Target Markets of Amazon and eBay

The great online retail brands, eBay and Amazon have conquered the markets and now are leading the competition and are millions of miles ahead of their competitors. How did they reach such results? One of their winning tactics is choosing the right target markets and they did it perfectly well.

So in order to clearly understand what type of people Amazon target we need to look upon their commercials and see who are the main stars in there.

Here is one of their commercials, when a mother is looking at her daughters’ video on the smartphone and is deciding to buy an interesting gift for her. And of course, Amazon is the platform where she surfs and buys the gifts as there are vast options of gifts and any kind of products. What type of person do we see in the commercial? The following segment’s name is Sharers. Who are Sharers?

Lifestyle, attitudes.

Sharers are a kind of segment that search for enjoyment in every minute of life. A life that is full of challenges and interesting moments is what they really need. They fill their duties in life very gladly, taking care of their family, cooking, and spending a lot of time at home.

Shopping is what they enjoy very much, and regular visits to shopping centers are one of their favorite leisure activities. They do not have a high budget but if they found something that is irresistible, they would spend all of their money to get it. Glamorous films and movies are another way of their pastime as it takes them to another reality.

Career and work are another special part of their life and they do it both for having good money and an advanced career. Having their own way of fashion is another key in their lives as well as doing regular exercises to be in good shape.

Shopping behavior.

Despite the fact that they have lower standards of living, they like purchasing quality products whenever there is a chance to have one. Prefer buying quality products for the home. Like trying a new brand just for excitement, for having something new. They like doing shopping all the time as it is their way of fulfillment, as buying something interesting will fill their life with enjoyment. 

Here are some interesting tips about Sharers.

1. They like doing work which is connected with their houses, just fixing things, painting rooms, putting some shelves, or just adding something new in the garden.
2. Loves a lot reading about lifestyle topics, health and beauty or clothing, and fashion or traveling.
3. Watching Tv a lot, because it compensates the everyday boring routine.

16 Personalities (Which one is for your business?)

So we see that Sharers could be a perfect target audience for Amazon. And the brand also uses a very specific kind of messaging for making them fall in love with their web service.

Earning a strong customer base is one thing, knowing your customers, maintaining them, and establishing strong customer relationships is another. Publix and Kroger succeeded in reaching wide coverage by knowing their customers, as they target the Sharers segment.

Sharers find enjoyment in every moment in life, even in everyday tasks and small events. This also explains their love of shopping and visiting shopping centers with great pleasure. Career growth is equally important to money, but money is the primary measure of being successful. 

Targeting Sharers has helped Kroger and Publix accurately design their marketing strategy to fit the preferences of their ideal customer. Buyer personas played a crucial role in providing products with superior value. For getting more on buyer personas and their characteristics, check out our book 16 Personalities, where we included a wide spectrum of customer segments. Your journey to perfect marketing strategy starts today!

What kind of messaging does Amazon use to attract their clients?

Let’s look at an Instagram post example.

What we see here clearly is the everyday life of people. Amazon promotes its products Alexa and Prime in a very intense way. And these 2 pictures are proof of that. Some funny stories are linked with Alexa, The baby says to Alexa to fold the laundry.

Or an interesting Tweet tells us another joke with the worm in the leading roles. So this type of ordinary messaging from everyday life is the way that the Everyman brand archetype communicates. What is the Everyman brand archetype ? It is one of the 12 archetypes.

• The desire of the brand archetype is the connection with others.
• The goal of the archetype is to belong, to fit in.
• The strategy is developing ordinary values for being accepted by surroundings.

Famous brands like Levi’s or Budweiser are using the following brand archetype as their core of branding.

And here are the 4 levels of communication of the Everyman brand archetype.

1. At first, brands tell us stories about how alienated and lonely we are.
2. Then they tell us stories about how alienated we are and how we need to seek affiliation.
3. So it is time for us to be a joiner and to accept friendship and love.
4. The everyman brand archetype gives messages like being a humanitarian and thinking about the greater world.

