Tribe is the new cool

Once upon a time…TV, radio, newspapers and magazines dominated the world of mass marketing and mass produced products for mass markets.

And then the world has changed. The age of mass marketing has ended.

Internet has become the largest medium, but also the most focused one, because it gives the opportunity to millions of small voices to be heard.

Internet allows people with various interests and lifestyles to share their beliefs in the virtual communities.  And these communities, or if you prefer- TRIBES are united by a common denominator such as education, interests, political beliefs etc.

In today’s world, it’s important for marketers to figure out who your tribes are and what makes their members tick. It’s only when we really know who our customers are that we can start customizing the offerings for them.

Let’s consider Seth Godin’s words of wisdom in the context of a tribal marketing.

“Everyone is not your customer”- Your product should have its own customers, not everyone will like it or use it.

In the hospitality business, customers are different. Many individuals belong to different tribes depending upon their trip, the reason why they’re travelling and who they are travelling with. Some customers want extremely high level of personalization; others will think of it as an unnecessary experience. Some guests will want to have luxury services, while others will prefer close contact with nature.

While Tribal Marketing is not a new term, there are not many marketers doing it.  Finding a genuine brand’s followers is difficult and hard to achieve.

Identifying your brand’s tribe takes more than breaking down your brand’s target market through traditional demographic, behaviours and geographies. We need to re-evaluate our marketing strategy, and have a fresh look at how we categorize our customers.

It is time to think outside the box and dig deeper into psychographic categories. Our customers, target audience, or our Tribes, should be identified based on a shared group of activities, collective values and interests.

Amadeus Future Traveller Tribes 2030 suggests six new tribes of travelers that will travel in 2030- Obligation Meeters, Ethical Travellers, Cultural Purists, Simplicity Searchers, Reward Hunters, Social Capital Seekers.

As a marketer, we should look away from the product and get closer to our customers. When designing our marketing strategy, we must adopt more ‘psychographic’ approach and consider new sets of travellers united by similar outlooks on expectations.