Fence Sitter
A. R. Samson
No longer does purchasing power solely dictate expenditure and consumption patterns. Do you buy anything just because you have the disposable income? Lifestyle classifications more likely influence shopping patterns.
Can you ride the elevator or go to a marketing seminar without hearing the term, “millennial?” While a centennial (or centenarian) may refer to a hundred year old man, the millennial has nothing to do with a thousand-year-old fossil. It refers to people born in 1985 and later (the year varies) who crossed the second millennium ready to be dissected as the most important segment in the market. All the marketers are poring over research on this “net generation” who spend at least 4-5 hours every day interacting with their gadgets.
But do they really have money to spend if they still live with their parents? Are there lifestyle niches more worthy of study?
Segmentation of the market is now becoming “granular” so that niches are getting smaller and more refined. The single consumer with only personal needs to attend to is becoming a consumer worth chasing.
People who live alone in their ritzy condos can be classified in lifestyle terms as “Single Paycheck, No Dependents (SPND).” Note that the pronunciation of this acronym hints at its own rationale. Individuals in this market category have the purchasing power and spend a lot on such nonessentials as cameras that don’t send text messages, pricey sneakers, vinyl records and their hard-to-find tube-based turntables, mountain climbing gear, ritzy restos, and foreign trips.
They live alone in small spaces that have no storage space even for canned goods. They do not need a kitchen, only a microwave oven, because they often eat out.
Shopping clubs with their member-consumers enticed to buy in bulk do get discounts on their family-sized units intended for a big household with many dependents. But the singles market isn’t interested in penny pinching and discount hunting.
The SPND niche has also attracted the service sector.
Management consultancies now cater to the SPND individual. Executive coaching deals with the CEO or candidate CEO trying to perfect his corporate game. The solo client is observed in social settings and meetings and given pointers — do not hog the conversation over lunch. Your jokes need work. Does he even have to be a CEO? There is the “life coach” after all that dispenses advice on diets and aspirations — so you want to be a landscape architect? Let’s start with shrubs.
In the gym too, the personal trainer takes care of the customized regimen applied to one client who may want to concentrate on a particular part of his physique, say thighs or loins. The trainer helps in carrying the weights and putting them back on the stand lest they fall on his single customer.
The market for SPND deals with both supply and demand. On the demand side, the solo lifestyle shuns storage requirements for inventory and favors instant consumption. Solo service and its usage-based approach extend to areas beyond cereals and canned goods.
Success fees will replace regular retainers. Why pay a fixed monthly fee to a lawyer or PR consultant when the service is not routinely required? The services for communications are evolving from pre-need to as-needed basis as in crisis events, like event fiascos, viral videos, and demolition jobs on adversaries.
Companionship too may be abandoned for single-serve alternatives. This is consistent with the solo marketing philosophy of a willingness to pay more in unit cost compared to a retainer allowance which adds up. The former saves on overhead like rent (storage), laundry for linens and towels, and car amortizations. Usage-based companionship also takes into account biorhythms and moods. (I just feel like having café latte by myself this afternoon.) Single serve females have a riposte for the famous male chauvinist slogan on the cow versus milk purchase — why get the whole pig when all you want is a little sausage?
Of course SPNDs are not all the same. Even among those at the top of the paycheck/revenue pyramid, their spending patterns may not be all that whimsical. They may be bankers, after all, with a view to savings and investments rather than the sybaritic call of luxury goods and services.
Also, lifestyle niches like SPND can change overnight. The paycheck may dwindle or disappear as dependents rise in number. Then it becomes a different category altogether… of no interest to the marketers.
A. R. Samson is chair and CEO of Touch DDB.
ar.samson@yahoo.com
