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Lifestyle Marketing – Separating the Good from the Great

Lifestyle Marketing – Separating the Good from the Great web

Estimated Reading Time: 4 Minutes

Gone are the days when a catchy ad was enough to keep consumers interested. Using the free online resources available, anyone can create a stunning ad these days. This means that there’s a lot of noise out there and simply having a catchy brand name, logo, and a list of basic marketing personas is no longer enough to keep consumers interested – they want more.

The good news is that there is a popular marketing technique designed to do that and much more.

It’s called Lifestyle Marketing, and this is how it works.

Whereas traditional marketing strategies aim to sell a product directly, Lifestyle marketing creates a link between the product and a particular lifestyle. These products appeal to the activities, interests, and opinions of the target audience.

It doesn’t focus directly on the product – it centres on the experience and emotions the product evokes; the lifestyle takes centre stage by connecting with the audience on an emotional level.

What makes this marketing technique so effective? 

We wake up, get dressed, spend the whole day at work before coming back to spend time with the family in the evening. Weekends are spent lazing around at home before repeating the whole process the following week.

Let’s face it – life can be pretty boring, and brands know this.

Lifestyle marketing works because creates an idealised image and highlights the consumer’s desire to enjoy the lifestyle the product promotes. It tells consumers that they can “become more like that image” by purchasing that particular product.

A good example of a lifestyle brand is Apple.

Its products are advertised as being innovative, simplistic, and stylish. Though Apple’s technology has evolved over time, the lifestyle it promotes stays the same. The brand is associated with living life on the edge of technology.

Lifestyle Marketing – Separating the Good from the Great B web

Image: IMore

Apple recently introduced four Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) videos designed specifically to give people a ‘tingly’ feeling. Watch these videos here.

What Makes A Lifestyle Brand So Unique? 

The idea is to separate the good from the great. It begs the question “why would you use this brand’s ordinary product when you can use our unique product and stand out from the crowd?”

Lifestyle marketing creates a community around the brand. It encourages customer loyalty which in turn provides a great source of long-term revenue and a group of repeat customers. Not only that, but brands can justify an increase in the product’s cost by marketing a product as being superior to that of a competitor’s.

Creating a strategy – what you’ll need

Before diving in, you need to know exactly which lifestyle you want to sell. To find out, brands need to connect with consumers on a human level by assessing their lifestyle choices, priorities, interests, opinions on various issues, and how they spend their free time.

Some of these lifestyle choices include product usage and buying habits, preferred leisure activities, role models, and product awareness. Demographic and psychographic characteristics are also emphasised.

Once you’ve determined the kind of lifestyle the consumer would like to lead, conduct internal research on the products to identify how your products can bring consumers closer to their desired lifestyle.

Next, you’ll need to create a brand story that focuses on this lifestyle.

Simply telling consumers that your brand can help them live their desired life isn’t enough. Show them that the brand in question is a manifestation of that lifestyle, that it symbolises the same principles and values they identify with.

And of course, communicating this message would only be possible by producing valuable, unique content. Every piece of content should display the brand’s personality and lifestyle.

The Bottom Line

Good lifestyle marketing is all about linking with an audience that would be interested in something because they consider it to be an extension of who they are, not as just another item.

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