The Everyman brand personality could be a perfect fit for a product if

• If the function of the product or service helps people to belong.
• Which has a function that is commonly used every day?
• If the product needs to be differentiated in a positive way from higher-priced ones.

Here are some interesting facts about Amazon.

1. Amazon was almost named Cadabra, Which is the short version of Abracadabra.
2. A funny fact, there are almost 300 dogs that “work” at Amazon HQ at Seattle.
3. Amazon hast started at KEck Bezos’s garage and Barnes and Noble was the place where the meeting was held.
4. Fiona was the original code name of Amazon’s first kindle.

Now it is time to understand the targeting tactics of eBay.

How do they do it? Who is the special segment?

For this, we need to watch one of their eBay commercials.

Here are some beautiful girls who are just hanging out in speaking to each other. The girl looks at the shoes of her friend and wants to have the exact same and looks after it on eBay and finds immediately exactly the same shoes there.

So eBay is for everybody, but also it is for fashionable girls like the one in the pic. Who is the following segment? How they are different from others? The following segment’s name is Chardonnays, Who are they?

Overall description

Chardonnays are positive people who like to say “Yes” to new opportunities. They lie sharing good and happy times with friends. Being attractive to the opposite sex is crucial for them and they pay a lot of attention to their looks. But they are not flashy, they are more trendy personalities. Style is a very important part of their lifies. Being trendy and well-informed is a weapon that they use to be a leader in a community.

Shopping behavior

Caring about their looks is so crucial for Chardonnays, and shopping is a clear lifestyle for them, visiting shopping centers and just hanging up there. They want to be aware of the latest trends and also if needed they would save up enough money to buy something that really worth it. 

Quality is what they really need and they like to pay extra for that. Stylish and smart, are 2 words that they need. Large logos and flashy things are not made for them. Adds for chardonnays should be entertaining, but also the ad should stand for some good ideas. Just a catchy billboard is what they need to be attracted to.

Some interesting tips about Chardonnays.

1. Chardonnays enjoy watching sitcoms that have inspirational characters, who are trendy and the same time smart.
2. They are very well informed about the activities that take place in the city and know exactly the “important” events, the must-sees and must-do.
3. They shop mainly as a reward for their accomplishment during their working week. I have done a lot, now I can afford something special.

Now when we are aware of the target segment of eBay we can look upon their messaging tactics and see exactly how they do it.

Is there any specialty in their messaging tactics?

What is this? Nobody can answer this question in an exact way. But it is clear that this is something connected with Ping Pong. A product that we have not seen before, only a creative mind could make something like this. The creativity with bright colors is on the top in the Instagram post. What kind of messaging does Ebay give us? The following messaging tactics are based on the archetypal branding especially the Creator brand archetype. What does the Creator brand archetype represent?

• The desire of the brand archetype is to create something with enduring value.
• The goal of the archetype is giving form to a vision.
• The strategy is developing artistic control and skills.

Here are some messaging tactics that the Creator brand archetype uses to attract different people.

1. The creator brands speak about daydreams and fantasies, flashes of inspiration.
2. Then the brands tell us to be innovative and creative in a unique way.
3. So it is time to give form to a vision.
4. And the 4th grade is creating structures that influence culture and society.

The creator brand archetype could be a perfect identity for a brand if

• if a product encourages self-expression, gives the customer different options and solutions.
• When a product has a do-it-yourself element in it.
• If you want to differentiate the product from a “Does-it-all” brand.

Here are some fascinating facts about eBay.

1. The original name of the website was Auction Web.
2. Scorpions cd was the first item that eBay sold in the UK.
3. British people are the most frequent eBay users.
4. A yacht is the most expensive item that eBay has ever sold.
5. The original color of eBay was yellow.
6. There was a time that even Nasa used eBay.

Here are just 2 interesting examples of target markets. You can check out our blog and read some interesting topics referring to target markets and many other aspects of marketing and branding. Thank you very much.