Recently, Doritos rolled out their Rainbow Doritos to the cheers of many and the ire of others. Some of the world celebrated, while the internet of everything allowed the trolls to come out and share their hate.
Now keep in mind – regardless of your politics or personal beliefs, the United States is known as the land of the free and the home of the brave. We are ALL allowed to make our own choices, live our own lives, and have our own opinions, regardless of what side of the issue we are on. We also need to be brave enough to stand up when the time is right.
As brands and marketers we constantly look at products and think about positioning and audience demographics. How do we make sure that the right audience is attracted to our product. Those audiences can be dissected in a hundred different ways from man, woman, young, old, urban, rural, white collar, blue collar, rich, poor, straight – or yes, even gay. We also know that whoever is our target audience is not our only audience. If we market to young people – the older audience might not get the message and we might alienate them. If a product is too feminine in style – men might shy away. Here’s the thing – YOU WILL NEVER MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY. The worst brand mistake is to be all things to all people because you will probably end up saying nothing.
Doritos has been around since 1964 and can be considered a legacy brand. Surely there are probably a lot of 60+ year olds that grew up on Doritos and still love them – but Doritos understands their brand. Their tagline is “For The Bold” and they have always focused on a young audience. They trust that the Doritos flavor that consumers love will stick with them, long after they outgrow the advertising.
So it’s no surprise that Doritos made a bold move with a new product and niche message. The product was in line with their brand and their core audience. I’m sure there were many sleepless nights and board room discussions of what to expect and their decision was not made lightly. But to be bold – they did it anyway. And as expected, social media lit up and every news outlet in the U.S. covered the story generating millions of dollars in free advertising. Ironically – Doritos did not spend time and energy promoting this niche. Their audience of both fans and non-fans did it for them. In fact, if you go to their website it takes you to their Crash The SuperBowl campaign showing where their real time and energy is still invested in their core audience.
Like every marketing decision, niche marketing can have positive rewards. But niche marketing decisions must be made with the best intentions of your brand and what it stands for. You must understand your core audience and be true to yourself. Consumers can see through hype and it will backfire if it’s just a publicity stunt.
Want to brainstorm how can you use niche marketing to grow your brand? Drop us an email at melinda@fulltiltmarketing.net to set up a call.
Written by Melinda Goodman
Managing Partner
