With fewer commitments and more to spend, singles are the perfect target-market for premium and high – end products and services. Often, with more disposable income and without offspring, or no longer sharing a home with their children, are more than willing to spend on products and services for themselves as solo trips and expensive, quality products or to spend a lot for children who are in the family / friendly environment, such as nephews and friends’ children.The new born novelty “yuccies” describes those singles of the new era.
The term “yuccies” is a combination of hipsters and yuppies and refers to singles between 20 and 30 years living in urban areas, who enjoy life balancing between the “counterculture” and luxury consumption. But what are the new singles?
The continuous rise of singles as well as the ever-changing behaviors and consumption habits open up new prospects for promoting the brands. Over 60% of the singles remain in that state for five years or more, according to research, while the number of those remaining singles from choice is growing. The rise of this social group is largely due to the increasing number of divorces, the increase in the average age of the first marriage, as well as at their choice not to get married. However, the brands continue to address traditional families and married women with children. The marketers, however, have already started to realize the great potential of this target – market and try to approach it with different promotional methods. In any case, the marketing towards singles, should not be common, as they do represent a uniform market.
Singles belong to various age groups, which are usually divided into three categories: those under 35 yrs, those between 35-55 years and those over 55 years, as the reason for being singles differs. For example, 63% of the singles have never been married, 25% are divorced and 12% of those are widows. Moreover, there are others who enjoy being singles while others remain singles because of the circumstances.
Therefore, the first step for a successful opening in the singles market, is the understanding of the complexity of that group and the split into sub-groups instead of dealing with it as a single demographic group. A 16 year old single who lives with his parents does not behave the same as a single that shares an apartment with friends or a divorcee. In addition, the brands will have to rethink not only the approach but also the product / service itself. For example, offer family packages and packages do not meet the needs of this group. Businesses will have to switch to and from individual portions and package offers. The same applies to the services which should be more personalized.
The encouraging of entertainment and personalization is another key point for a successful approach to that market. For many, the reason to remain single is just an excuse to refrain from greater responsibilities. How can brands help singles be more fun? Many products today are not necessarily manufactured having a particular type of man in mind. Therefore, the brands should become more “malleable” to meet the different needs and requirements of the target-markets.
The same goes for services. Singles should feel they have the same privileges with families. Privileges modification is almost indispensable nowadays for singles who while they consume a lot they need more time to spend the same amount a family does. As a result, their reward is delayed and the privileges they receive in the end have no longer the same value for them. The same stands for the hotel and tourist services. Although singles pay proportionately more than a couple does for the same service, they do not enjoy the same services and privileges as couples and families do. This results in a minimal added value for singles.
Finally, brands should facilitate and simplify singles everyday life. For example, they spend much more time on household chores since they have to do them by their own, while they stay more hours in their workplace as they are not bound by other obligations.
Therefore, they constantly seek for new products and services that facilitate their lives and reduce their time involvement with specific tasks in half. Of course, before any brand reconsider its services and products in order to attract this target – group, one should define the specific part of that group addressed, to thoroughly examine the needs and requirements and then proceed to updating products and promotional services. However, the singles are proving an increasingly promising market for the world economy and have become the new big bet of marketers.
References : The Guardian, Cardona (2013), US Census Bureau, www.dkconsultants.gr