Lesson #3: Make Sure You Are Not Missing the Market
Lesson #3: Make Sure You Are Not Missing the Market
“It's like playing basketball,” says Johnson. “You come down the court looking at the defense and set up your play.”
“Approximately 32%-35% of the movie audience is minority, but we have [no theaters] in our neighborhoods,” says Johnson. “We have to drive 30-40 minutes to get to a theater. So it seemed like a natural.”
Johnson did his homework and found that in that particular neighbourhood, per-household income was nearly $50,000. “So you’re sitting there with almost 2 million people in a four-to-five-mile radius,” he says. “The math was easy.”
Johnson knew he had found a market that the rest of the business world was missing out on. Still, he knew that was for a reason. So, instead of taking a pass on the market, he decided to work with it.
He started by inviting all of the leaders of both gangs together for a meeting. “I told them that this is going to be your theater, and your mother, your sister and your daughter will come here,” says Johnson. “This has to be a neutral zone. No gang colors, no hats, no graffiti.”
As a result, the theatre has had no gang violence to date. Several gang members even got jobs during the theatre’s construction, and stayed on to work for the building company afterwards.
Johnson has developed a reputation for involving communities from the very beginning. He will regularly sit down with under-served regions and ask residents what is missing, what they would like to see. “In everything I do, I want to make sure people see it like it’s theirs,” he says. “It’s there, they have a piece of it, and they feel good about it.” Because of that involvement, communities have proven to be more than happy to embrace Johnson’s companies.
Johnson says he faced another similar hurdle when approaching Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz with a proposition of partnership. “I laid my plan out to him,” says Johnson. “I told him Starbucks could boom in the urban community and said minorities are driving 40 minutes right now to get to a Starbucks. So you know if you put one right here they're going to come. He was like, `How do you know that?' And I told him because my theaters are in the same situation.”
“They knew they were missing a market,” says Johnson. “African-Americans make up more than 30 percent of all the movie-going business. So it wasn't like African-Americans weren't going to the movies; they always have. It's just that there were no theaters in our neighborhoods, and Sony recognized that. It's the same thing with Starbucks. We'd drive anywhere to get a cup of Starbucks, but now we have it in our own communities, and that's why our [company's] numbers have been so high. [Corporations] just didn't know how to go about [breaking into the market].”
Still, Johnson wants people to understand that what he has been doing is not about charity. “Business is business - you have to understand that and have that attitude,” he says. “If it were just about charity, the business side wouldn't last long. But if you understand you're building this Starbucks or these theaters because of business and you can also give back to the community, then I think it becomes a win-win situation for everybody.”
Lesson 3 Make Sure You Are Not Missing the Market
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Johnson opened up his first movie theatre in the Los Angeles inner-city area of Baldwin Hills. It was an area notorious for being home to the Bloods and Crips gangs, and everybody around him kept telling Johnson he was crazy.
“It's like playing basketball,” says Johnson. “You come down the court looking at the defense and set up your play.”
“Approximately 32%-35% of the movie audience is minority, but we have [no theaters] in our neighborhoods,” says Johnson. “We have to drive 30-40 minutes to get to a theater. So it seemed like a natural.”
Johnson did his homework and found that in that particular neighbourhood, per-household income was nearly $50,000. “So you’re sitting there with almost 2 million people in a four-to-five-mile radius,” he says. “The math was easy.”
Johnson knew he had found a market that the rest of the business world was missing out on. Still, he knew that was for a reason. So, instead of taking a pass on the market, he decided to work with it.
He started by inviting all of the leaders of both gangs together for a meeting. “I told them that this is going to be your theater, and your mother, your sister and your daughter will come here,” says Johnson. “This has to be a neutral zone. No gang colors, no hats, no graffiti.”
As a result, the theatre has had no gang violence to date. Several gang members even got jobs during the theatre’s construction, and stayed on to work for the building company afterwards.
Johnson has developed a reputation for involving communities from the very beginning. He will regularly sit down with under-served regions and ask residents what is missing, what they would like to see. “In everything I do, I want to make sure people see it like it’s theirs,” he says. “It’s there, they have a piece of it, and they feel good about it.” Because of that involvement, communities have proven to be more than happy to embrace Johnson’s companies.
Johnson says he faced another similar hurdle when approaching Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz with a proposition of partnership. “I laid my plan out to him,” says Johnson. “I told him Starbucks could boom in the urban community and said minorities are driving 40 minutes right now to get to a Starbucks. So you know if you put one right here they're going to come. He was like, `How do you know that?' And I told him because my theaters are in the same situation.”
“They knew they were missing a market,” says Johnson. “African-Americans make up more than 30 percent of all the movie-going business. So it wasn't like African-Americans weren't going to the movies; they always have. It's just that there were no theaters in our neighborhoods, and Sony recognized that. It's the same thing with Starbucks. We'd drive anywhere to get a cup of Starbucks, but now we have it in our own communities, and that's why our [company's] numbers have been so high. [Corporations] just didn't know how to go about [breaking into the market].”
Still, Johnson wants people to understand that what he has been doing is not about charity. “Business is business - you have to understand that and have that attitude,” he says. “If it were just about charity, the business side wouldn't last long. But if you understand you're building this Starbucks or these theaters because of business and you can also give back to the community, then I think it becomes a win-win situation for everybody.”
Lesson 3 Make Sure You Are Not Missing the Market
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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