Who's your brand target?

The social media kerfuffle du jour occurred because Michael Jeffries is a smart marketer and a lousy communicator.

Abercrombie & Fitch is successful because Jeffries has a well-defined Brand Target. The problem is, he said it out loud.

"Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong in Abercrombie & Fitch clothes, and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”

Great brands know who they're for and who they're not for. They are both inclusive and exclusive. But as Mr. Jeffries is now learning the trick is to be exclusive without being a jerk.

Apple's brand target appears to be young, cool, creative individuals as is evidenced by the Mac versus PC commercials.



Did this open Apple up to some criticism and ridicule? Yes. Did it mean they wouldn't sell their products to dweebs? Of course not.

A brand target is not a sales target. A brand target is the epitome of who you designed your product for.

A sales target is whoever walks in your door with enough money to buy your product.

Confuse the two at your own risk.