Brand managers, here’s how to sell to struggling poor
My favourite market segmentations tool, Y&R 4Cs, separates people by their key motivations and the seven defined groups, everyone is determined to move up to the top of the food chain, apart from those at the very top and those at the bottom of the barrel.
There is one particular segment that believes that success lays just around the corner and that Lady Luck may come knocking on their door.
Colloquially, they call themselves “masufferer” or hustlers and they live from hand to mouth, depending on a daily wage. In the 90’s the mass produced packaged goods that catered to this consumer had a leg up the coopetition who responded only to The Mainstream’s needs and circumstances While CPC, Unilever, and the rest offered only bigger packs with lower per unit costs based on economies of scale, a plan that worked extremely well in the developed world, local companies like Bidco offered miniature parks that could be bought daily.
This idea was grounded in a powerful market insight which embraced the methods used by traders in the slums and deep rural Kenya.
The traders would buy these large economy packs, break them open and repackage them into smaller units into light plastic bags for daily use in line with their shoppers’ sending abilities.
In reality, this phenomenon wasn’t new because it had existed within the Indian trading community since the Kenyan railway was built.
In African economies, the proportion of the Struggling Poor is significantly larger than those of the Mainstream and this tends to limit their choices and the careers that they settle for.
They, therefore, believe that religion and luck have inordinate influence in their pursuit of happiness and the possibilities of their future success. The churches offer salivation and the charismatic religious leaders go much further to sell outlandish miracles for their tithe which they buy hook, line and sinker as they seek relief from their daily struggles.
Lotteries and betting companies sell the dream of an immediate end to their suffering and a heavenly life on the other side of the train tracks. The gambling sector is having such an impact on this target audience, that it has gotten government attention, even though betting as a pastime has existed since money was invented.
Even as politicians set policy to curb the seemingly unfolding gambling problem, they target the Strugglers during elections and sell them the dream of an immediate end to their suffering and a heavenly life on the other side of the train tracks.
This is evidently the case of the pot calling the kettle black.
When selling products to this marker segment, it is critical to emphasize savings, discount and special offers because they are always looking for a good deal.
Price is more important than quality and promises to change life’s circumstances will capture their attention, especially when the story is related by one of their own in the form of a testimonial.
Their core motivation in life is escape and brand managers that seek to appeal to this target group must take this into account.
This article was originally published in Business Daily March 11, 2018 — Updated on December 19, 2020
Author: Joe Otin Mr. Otin is a digital marketing expert and CEO of The Collective – an interactive ad agency. He is also the President of PAMRO and the Chairman of the Advertising Standards Board of Kenya.
How Kenya’s affluent plan to spend bonus earnings
High income Kenyans plan to spend the bulk of bonus earnings on buying property or re-investing in their businesses, underlying the propensity of the rich. to save rather than splash extra money on luxuries. A study by Standard Chartered Bank’s Kenya’s wealth management unit on how wealthy Kenyans intend to spend their bonuses in 2024 shows that investing in tangible personal assets holds more appeal for the affluent and emerging affluent.
The study shows that emerging affluent individuals banking with Stanchart expect a bonus averaging Kes. 230,000 while the affluent expect an average of Kes 640.000. While 30% of the emerging affluent expect between Shs. 100.000 and 200,000, 34% of the affluent expect above Kes. 900,000. According to the study, the affluent and emerging affluent intend to use 30% of their bonus on investments and 27% on savings. They intend to spend a quarter of it and use 18% on settling debts
“Despite external pressure concerns, clients still intend to allocate more money to investments. When asked about their preferences for allocating bonuses for investments, more intend to assign a greater proportion,” said the survey…..
…The majority, (81%) of those surveyed were aged between 30 and 39. About 78% of the surveyed were in full time employment.
Originally published in Business Daily, here
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