MAL 45/21 MAL45 | Page 62

MARKETING EVOLUTION

A Case of two customers

By Marion Wakahe
Cis gender describes someone whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex . Some people would not define themselves as cis gender . Their demeanour and behaviour are normally associated with the opposite gender . Someone close to me complained recently of a woman dressed and head shaven that made her look very masculine . “ It ’ s just silly to me ,” she said . “ Welcome to the world you are living in ,” was my response .
Demographic segmentation of markets is a common practice . Criteria such as age , gender , income level , family size , marital status , profession , education , etc . are used . This helps in targeting ; making sure that the product is sold to the group of people most likely to buy .
Gender is an interesting criterion to use and as a marketing professional it is important to understand that there is a difference between gender and sex . Gender identity refers to a person ’ s deeply felt , inherent sense of being male or female which may or may not correspond to a person ’ s sex assigned at birth or to a person ’ s sex characteristics .
But there is another consideration . Some people fully identify with their sex at birth and would therefore wholly consider themselves as male or female but simultaneously , fully , or in part embrace characteristics associated with the opposite gender .
Keeping in mind the above , we ’ ll consider the story of BP - not his real initials . BP is a man in touch with his femininity and not ashamed to show . He loves his bags . One time he decided to go shopping for a new bag whilst still holding on to his older bag . He got into the store and met with a store assistant ( SA ).
SA : “ Hi , how can I be of assistance ? BP : “ I ’ m here to buy a bag .”
SA : “ I ’ m sorry sir but this is a ladies store , we don ’ t sell men ’ s bags .”
BP : Looks down at the bag he was holding and asks , “ Does it look like I am here to buy a man ’ s bag ?”
He stepped away from her and browsed the shop . It was not long though before he left the shop .
“ Gender is an interesting criterion to use and as a marketing professional it is important to understand that there is a difference between gender and sex . Gender identity refers to a person ’ s deeply felt , inherent sense of being male or female which may or may not correspond to a person ’ s sex assigned at birth or to a person ’ s sex characteristics .”
Upset does not fully capture how he felt . He went on Instagram , started a live video , and talked about how denigrated he felt , that money has no gender , how they made him feel horrible , that the store assistant gave off such nasty vibes , and so on . BP is a well-to-do businessman with an Instagram following of over 650,000 so it was not long before the video did the rounds and got attention from people higher up in the company .
The company ’ s head of marketing got in touch with him and apologised for what he had gone through at the store . “ Please understand that the behaviour of the staff member you met does not reflect our values . We believe that anyone who feels that our products suit them should be able to purchase and use them freely . We will undertake refresher training for all staff to have a more inclusive mindset .” In addition , he asked BP to visit the store again and pick any bag of his liking at their cost . BP did so and uploaded a second video describing his experience . He was happy with their response , “ they did right by me ,” he said .
This is a story that can be used as a case study . I asked myself a few questions : What if he was buying the bag for his mother , aunty , sister , girlfriend , etc .? Maybe the other bag he was carrying was a reference point for the bag he should buy ? Does it matter that he was buying the bag for himself ? How good and how frequent is the training that is given to staff in the store ? Is it made clear that a customer , is a customer , is a customer ?
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MAL 45 / 21 ISSUE