What target markets do you belong to and how do advertisers reach each of your aspects?

A target market is a group of customers that the business has decided to aim its marketing efforts and merchandise. There are many ways in which advertisers can do this and like the book discusses some of these persuasion forms are: mining pop culture, direct marketing and relationship marketing. Mining pop culture is when advertisers align themselves with the consumer through the art and entertainment of popular culture. They borrow familiar symbols from the culture to promote consumer identification with the product; an example of this is the commercial for iPod in which they feature a silhouetted hip-hop dancing and music. When I first saw this ad, it immediately grabbed my attention and I knew I wanted to be that silhouette because of the liberty and freedom it projected. Apple is not the only company that manages to grab my attention every time one of their ads comes up, Converse does it too. Being a female college student, it easy to believe that I belong to that particular target market and so Converse has managed to capture the essence of college life in different ways. They have various commercials and ads, each dedicated to the different age groups, but in general their target market is young adults.

Besides from age and gender, another target market I consider myself a part of is diversity. As an international student here in the US, I find myself feeling more in connection with commercials or ads that target this. By promoting unity or showing how no matter where you are from, we are still a part of one world, these commercials tend to make me feel valuable and that I am one of the many whose culture is being represented in those ads. Interest is also another by which I get targeted. Advertisements for movies like Harry Potter, Inception or Hangover, attract my attention and play a role in my decision making when watching a movie. Same works for music, books and clothing.

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