Developing the Consumers

To develop the target market, I considered everything I have researched and developed about the brand so far, going into this process I began to write down elements about the brand that the consumer would need to be interested in, these include:

• Having an interest in traditional shaving methods

• Be drawn to simplistic design and raw materials

• Masculinity as an important factor

• Have some kind of facial hair

These simple statements helped to bring together the foundations of who the consumer might be. As well as this I undertook a primary research survey, which gained over 400 responses, one of the aims of this was in order to discover some of the motivations the consumer might have toward facial hair. With this, it was found that 85% of men felt that appearance related concerns (35% to look good, 50% to look neat/presentable) were most important for the end result of their shaving routine. More was discovered, however, through long answer questions were it was made apparent that expressing their masculinity was of great importance, when asked 'what does your facial hair say about you?' responses included things such as "my beard says I’m more masculine and rough than if I were clean shaven”, and so it is clear many men also use their facial hair as an expression of their masculinity. By making these discoveries, I was able to further understand why the consumer might purchase the product and fully form an image of them in my mind.

For the actual consumer portrait I tried to set it out in a more visual and interesting way than the standard pen portrait, which I learnt from the lecture by Tim Rundle where he described different ways of presenting information for more impact. I looked for inspiration on Pinterest and created a board (here) considering different ways I could display who the consumer is. Eventually I settled on a flat lay of objects that are important to the consumer as I think this is a good way of having an insight into who they are and what represents them as a person, this was inspired by this image. With limited time before the presentation, I did this on Indesign by placing different objects together. I think this turned out really effectively and expresses the consumer in a way I hadn't thought of before. I also considered background as this is also a way of expressing who they are, and settled on raw materials such as wood and steel as this is brand relevant and expressive of personality.

The above image is my primary consumer. Elijah is 36, with a fair amount of disposable income, although he doesn't spend his money frivolously, rather he invests in a select amount of high quality products - he knows what he likes and he won't compromise for anything less, he enjoys proper food, proper drink, and above all a proper shave. He also values hard work, and expresses his masculinity through his beard which he keeps at a medium but neat length for a rugged but taken care of look.

This consumer as my primary consumer will be attracted to the grooming kit because of its handcrafted, raw nature that provides quality products with fuss free design for practical usage to fit in with his lifestyle. The masculine branding and raw materials will be important to him as he doesn't want something over complicated, I will need to make sure to consider this when implementing my branding on the product as I found in my WGSN (2018) research that "men prefer a limited, selected range of grooming solutions: a well-branded edit of core products is key." As well as this, the reason I put him in his 30s was because I believe it will set the brand apart from the competition by aiming at this age range, as when researching the competition it was found that brands often market to either the younger 20-something consumer in an edgy way with tattoos being a core marketing tool, or towards the older 45+ consumer which is more based around classier design and age related concerns. I also believe the grooming toolbox will be able to effectively market to this consumer group as it mixes quality with necessity for the man who is in work and doesn't have time for overcomplicated routines, but still has an appreciation for the traditional. The paired back look also compliments this as it feels more grown up than the tattooed style of brands such as The Bluebeards Revenge for example.

I then developed a secondary consumer, who will also be considered but will not be as big of a spender as the primary. Jacob is 27, and has a wider range of products that represent him as person as he isn't quite so set in his ways and likes to explore new things and spend his money more freely. Because of this and his younger age, he has less disposable income than Elijah to invest in quality, and so is more likely to buy entry level products. His motivation behind having his facial hair is more centred around looking good, and he loves to style it in different ways as it is an expression of his personality. He also has an appreciation for old school design because of their aesthetic as appearance is important to him.

This consumer as the secondary consumer will be interested in the brand because of the old school design and as a way to express his personality as he will use it to groom and upkeep his perfectly shaped facial hair. In order to market to this consumer, it will be a good idea to offer the products in the kit to be purchased separately in addition to all together as he is less likely to invest all in one go. Styling is also an important factor for him, so as a possible range extension a small number of products such as beard oil and pomade for example could be a good route to go down to keep this consumer engaged as well as being able to introduce entry level and cash cow elements to the brand. These two consumers will form the basis of who were are marketing to and so will need to be considered throughout each step so as not to alienate one group or make decisions they wouldn't be interested in.

Going forward, I plan to conduct more primary research so I can better understand the consumer, this has the potential to include observation of men using shaving products to understand their routine and what is important to them as well as in depth interviews or focus groups to delve deeper into some of my findings from the primary research survey as well as to know what they think of the product itself.