Both your company and ours are involved in an industry that relies disproportionately on marketing for success. The truth is that sunglasses have not changed much in the last 20 to 30 years. So we manage to set ourselves apart from the competition primarily by how we market. That is not a bad thing, by the way. Marketing plays a crucial role in business success regardless of industry.

Knowing how important marketing is to our success, we would like to introduce you to lifestyle marketing. If you can get a handle on it and how to employ it successfully, your eyewear business could experience tremendous growth. We have written this post to help you start moving in that direction.

A Basic Definition

Lifestyle marketing is a form of marketing that ties a brand or a product to a particular lifestyle, thus targeting a specific demographic group. One of the first lifestyle marketing television ads ever seen was a 1984 Super Bowl ad run by Apple to introduce the Mac computer.

Curiously enough, the ad only ran one time. Yet it still launched the Mac on a breathtaking upward trajectory that put Apple on the map and led to the sale of millions of units. The most impressive thing about the ad is that it never actually showed the computer. Rather, it made a point of telling consumers that the Mac computer was intended for rebels and envelope pushers.

Whoever created that ad understood that Apple's target audience for the Mac was a younger generation more open to trying radical, new things. Nothing has changed in the years since. Apple still markets to younger consumers by tying its brand to their rebellious lifestyles.

Knowing Your Customers

Apple succeeded in selling the Mac because those behind the marketing understood their customers. Relying on lifestyle marketing to sell bulk designer sunglasses requires much the same thing. As a retailer, you have to really know who it is you are selling to. Be aware that not every eyewear retailer targets the same demographics.

Maybe you do business primarily on Florida's east coast. You have multiple demographics to think about. First are the locals who spend as much time as possible around the water. Next are the tourists in town for 7 to 10 days of excitement before returning to their regular lives. And finally are the seniors who have left their homes elsewhere to retire in sunny Florida.

Each of these demographic groups represents a different lifestyle. You can market to all three. Just find ways to appeal to what's most important to them.

Tailoring Your Marketing

Once you know who your audience is, you can begin tailoring your marketing to them. Again, let us use the example of a retailer doing business on Florida's east coast. Lifestyle marketing aimed at locals would feature impressions that tie into the local beach and party scene. From social media to posters hanging in the window, you want to show your customers what life on the beach looks like.

The goal is to tie your designer sunglasses to the beach lifestyle. You want to give your local customers the impression that you enjoy the lifestyle too – even if you don't. The idea is to market to who they are as people, rather than to the physical need for sunglasses as eye protection.

There is a lot more we can say about lifestyle marketing. In the end though, the most important thing is that it works in the designer sunglasses arena. We encourage all of our retailers to study up on lifestyle marketing and then put it to use.