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xenigo · 09-04-2009, 11:14 PM

So I stopped by the Lacoste store at the mall last night. The sales lady asked me if I was looking for something in particular. I asked where their shoes were. She said "we don't carry our shoe line at this store, but we have this one pair". The ones they had on display weren't my style. They looked kinda like black fashion. And I don't have an issue with that, but my response apparently pissed her off.

http://www.zappos.com/lacoste-carnab...hite?zlfid=111

I made the comment "maybe if I were black". She said "well, I'm an African American woman..." I don't know what that was supposed to imply. But my comment was meant to point out that the style is along the lines of something I'd see a black guy wearing. There's a lot of products out there marketed towards black people... hair care, clothing, magazines, websites, movies, etc... the market is HUGE. It's a lucrative market. I respect that. I wasn't talking shit. But regardless, it was apparent that I pissed her off... and I didn't want to get into a conversation about marketing and niche products, etc. for fear of making myself just sound more misunderstood...

You wouldn't find many white dudes wearing FUBU for instance, or sporting a Boost Mobile cell phone.

But I'm wondering... do you really think it was that off-base for me to say something like that? I know black guys are into stuff that speaks to them, and I feel these shoes are along the lines of one of those products...

I don't think VERBALIZING the product's intended market is so offensive. If the thought of market segmentation is so damn offensive, why do they have such narrowly defined market segments to begin with?

Anyway... where do you think I went wrong with it?

09-04-2009, 11:14 PM
xenigo Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Oakland, CA Posts: 8,067	Maybe if I was black... So I stopped by the Lacoste store at the mall last night. The sales lady asked me if I was looking for something in particular. I asked where their shoes were. She said "we don't carry our shoe line at this store, but we have this one pair". The ones they had on display weren't my style. They looked kinda like black fashion. And I don't have an issue with that, but my response apparently pissed her off. http://www.zappos.com/lacoste-carnab...hite?zlfid=111 I made the comment "maybe if I were black". She said "well, I'm an African American woman..." I don't know what that was supposed to imply. But my comment was meant to point out that the style is along the lines of something I'd see a black guy wearing. There's a lot of products out there marketed towards black people... hair care, clothing, magazines, websites, movies, etc... the market is HUGE. It's a lucrative market. I respect that. I wasn't talking shit. But regardless, it was apparent that I pissed her off... and I didn't want to get into a conversation about marketing and niche products, etc. for fear of making myself just sound more misunderstood... You wouldn't find many white dudes wearing FUBU for instance, or sporting a Boost Mobile cell phone. But I'm wondering... do you really think it was that off-base for me to say something like that? I know black guys are into stuff that speaks to them, and I feel these shoes are along the lines of one of those products... I don't think VERBALIZING the product's intended market is so offensive. If the thought of market segmentation is so damn offensive, why do they have such narrowly defined market segments to begin with? Anyway... where do you think I went wrong with it?