Quote:
Originally Posted by N54MPower
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmack123
That seems like a pretty short sighted perspective. Inevitably you will need to increase market share. Kind of hard to do that if all you focus on is your core customers. Not to mention, your core customers of the future are not always your core customers of the present and attracting those future customers is an ongoing exercise. I'm sure BMW could just focus on their "core" customers and let Mercedes/Audi etc. grab the younger demographic and build the future base of support instead?
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I guess we would need to define who is the core BMW customer. If we think that the core is made up of enthusiasts, we are the ones who are short-sighted. The core BMW owner is not an enthusiast. Most M car and BMW owners don't go to a race track with their car or have an interest in racing. Most of the people buying BMW's Mercedes Ferrari's or Apple phones are buying into a lifestyle. |
Thats exactly my point. Your "core" customers are whoever buy your product. If you only tailor your product to a small demographic, you will have a commensurately small core. If you expand that offering to attract a larger swath of demographics, you increase the size of your core customers. Ultimately though, some only think that core is synonymous with enthusiasm for a brand. At the end of the day, if a soccer mom buys an F15 X5 because they were swayed bu the marketing, and then subsequently a G05 X5 simply because they are now familiar with the brand, does it matter than they aren't entirely enthusiastic about it? Not necessarily. Some enthusiasts are actually less attractive to the brand because they purchase one generation of a model and hold onto it longer due to sentimental reasons.