MARKET: Reflection
- What exercises were
hard or easy for you? Why?
The hardest exercise was the process of mentally preparing
to conduct the interviews as that was the most difficult for me; doing the
actual interview as not hard.
- What
are the most interesting things that your learned about your customers?
One customer indicated that she would prefer to do her own
research to find solutions and another said that it would be great if the
information was in one location. This is information that I was already aware
of, but it was nice to have it validated.
- What
are the most interesting things that you learned about your competitors?
I learned that The Gainesville Magazine occasionally will
distribute their magazine directly to their customers with a subscription to their
paper. That’s a new process for them – and a great source of value added for
their existing customers.
- Do you
like your final result or you think it can be improved. What would you
improve when you have time?
The final results are okay – they can be improved with additional
research, as I become more of an expert in that area my results will get
better.
I am not a member of a minority community. That said, I think that minority communities are not homogeneous. I have lived in a number of countries over the past 20 years. Each has its own language, customs, values, issues and concerns. When I served as the Consul General in Monterrey Mexico, I had a number of minorities working for me. During the year Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, LGBT and other groups took the opportunity to do heritage / history events show films and engage on issues that were prevalent in each community –both within the diplomatic mission and with the local community. While they were all Americans there were sub-cultural issues that were different. Some of the common threads throughout the different presentations, movies and talks seemed to be the role of gender, economics, and family.
ReplyDeleteThe minority community I am most familiar with is Hispanics. My wife is Hispanic. We live in Miami and so knowing Spanish becomes a gateway to many in the community. Many are newly arrived immigrants. By the third generation, people usually don’t speak their native language and food seems to be the last thing to go. If you want to reach a large number of Hispanics you need to have people in that community write articles who understand what is happening there, know who are the up and coming musicians and be able to target advertisers who can provide the services that most people are looking for.
Hope this helps!
Hello Margaret,
ReplyDeleteIndeed, interviewing can be a tedious and time consuming task. However, I would suggest pretesting your interview questions prior to administering your actual interviews. This will help you refine your questions as well as get you comfortable for the actual interviews.
I would also like to suggest that you explore the possibility of partnering with larger media outlets such as The Gainesville Magazine. This will allow you to get your stories out to a wider audience.