How a Card Game Taught Me to Know My Audience

September 6, 2007

A favorite card game of mine is Apples to Apples. It’s not played with a traditional deck of cards, but rather with red and green cards. The red cards are nouns and the green cards are adjectives.

Everyone starts with 7 red cards. A green card is placed in the middle by a judge. Every player gets a turn to be the judge (you go around the circle until the game is over).

The players who are not the judge choose from their hand which card is best described by the green card. So if the green card is “pretty” you might put down “Jessica Alba.” But, the judge uses his or her own opinion to decide which played red card is the best matched to the green card.

My friend Chris made a wise observation when playing the game. He said, “Know your judge.” He knew that what was “pretty” or “nice” or “stupid” to one person might be completely different than the preferences of another.

Chris was a teacher. I learned pretty quickly that if he places a green card with a flattering adjective, that I should play any red cards related to teaching that I had.

The marketing lesson is obvious. Know your audience! What makes them tick? Play your cards right and you’ll be seeing dollar signs in no time.

Technorati Tags: online marketing, target market, target audience

Posted in Conversation Marketing by Nathania Johnson