Name the buyer you already have: what Subaru actually did
In the early 1990s Subaru was losing ground to Ford, Toyota, and Honda. Rather than fight for the same mainstream buyers, they studied who was actually purchasing their cars. Research showed that lesbians were four times more likely than the average consumer to buy a Subaru. Subaru hired agency Mulryan/Nash and ran print ads, billboards, and magazine campaigns with coded messages aimed directly at lesbian audiences, using double-meaning slogans and license plates referencing lesbian culture.
The tension it resolves
Subaru needed to grow sales without changing its product or cutting its price, and did it by speaking honestly to buyers it had ignored.
The challenge it solved for Subaru: How do you reverse poor sales without changing your product or dropping your price?
The mechanism
The brand looked at who was already buying, found a group it had never addressed, and ran advertising that named that group directly using references only that group would recognise.
The proof
Between 1993 and 2004 Subaru more than doubled its sales. By 2002, readers of The Advocate and Out magazines were nearly three times more likely to buy a Subaru than the average consumer. LGBTQ+ buyers still consistently name Subaru as their favourite automotive brand nearly thirty years later.
FAQ
What is the Name the buyer you already have pattern?
The brand looked at who was already buying, found a group it had never addressed, and ran advertising that named that group directly using references only that group would recognise.
Which brand proved it works?
Subaru, in automotive marketing (United States). Between 1993 and 2004 Subaru more than doubled its sales. By 2002, readers of The Advocate and Out magazines were nearly three times more likely to buy a Subaru than the average consumer. LGBTQ+ buyers still consistently name Subaru as their favourite automotive brand nearly thirty years later. jugnu's Kosh tracks 381 such patterns across Indian and global brands.
How do I apply this to my brand?
Run your brand challenge through jugnu. It diagnoses the tension underneath your problem, checks whether this pattern fits it, and builds ideas on the patterns that do.
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