Expanding The Audience
Posted: October 14, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: mom's organic market, sustainable living roadshow Leave a comment »
The other day when I was stopping by Mom’s Organic Market I saw that they had just finished up a demonstration from the Sustainable Living Roadshow. At first I thought, “Cool! I wish I had come a little earlier and seen what this was all about.” But then I got to thinking. What good is it to have a sustainable living demonstration at a store that already has customers making the choice to buy organic/local/humane food? I feel like having this sort of thing at Mom’s is kind of like preaching to the choir. I would consider myself the average Mom’s shopper and I make seasonal food choices, recycle and reduce my waste it the best ways I can to fit my lifestyle, so what more can the SLR give me? Now I cannot say I would have gotten nothing out of the demo, but I feel like the show would have been much better served at the Giant down the road (I am only coming at this from a sustainable food perspective).
Giant is known to be a nice general grocery store that caters to the middle to upper-middle class. I personally feel that these people, those that have the money to make the choice to vote with their dollar should be the ones targeted. Many American’s just don’t know how their food choices influence the world, but these American’s don’t tend to shop at Mom’s.
Another side issue I had was that the program did not make the campaign approachable. You need people from all walks of life to be part of your task force if you want success. The SLR staff seemed to fit into a single stereotype and I know that people are less likely to approach someone who they feel is already judging them. The signs and slogans they use are also a bit off putting to a suburban housewife doing the weekly shopping, but she is exactly who SLR should be targeting. She is the one who makes the household choices. They are focused on their families’ bottom line and their children. They are the ones voting with their families’ fork.
I all for everything Mom’s and The Sustainable Living Roadshow does, I just wish they could expand their audience to those that need to listen.
