How to Market to People Not Like You: "Know It or Blow It" Rules for Reaching Diverse Customers

Chapter 16. Hobbies and Special Interests

Have you heard of Mensa International? Mensa is the "high IQ society," a group of people all over the world who have attained a score within the upper 2 percent of the general population on intelligence. It's a global organization and, as you might imagine, those who are Mensa members share much more than simply a higher IQ than average. They also share a love of knowledge and intellectual exchange. They appreciate and enjoy intellectual challenges. They like to push themselves intellectually. So let's say you have a company that makes puzzles and games, and up until now, you've always focused on kids and young adults. You want to expand your business, and you decide to create a new product line: extremely challenging puzzles and games designed to stretch the "mind muscles" of the player. Targeting a group like Mensa members would make perfect sense.

In previous chapters, we've addressed targeting certain groups by race, ethnicity, gender, age, and even nativity. But finding new customers through their hobbies or interests can open doors for your business as well. And, as in the case of Mensa members, you may find that the only common link among a group who share a hobby is the bobby. Mensa members are all over the world. They are men and women, young and old, of every race, ethnicity, income, and education level you can imagine. But there is a strong common platform that they share, and that is their minds and the way their minds work.