Week 5A: Defining Your Target Market

http://www.econobum.com/    vs  http://www.justcheapdiapers.com/ 

 

The Differences in Each Company's Target Market, Demographics, and Psychographics
In this blog we are tasked with comparing the online presence of two different diaper companies.  Both companies were started by mothers looking for solutions to a diapering dilemma, namely cost of diapers. Both companies found different solutions.

Since both companies are selling diapers, it would imply that both are targeting parents of babies in diapers. That would be a mistake, in that the websites are targeting parents in different areas of the world, with different ways of purchasing (phone vs online), and different types of customer desires.

Econobum is a division of a larger privately-owned company called Cottonbabies. The target market for Econobum and their larger company is to the classy environmentally conscious soon-to-be new mother. Anyone who has had babies knows that it takes a deep dedication to keeping with the cloth diaper routine, so I doubt that they are marketing directly to mothers of older babies. By the time a baby is older, the mother has settled into her diapering routine (usually disposable). To help market to this demographic, they have a registry. The type of customer they are marketing to cares about the earth her children will inherit, enough that they are willing to suffer more cleaning logistics of the cloth diapers rather than contribute to the landfill crisis.

In addition they are marketing to retailers since they are wholesale providers of their own products. In fact I believe this web site is more focused on the retailer as evidenced by what comes up on their "where to buy" button on the navigation bar. Their only call-to-action is a button to "Find Stores."

Econobum's demographics is probably middle to upper class and educated and living in the US. If we want to break it down even further, they are appealing to people who desire Ethical Practices in their products which may appeal more toward liberal type parents. I don't see any pictures of babies or mothers of color, however, when I go to their Facebook page there are numerous pictures of mothers and babies of color. 

Their Facebook page is lively and informative, with alternating funny baby videos and invitations for their followers to submit helpful hints such as washing suggestions. In this manner they seem to be marketing directly to the consumer, by creating awareness of their brand.

The Twitter account seems more geared to retailers as well as doulas and mid-wives who would be recommending or selling their products. It too, is active and up-to-date.

Just Cheap Diapers operates out of the Philippines. On first glance the website looks professional enough, with a good header and an invitation to follow them on Facebook. It even has a call-to-action to check out their monthly specials. It's when you go below the surface that things get confusing. It appears the only way you can order the diapers is to call the number the "contact us" button. If you click on the products themselves it takes you an accepted payment page, which lists types of payments but no shopping cart or any way to buy the product. Almost all of the links take you pages that have a heading only - no information. 

If indeed the company is legitimate, they are only marketing to mothers in the Philippines. There is a big economic gap between the wealthy and the poor in the Philippines. Perhaps their target market is a poor Filipino who is using a computer in a coffee shop and calls the owner, Joyce Bangga, on the telephone and orders that way. Maybe even selling to a corner market who would resell by the individual diaper. 

They have attempted the start of an online presence but it must have fizzled quickly. There is only one Facebook post with 4 people leaving comments, most asking how they can order the diaper. What is confusing is that there are 2869 likes. 

I cannot find any Twitter account for them at all.

Differences Between the Two Websites 
The most obvious difference between the websites of Econobum and Just Cheap Diapers is that Econobum actually lets you buy their product online. The second difference is in the type of diaper being sold; Econobum sells cloth diapers to environmentally conscious mothers and Just Cheap Diapers sells inexpensive disposable ones. 

More subtle differences are in the branding, including color choices. Econobum uses lots of earth tones while Just Cheap Diapers uses the stereotypical baby colors of pink and blue.
 
I don't think there is much crossover between the two company's websites because one sells in the US and one in the Philippines. Moreover they are targeting a different type of customer.
 
Conclusions
Econobum sends the message that there is a low-cost, environmentally-friendly option for diapering your baby. Just Cheap Diapers sends the message that if you are willing to take a chance on a woman who has a half finished website, and no way to order online, you may get some cheap diapers that will get the job done.