Last night I laughed when I saw a Heineken TV commercial that featured superheroes -- an obvious attempt, if you ask me, to appeal to comic book readers and sci-fi fans. There's also an Earthlink spot in which their customer service workers proclaim themselves geeks who get the job done. And Best Buy keeps announcing on the tube that they're now using the "Geek Squad" to fix your computer problems. All these advertisements have something in common, the declaration that geek is cool.
Companies have marketed to the geek demographic because they often have more disposable income, which they're willing to spend on expensive toys. As a subculture is pushed to the forefront, companies may jump on the bandwagon to appeal to this niche market. Businesses should be cautious though: The original demographic may feel they're being pandered to, and that this marketing has adopted a degree of artificiality.
It's smart to aim for specific groups -- the Long Tail model can be successful -- but companies must be careful not to upset the niche they're pursuing.
Related Stories: | Topics:Management, sales + marketing, Best Buy Co. Inc., Geek Squad Inc., Heineken |
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Recent Comments | 4 Total
August 29, 2005 at 4:31pm by Kurt Maddox
I wasn't born a geek and remained non-geek through high school and college. I have been, however, a radical convert to geekism for many years now. I know I don't share all formative experiences so treasured by geek brethren but I've aligned myself with them spiritually and intellectually for the long haul!
So, all hail the emergence of Geekdom as the favored class of the Zeitgeist!
August 29, 2005 at 5:33pm by Luke
Hm, I was beginning to wonder if I was the only Geek in the world who was beginning to become disenfranchised with being a Geek. There for a while it was really cool, but now "everyone" wants to be a Geek or wants to be friends with the local Geek.
Sigh, I guess we really did create the Age of the Geek and now it's become a paltry excuse for marketing muckadoos that aren't Geeks to make a profit...where'd the socially inept excuses for Geekism go?
August 30, 2005 at 9:05am by Sue
Geek: the highly intellectual individual that from birth found communicating with the mass majority of human beings to be less intellectually stimulating than popcorn. If you didn't have it to begin with, you most likely don't have it now. In other words, we're too smart to fall for some media propaganda to buy products without first evaluating the product, comparing it to other products available in the market place and determining if it will meet our needs.
August 30, 2005 at 12:45pm by Emma
I do believe thatmany Geeks are still human and what marketers are focusing on is the real desire to be a part of the main group, but on their own terms which would have worked 30 years ago but not so much now where it does not matter so much.