The Consumer

The consumer is a term used by companies great and small to describe anyone who has the means and potential to buy, anything. Companies spend hundreds of thousands of pounds annually in market research just to identify what it is the consumer wants, before spending even more on advertising to let that same consumer know that the things they desire are available for purchase.

These days the consumer can be a person or another company and businesses need to cater their advertising strategy accordingly.

For the average man/woman on the street the best way to raise awareness of a product are TV, Radio and street advertisements. These are things that the general public already have easy access too, which is why we often hear and see companies through these mediums, offering deals on just about anything, from great savings on weekly consumables, to the importance and affordability of life insurance.

For companies like Pearfisher Debut Art and Big Active however, who provide a service for other businesses, advertising in this way might not have the same impact on sales. Their target needs to be reached in a different way and their message isn't one of affordability, but of competence and how reliable they are. It is their reputation ultimately that will bring business their way. So word of mouth, a strong portfolio and customer satisfaction are much better tools to generate interest in what they have to offer.

In todays market, the consumer is ever changing. This has never been more obvious since the implementation and wide spread accessibility of the internet, where consumer browsing habits are monitored more and more by companies who are interested in cashing in on this surge of information, to bring you what you want.

Before this information was available, companies targeted consumers in different ways, making assumptions based on age and gender. If you where a young woman, they assumed your interests were cosmetics and body care. In todays world, that same young woman might be conducting internet searches for engine parts or video games. And so advertising on particular websites will more often show, what you've previously searched for.

Task

This weeks task is to research consumer markets from my chosen field, which is illustration.

My consumer is not the typical man or woman on the street. Everything I do follows a process, a chain of events before my work even gets there.

For example.

• Client presents the initial idea
• Design house (this could be the style the client particularly likes)
• Design Illustrator (myself who is then presented with the client brief)
• Print
• Consumer (finally available for purchase)

So my 'consumer' is the Design Houses like Debut Art, Dirty Hands and Big Active.