Non-Endemic Marketing

Endemic marketing targets common-sense markets that are directly linked to the business being advertised or the product being sold. Non-endemic marketing bucks this trend, relying on themes and methods that may not be immediately discernible as relevant. The focus of non-endemic marketing is on the consumer and not on the marketing channels being used.

The venue is not the only factor to consider when you develop a small business marketing campaign. Instead of where you will run the advertising, it's sometimes better to create your marketing around who will be seeing it. For example, an office supply company ad in a baseball stadium may not seem to make much sense at first glance. It is only after you realize that a substantial number of field and luxury boxes are occupied by corporate executives who make decisions on spending that the method starts to appear less strange. The ability of non-endemic marketing to reach your target audience in new ways that may not be immediately obvious is what separates it from other methods.

Some non-endemic marketing campaigns illustrate a small company's ability to read the crowd. Understanding what people want -- even if they don't know they want it -- is always the goal of effective marketing initiatives. For example, negotiate permission to place an ad for your local travel agency wherever people are forced to spend extended and frustrating periods of time. Poster ads on the interior wall spaces at the local department of motor vehicles, for instance, or inside subway cars and buses where commuters often spend a good portion of their day. Focus the ads on fun-and-sun promotional deals with lots of pictures of beaches and relaxation to contrast the immediate and unpleasant surroundings. An endemic subway ad would promote items that would be immediately associated with their surroundings, such as a business suit retailer appealing to commuting businessmen, or a special monthly train pass for commuters. Non-endemic methods deliver a fresh message that may be the exact opposite of the local theme.

Simple implied messages are often a part of non-endemic marketing. If an event or location might make you think of something, that could be enough of a link to warrant a marketing ploy. For example, a health insurance company may place ads inside a boxing arena. The pain and injury associated with professional boxing may cause audience members to consider their own health and wish to protect it a bit better. Another instance of non-endemic marketing through association involves a local weight-loss company that advertises its services at the bus stop outside an all-you-can-eat restaurant. Both those who patronize the restaurant and those who take the bus outside may consider the large quantity of calories being eaten inside, and in turn think of their own desire to shed some pounds. In both cases the product being marketed is not directly related to the location or venue, but the messaging works.

Online-marketing campaigns are some of the most common examples of non-endemic marketing, since nearly every small business in the country has at least some basic web presence. There is a clear and direct association between a software company or an online bookseller and the Internet. There is no such connection for a local bakery, and yet the use of Internet marketing can pay dividends for both. The Internet is filled with examples of both endemic and non-endemic branding aimed at exploiting the massive audience with little care for particular market segments.