NICHETRIBUTES
Low-cost, practical tributes to the zeitgeist.
It is about the power of making products and services relevant by incorporating “attributes” and features that cater to distinct (if not niche) consumer lifestyles and situations (Nichetributes is decidedly not about advertising, i.e., tailoring a mass product’s message to a specific audience; it’s about tailoring the product itself to that specific audience).
This is not about Nouveau Niche or the Long Tail: Nichetributes are attributes/features/additions to existing products, which make them more practical for specific user groups, while at the same time signalling to those users that the brand “gets it”, that it cares, and in some cases even pays tribute to their lifestyle.
Some random examples:
• Anything prefaced by “i” continues to be fair game for Nichetributes: Dots Gloves are knit gloves with metal dots on the fingertips that won’t scratch iPhones, iPods or other touch screen phones or devices, while Etre Touchy gloves keep hands warm and dry while operating electronic gadgets by baring only the wearer’s index finger and thumb. And how about the first hands-free cellphone glove for winter sports, the GX-1, by Swany?
• The INQ1 is the world’s first social networking mobile phone and will be launched on the 3 network in the UK. Online services such as Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, Skype and Last.fm are integrated into the phone’s operating system, allowing a user to—for example—access Facebook contacts from the phone’s address book and to see friends’ profile pictures when they call.
Cool stuff: The INQ1, the world’s first social networking cellphone, Esteé Lauder’s Super Flight Creme and the cool Dot Gloves are specially designed for touch screen gadgets; (above) Feedback 3.0 will help start direct conversations between firms and consumers, though it may be too late for some.
But it’s not all iPods and smartphones: Estée Lauder developed its “Super Flight Creme Continuous Hydration for Face and for Eyes” for frequent flyers, helping them improve their skin’s recovery from dry cabin air and jet lag.
Why Nichetributes is an important trend for the next 12 months:
• For consumers, anything practical and useful will go down well in more austere times, while anything that speaks their language (and thus ultimately shows that a brand cares about its customers’ interests) will be reciprocated with appreciation and goodwill. Which in today’s harsh business climate is like, well, gold dust.
• For businesses, Nichetributes can often be imagined and introduced at very low costs (which doesn’t hurt when budgets are tight); the only resources needed are creativity and a good feel for the consumer trends that matter most over the next 12 months.