Blog 3: Target Audiences

If you are opening up your own business or company, it is important to have knowledge and understanding of your target audience. No matter what your ending goal is, the first step is to know your business and what you are offering. Once you know this you can target your audience and then tailor your offerings to meet their needs. Target audiences are usually determined by Age, Gender, Income, and Social structure but a more indept way to target audiences is by doing surveys to determine more about the customers personality. The VALS market segments are very accurate and that the survey is also very accurate. I read through each segment option and then took the survey and it was as if they hit the nail on the head. I was considered to be in the "Experiencers" target audience along with being an "Achiever" with a close second. I can definitely agree with that because I do like to dress trendy and be fashionable but I also have high expectations of myself along with very high career goals and strong family oriented characteristics. I think companies that use the VALS segment and profit can benefit a great deal from this because it gives them knowledge on their target consumers and helps them to decide what upcoming trends and fads their target audience is purchasing.
As for my group on Tuesday, we had Lane Bryant as our company and I don't think our target audience was what we had in mind. After reading about VALS, I think our consumer should have probably been older, between the ages of 28-45 , with a middle class income, plus size, and someone who isn't into the "latest trends" but still wants to have a sense of fashion without looking totally helpless.