A Rockabye Marketing Lesson
As a new parent, I’ve become well introduced to many things this week. Before a few days ago, I had no idea that babies had their own brand of laundry detergent, that a pack of 1,000 wipes can go very quickly, and that if you don’t stop to burp the kiddo multiple times, you and your black track suit jacket could be in trouble.
Among the many discoveries that my husband and I are currently making, one of my favorite has been the “Rockabye” CDs, which are special lullaby CDs especially popular among parents who grew up in the 90′s and 2000′s. In tune to songs from bands like U2, Coldplay, Kanye West, No Doubt and even Green Day, this company has taken well-loved songs and set them to the theme of lullabies. Our daughter is actually snoozing to a CD we made her today as I type.
As I’ve listened to some of the songs I love to rock out to go through the filter of a lullaby, it’s got me thinking of marketing and the awesome opportunity we have as small businesses to continue recreating ourselves like the bands and creators of “Rockabyes.”
Instead of waiting for the children to get older so that listening to such rock songs would be interesting (or even appropriate,) these creators have instead found a way to expand their market. They took their product and thought about how to grow into other markets – instead of waiting for the other markets to grow into them. They found a way to stay true to who they were (thus, the songs follow the same tunes), yet evolve their product to fit their newest target audience (the lyrics are removed and instruments replaced with xylophones.)
For those of us who work in small businesses, how can we follow the example set by the “Rockabye” creators? By thinking outside of our traditional paradigm, we just might embark on the newest idea that will really take our business to the next notch. What other target markets are out there? How can we be creative and take our product to another audience, while staying true to who we are? Is there room to grow through another venue we’ve not thought about?
In order to grow our businesses, evolve with the culture and stay in-step with an ever-changing marketplace, we must challenge ourselves to think outside of the box and possible even step to a new tune some days.
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