Alyson Udell, the high-energy communications manager at Duncan Enterprises shared some consumer profiles that provide an excellent snapshot of the diverse customer base our industry serves. Thanks for letting me share these Alyson!

I am 13 years old.  I am not a crafter…what’s a crafter anyways…oh, wait, I think my grandma does that stuff?!  I love MySpace, my cell phone, my Ipod…my, my, my.  My mom says that the world doesn’t revolve around me, but I know it really does.  Don’t you dare buy me clothes and accessories that my friends have – I’ll be horrified and totally embarrassed.  I want things that express what I’m about…I want to stand out…I want to be seen and heard…I count.

I am 26 years old.  I don’t consider myself a crafter but I love to be creative.  I love fashion but am horrified if I walk into a room and someone is wearing my top.  I love to give gifts, but they must be unique…and with a unique wrapping…and they must have meaning to the recipient.  I work full time, attend grad courses at night and study on the weekends and I find that creativity provides a stress relief.  In just about everything that I do, I strive to do it in a different way than others. 

I am 38 years old.  My family is my life…my life is my family.  I want the best for them and I tend to forget about myself…but I don’t want to forget about myself.  My wardrobe more closely resembles my single days in the 80’s than today’s Chanel, Gucci…or even Isaac Mizrahi for Target for that matter!  I spend more time, energy and money on my home…probably because it’s for my family.  I do love to find unique items for the home, but it’s hard to find them…I want to find the time to be creative and make those unique items…I need projects that are quick and easy.  I want my friends to visit and ask, “Where did you get that”, and be proud to say, “I created it myself”. 

I am 55 years old.  Yes, I’m a boomer!  I am a grandma, but not a granny…please, don’t call me “young at heart”…I am young.  I am redefining what mid-life looks, feels and sounds like in American society.  I am embracing technology…I have email, a MySpace account (to stay in touch with my children and grandchildren), an eons.com account (to stay in touch with my friends), an Ipod, a digital camera…yeah, I’m cool.  I’ve always crafted in some way, but these days, I tend to craft for or with my grandchildren.  I want to pass along my creativity, but I know that my family isn’t crafting in the same way I always have.  Heck, I don’t even want to craft the way I have been!

I find it so interesting how each person is influenced by the place they are in their lives.  Yet we can't assume that as the customer ages, she just rolls over into the next category. Each of the demographic groups represented here:  Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Gen Y and Millenials has a recognizable set of beliefs that will affect their activities as they age. 

The craft industry has TREMENDOUS opportunity to apply target marketing towards specific customer groups. I think we know this. I think we just haven't figured out how to do it with the resources currently dedicated to marketing.

I wonder what would happen if we can pull back from our adherence to the belief that customers constantly need something new (Who trained them to believe that, anyway?) and invest some of those R& D dollars into marketing existing products towards different groups.

I'm not saying to stop new product development, I am saying curtail it a bit and place the investment in consumer development. The "let's just throw it out there and see what sticks" approach isn't going to work anymore. We need to speak to individual customer groups.

Here's an example from another industry to stretch your thinking. Heinz introduced a new version of it's popular ketchup, it is green. Green ketchup. Now my reaction to that was "yuk, gross" but kids love it. And who buys it for the kids, moms who want to make kids happy. One corporate message to the kids- Green ketchup is fun. One message to moms- your kids are going to love it.