I occasionally run into a client, or more frequently, a startup with an idea, who says these words that make me cringe: “This has nearly universal appeal.”
Not even toilet paper has 100% global audience.
Translation: “I haven’t thought about what type of customer would value this product or service.”
There’s a conundrum here. If you don’t know your target customer, you’re pretty much screwed in every aspect of your marketing. You have a product, but you don’t know if anyone really will value it. You really can’t price it, because you haven’t considered your consumer enough to come up with a market position. You can’t effectively promote it, because you don’t know where to find your audience, and you’ll waste lots of resources on promotional campaigns where your audience isn’t.