Blog 3: VALS Segments

I’m not really sure what I think of The VALS Segments. On the one hand I totally agree with the idea that what we purchase and why goes beyond our financial ability to, but I’m not really sure everyone can be categorized, but the personality descriptions do make sense. I took the survey and I’m not really sure it’s accurate. I saw a little bit of myself in the description but not much, some of the characteristics they mentioned are just not me.

My group worked on Old Navy, we identified their target market as males and female ages 13 to 30 making 30,000 a year or less, who shopped at Old Navy to stock up on the basics, we also felt that Old Navy wanted to get your business at every stage in your life. This broad description seems difficult to place in the VALS types, so I went online to see who Old Navy said was their target customer.

“Fashion, family and value,” that’s Old Navy’s motto (Reuters.com), which makes sense given that the company sees it main customer as a 29 year old young mother named Jenny. According to an article on MarketWatch.com, “Jenny” was identified last year and even her name has significance, it was the most popular girls name in 1979. The article also stated that Old Navy is changing its marketing to become more family friendly, because “the young mother buys first for her family.”

Now, with this information I’d say Jenny is a “Believer” and when I looked at Old Navy’s current lineup I could see it…kind of. They have a suit colleciton and they have entitled the spring collections at Ladies who Lunch, Farmers Market and Beach Bound, and I can see how the first two would be appealing to young mothers, also since she’s buying for her family they are currently having a huge sale on kids clothing.

Blog 1: My Favorite Retailer

Steve Madden

While other women are all about their heels, I’m all about my ballet flats. With that in mind I’m going to choose Steve Madden as my favorite retailer – for now anyway, as that could change tomorrow. I also like J Crew’s shoes, but frankly I find them to be a bit pricey and by the time their shoes go on sale my size is sold out. I just don’t have 300.00 to drop on one pair of shoes. If I had the cash I’d do it in a heartbeat, unfortunately I don’t so I’ll stick with the reasonably priced pair from Steve Madden.

I really hate it when I see a cute pair of shoes and I can’t get them. It’s like rent or shoes…hmm? So my main reason for choosing Steve Madden is affordability, when I see a pair of shoes I like, I can afford to buy them. I also like the variety of styles and designs, they keep the shapes pretty classic, but the colors are bright and funky. It’s the color choices I like the most, for one style you might have six or seven different color options, unlike some places where you might not as wide of selection to choose from.

Ladies how frustrating is it to find a pair of shoes and they are sold out your size? I can honestly say that I have never had that happen at SteveMadden.com, even when the shoes are on sale, my size is in stock! And we all know how quickly sale shoes sell out.

My final reason for choosing Steve Madden is that I can just go to the store website to get my shoes. I might like shopping but malls frustrate me, long lines, too many people and limited choices. Online shoe shopping is much better, no fuss, no muss and free shipping!