Marketing: ignored niches

People talk of the difficulties in marketing to the modern consumer, who are  said to be discriminating, price conscious, fickle, etc. Yet, after having seen the Nth deodorant soap, the millionth deodorant that attracts women magnetically, the zillionth pickle brand, I was left wondering whether the problem lies not so much with the consumer but tradition-bound marketers who churn, or regurgitate hackneyed brand and product ideas and expect the consumer to lap them up.

Ideally, shouldn't we be creating brands that have genuine, meaningful propositions? So this article is about brands and product ideas that could, I repeat, could exist in niches that are not yet occupied. From small ideas to slightly larger ones, this is a freewheeling chain of thought.

What about  left-handed people. I don't know about you, but I have several friends who are left-handed. Studies have estimated that anywhere between 7 to 27 per cent of people world-wide are left-handed.

And some pretty famous ones at that …Mahatma Gandhi was one! So were Alexander the Great, boxer Oscar de le Hoya, baseballer Babe Ruth,  …but 27 per cent.......that's a pretty large chunk of consumers!

But have you ever heard of a brand that caters to them in India? What about left-hand scissors? Left-hand geometry set for kids? Knifes serrated on the right of the blade for the left handed? A left hand tin opener? Left hand thumb picks for guitarists? Gaming console controllers for the lefties? And what about selling them through a special on line site or a store…imaginatively branded ''Lefty''?

This is not a new idea….I have seen enough shops like these abroad and in fact 13 August is celebrated as International Left-handers day! But I have seen no marketer in India doing anything about it.