96 • 100 GREAT BUSINESS IDEAS
Finding new audiences for your product can allow you to broaden
your sales potential and escape crowded markets.
The idea
Do you think you know who the best people are to target with your
marketing? Think again. Reconsidering who may be interested
in your products opens up a new world of potential customers,
for the company intrepid enough to fi nd a new audience for
its advertising.
The Polish division of the brewing fi rm Carlsberg decided to create
a beer to be marketed primarily to women. Karmi, a beer with a
low alcohol content and high emphasis on fl avor, was colorfully
packaged and launched on International Women’s Day. This was a
bold move in an industry that typically focuses on selling to a male
clientele, with advertising campaigns usually centering around
sports sponsorship deals and scantily clad models.
This strategy of redefi ning your audience was also followed by
British clothing retailer Marks & Spencer, after its reputation for
catering to older female clientele became insuffi cient to sustain its
business. Marks & Spencer decided to expand into a younger, more
style-focused market, and launched Per Una, a new range of clothes
designed to appeal to women in their twenties and thirties. While
it had traditionally emphasized comfort over style, the decision to
present a fashion-forward image helped Marks & Spencer broaden
its appeal—and turn around its fl agging sales.