead, we need to find a smaller subsection of all women, in this case young women. But can we go deeper? I think so, and the next subset would be young women who are into the tattoo lifestyle.
Although I don’t have one myself, tattoos are interesting because they provide a deeply personal expression of the wearer’s soul that mere words cannot convey. Many people get a tattoo after the birth of a child, after the loss of a loved one, and other life-changing events. These are people who find expression in the visual arts; in fact, many of today’s coolest tattoo artists come to the field with fine art and technical training. There are even shows about tattoo studios, like Inked and Miami Ink and LA Ink.
The plan
Due to the strong graphic element of tattoo art, I suggested to this designer that he start a comic. In fact, the plan I laid out for the initial stages of your email marketing campaign includes the following: Focus on certain keyword topics that resonate with young women getting tattoos: girly tattoo designs, girly ink, tattoos on the lower back, tramp stamps, broken hearts. tattoos, genius girl, lost girls, girls club, just to name a few.
- Turn your blog into a subscription based free comic.
- Create a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaign based on the keyword themes to promote the comic.
- Create a landing page for a comic book subscription. Make sure that you also use the keyword themes.
- Make sure the comic site advertises the Shattered Girlz line of t-shirts.
- Invite comments or questions about each installment of the comic. This can spark a dialogue with readers, inspire suggested stories or characters from them, thus creating a scrappy online community (also known as captive marketing niche). This also appeals to the “goth” community, as they can sometimes lean towards the clan.
- Create an excuse to email these subscribers regularly via comic book trailers, contests, etc., while also including a sales message in each of these emails.
I am very confident that this type of directed activity, which is also very process oriented and methodical, will give you a lot of results. I should point out for the record that this type of list building will take some time, perhaps up to three months or more. We’re not talking about get-rich-quick schemes.
But consider what will happen once you build a list and finally market it successfully. Sooner or later there will be flocks of beautiful, tattooed college girls sporting a Dolly Tatume T-shirt who will instantly exchange understanding and knowing glances when they cross paths. They can even strike up a conversation, talking about what an emotional mess their lives used to be and how Dolly and the gang really talk to them. They might even talk about the Shattered Girlz gear they each own (oh my gosh, you’ve got a doll t-shirt too!) and, if we play our cards right, even recommend certain Shattered Girlz merchandise.
And this is exactly what we want to happen.
I will keep readers informed about the results of this campaign on my blog. Until next time!
