Anup Surendran
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In the pursuit of solutions
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What Men's retailers and Startups can learn from Strip Clubs
Susan Mohammad from Canadian Business recently pointed out something. Retailers are not paying enough attention to Men. A lot of men share an aversion to malls, but retail experts say the way men shop is changing. Yes, they don't care much for the shopping process itself, but they care more and more about looking good. The market for men's outerwear alone is expected to reach $4.7 billion by 2013. an increase of $400 million in a decade.
The main problem, according to Bertrand Pellegrin, a retail consultant, is that most men's stores are just modified versions of a space that was really designed for women, rather than a space that men truly feel comfortable in. With the disappearance of classic "male" environments like gentlemen's clubs and the home den, Pellegrin says guys need a place where they truly feel masculine. So he turned to three classic environments - the sports bar, the electronic store and, a bit bizarrely, the strip club- for inspiration.Here are his lessons for retail businesses which can also apply to Startups :Sports Bar - "Hanging out" - Men like hanging out, so create environments for them to hang out in your store or on your website. A group chat environment or a group twitter environment like Hashwork.Electronics Store - "Interactivity" - Men like interactivity with the product itself. Make it very easy for them to try the product out quickly. You see guys exploring a new product, trying to explain it his girlfriend or his coworkers quite often. So let them explore because that is a very masculine thing to do. The key is to also put in the right hooks to other social media so that the explanation gets across.Strip Clubs - "Remind them of their masculinity" - Strip clubs remind men that they are masculine. Men struggle with wondering whether people see them as masculine enough in both personal and business relationships. "Guys really respond to a person who acts like their buddy" according to Bertrand. He adds "A hot but approachable female doesn't hurt either".So what can Startups learn from this -- Don't let them know about all the benefits of a product, let them infer the easy ones out themselves. That is a masculine thing to do.
- Give them a "badge of proficiency" if they know how to use your product really well and has engaged in forums for your product.
- Let a hot voice demo out your product. Let them sit back and enjoy some cool features in your demo.
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