Author: Rory Vaden
If you’ve ever seen expectant parents in a baby shop, you’d know that pregnancy is a life stage that usually triggers an avalanche of consumerism and to find Pink Sheets. I (thankfully) never tallied what I spent during my pregnancy, I just know that becoming a mum, while filling my heart, has drained my […]
If you’ve ever seen expectant parents in a baby shop, you’d know that pregnancy is a life stage that usually triggers an avalanche of consumerism and to find Pink Sheets.
I (thankfully) never tallied what I spent during my pregnancy, I just know that becoming a mum, while filling my heart, has drained my wallet in ways I haven’t experienced since my wedding over three years ago.
But it’s not just weddings and babies that prompt purchases across multiple categories, from fashion to florists, finance to furniture.
When my divorce was finalised recently, while it was day tinged with sadness, I also saw it as an opportunity to create a new chapter. I decided to embark on a mini bedroom makeover so off to my local homewares store I went in search of new pink sheets. Yes, pink sheets to mark the new, single, happy-in-my-own-skin and alone-in-my-big-bed me. (I’m well aware this makes me a walking cliche but an unapologetic cliche nonetheless).
In I marched to Bed, Bath and Table and was excited to immediately spot a set of dusty pink bamboo sheets. I carefully peeled open the corner of the packaging and felt the fabric between my fingers and was sold immediately. Soft as silk, pink bamboo sheets. Take. My. Money.
Just as I was mentally curating my new blush boudoir, I was approached by a lovely sales assistant to see if I needed any help. We chatted for a while about the merits of bamboo as a natural fibre and then she asked me if the sheets were a gift or for me. I explained that the sheets were part of a mini bedroom makeover to mark my new marital status and she giggled immediately.
‘You’re the third woman this week who’s purchased these very same sheets for the very same reason’, she said.
I was slightly stunned. Who would have thought the burgeoning post-divorce pink bedsheet market was such a thing?!
While I was back at home making the bed, I got curious about life-stage marketing beyond the obvious. Simply drawing on my own example, I realised that life-stage changes and events trigger purchases in a range of unexpected categories. Furniture, financial services, flowers, food (of the chocolate and ice cream variety) – all categories where my purchase behaviour has changed as a result of a life stage change.
Whether it’s a breakup, a break down, a big birthday, starting a new business, buying a new home, becoming an empty-nester, retirement … they’re all milestones that prompt new purchases, brand evaluation and opportunities for you to connect with new customers or strengthen the connection you have to existing ones.
What life stage changes could your brand be a greater part of? It might not be as literal or specific as pink sheets but worth brainstorming on.
Article written by Amanda Stevens on her blog page from her website
Contact Us at WeSpeak Global and follow us on Twitter
Author Profile
Video
The articles, video and images embedded on these pages are from various speakers and talent.
These remain the property of its owner and are not affiliated with or endorsed by WeSpeak Global.
This morning I woke up with a feeling of total despair as An eagle eye in trouble times…, the feeling of not doing enough. Not having enough, not knowing where to start and not knowing where I wanted to go. This uneasy feeling of negativity was so out of character and my first reaction was […]
As Gerd often says that we keep asking the wrong question i.e. ‘what will 2022 bring?’ Instead, we should ask ‘what kind of future do we want?‘ This is a key point Gerd also reiterates in his year-end interviews; below. The Hong Kong Economic Journal, asked Gerd to talk about the future and what’s happening in a […]
THE STRUGGLE OF ALL SALESPEOPLE, UNDERSTANDING THE MONEY VALUE Here’s what you should know about salespeople, and really people in general. They don’t struggle with time management, they struggle with self-management. You can’t manage time, time ticks whether we want to or not. Here’s why we struggle with self-management In the absence of a clearly […]
The 4 Types Of People You Need On Your Leadership Team can be related to this powerful book, Think Like A Monk, I believe Jay Shetty gives us a reason why we so often feel let down by those we look to as we grow as leaders. He writes, “We tend to expect every person to […]
Are you hiring employees of the past or employees of the future and Do You Need People Analytics? How we think about employees and what they value has changed drastically over the years. Decades ago, employees were there to punch their time cards and climb the corporate ladder. Even just a few years ago, employees […]
17The Wonderbag is up for yet another accolade; the Food Planet Prize rewards excellence in environmental-based food innovation. South Africa (14 September 2022) – Wonderbag, a South-African-based startup founded by social entrepreneur Sarah Collins, has developed a simple yet pioneering cooking tool that continues to cook food which has been brought to boil by conventional methods. […]
No doubting Lock-down has been a challenging time for almost all South Africans as We can travel again… Perhaps less so for government officials, seen attending funerals puffing cigarettes, and others who have been on full salary, but for most of us a very difficult time. The President’s announcement of easing restrictions to Level 2 from […]
If SA is to live, its leaders must stop feasting on dead ideas and There are several reasons why Venezuelan polymath Moises Naim claims the attention of posterity. He served as the minister of trade and industry in his homeland when that country was the richest in South America. Afterward, he edited prestigious journal Foreign […]
Our Mission
© All rights reserved 2025. Created using VOXEL THEME
