I recently decided to grow a beard. It started because my electric razor’s charger blew up when I plugged it into a 220 volt European outlet, and became a bit of a joke between me, and the guy in the mirror. While the general consensus was that facial hair of such a beardy nature would be a hindrance with the opposite sex, a friend of mine had a different logic. The clean-shaven heard was competing for the clean-shaven-appreciating heard. According to his logic I was competing in a niche market. While perhaps a decidedly smaller number of girls appreciated my rugged appearance, the supply of bearded men is much smaller than that of the clean-shaven. In his words, you could go to a party in a chicken suit, and while most girls may think you’re obnoxious, 5 will think your funny and that’s 4 more than you need.
Another friend of mine is a clean-shaven, 6’5”, model. He has had decidedly more luck in his flooded market than I have in my niche one.
This analogy sheds a bit of light on the traditional view of the niche market. First the preferences of the niche may include that which is actually disliked by the majority, not merely un-preferred. By competing in a niche, are you alienating the majority and limiting future growth? Second, the market for 6’5” models is nearly everyone, how can you differentiate in a way that applies to the entire market, not just the niche?
Tags: beard, beard niche, Jonathan Williams, niche
December 14, 2008 at 1:42 pm |
It is a little different for me because I live in Dubai and beards are fairly mainstream here. However, I find that the beard definitely appeals more to the people I tend to want to talk to anyhow. Keep up the beard!
Gerald