Static versus changing products.

I wanted to share with you an excellent Question by Aleksander Jaskowiak, about effective targeting towards same interest groups. I quite agree with his remarks, the full discussion can be viewed here.

In the last issue of the Harvard Business Review, among the breakthrough ideas, there is a new marketing approach (or rather a general thought) worked out by a group of HEC scholars. The main idea is that the firms, especially those in the cosmetics industry, would be better off (both in terms of market share, customer loyalty, costs to maintain clients) if they started to market and produce goods that will follow the targeted groups of customers as they advance in age.

These products are supposed to be moving rather than static products. Currently, these firms market and produce goods for a given, particular group of individuals (women aged 25-30; women aged 30-40; women above 50; etc.) – the static approach. The authors’ suggestion is to work out another marketing strategy targeted at the groups of individual varying and changing in time – the initial targeted group would, for example, be the group of women aged 20-30. The product is going to follow this group as it advances in time and evolve and adapt to their changing needs and requirements.

I personally do not see much difference between what these firms are doing now and the proposed effect – as these groups advance they will simply fall into the market niches explored by the existing products – women aged 20-30 now, when they are 40-50 will simply fall into the current product designed for this particular group of women. Can someone say more about this issue?