As a result of this column you and your organization will:

• Learn how your meeting industry product or service can survive and thrive.
• Identify the actions needed to be taken to keep your product or service in demand.
• Recognize the importance of the Internet and “word of mouse”…and “word of mouth.”

Even before you determine the best way to beat your competition at selling meeting industry products or services, you need to determine to whom you are going to sell. Keep in mind that those who demand our product today may not demand it in the future.

As demographics change, so will demand.

• Although 70 percent of middle-class consumers have traditionally lived in North America, Europe, and Japan, in the next decade, it is estimated that nearly 80 percent will be living outside these areas.
• China and India alone may have hundreds of millions of people moving into the middle class over the next several years.

Meanwhile, U.S. consumers will graduate into higher-income groups desiring more luxury goods, leisure activities, travel and entertainment. American children already spend over $300 billion each year. The disposable income of Latino’s is growing by 9% annually, expected to reach $900 billion in the next few years.

Ignore these and other demographic shifts at your own peril. How will your product or service weather this demographic change in buyers? Can your product or service survive? What needs to be done to keep it “in demand?”

The needs, attitudes, and values of different age brackets, income levels, and ethnic groups are changing, and the meeting industry companies that pay the closest attention to these changes are the ones that stand to prosper. Look at what happened to occupancy levels as well as average daily room rates when certain hotels recognized the opportunity of becoming pet friendly.

More than ever, people are spending money in ways that reflect their individual values. To capture a specific market, one has to understand that market’s culture. While Americans tend to view food as fuel for the body, French Canadians see it as a source of pleasure. In addition, Americans are responsive to advertising promoting value and quantity while French Canadians respond to quality-of-life ads. What are the dominant values in the culture that you serve?

We must also understand that people are much healthier and wealthier than their grandparents, and new prospects for adventure, education and travel have opened up because of it. Seniors are the Internet’s fastest growing age group and the industry has opportunitys that were nonexistent before.

Companies must respond to changing demographics by finding out who these new consumers are and giving them exactly what they want. Coca-Cola has more than 230 brands internationally and General Motors introduced the Buick “Sail” in China with cup holders big enough to accommodate the thick jars they use to hold their tea.

Who will your new clients and prospects be? What will they want? Are you prepared to, as Coca-Cola and General Motors have done, change the way you and your meeting industry organization operate in order to meet these new demands?

Brands that are closely aligned with an archetype behavior are popular around the world. Consider the universal appeal of Harley-Davidson’s bad-boy or Nike’s hero images.

• Who is your market now?
• Who will it be in the future?

Whatever your answers to these questions are, to be successful you will have to change. It doesn’t matter whether you’re targeting international or domestic markets, senior citizens, adolescents or emerging ethnic groups.

Paul A. Laudicina author of World Out of Balance say’s: “Big brands are taking a beating around the world. Corporations are turning to viral marketing, in which early users spread the word about a new product.” Consider the success of Hot Mail and Amazon’s affiliate program as a few examples of successful viral marketing.

The Internet and “word of mouse” will be important, but word of mouth will be more important than ever, especially as technology like caller ID, spam filters and do not call list continue to block direct marketing efforts.

Carefully study the details of how the demographics of your market are changing. Learn the culture; know the popular archetypes and the products and services desired. Then modify your marketing, products or services and present them in a way that is appealing to the new world.

If you enjoyed this column you’ll love our Books (click here) and Training Programs (click here). Each is filled with hundreds of leading edge profit enhancing ideas from the best business thinkers in the world. This is one of over 300 columns published and part of the reason why The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have called The DreamSpeaker^TM about Business Planning Issues.