Get outside the space – How to reach the market

Mathematics. Some have called it the universal language, spoken the same in Wichita, Kansas as in Agra, India. Yet there is a phenomenon in disability that continues to defy a central subset of math, the normal curve. The normal curve simply says that most people (in this case) rest around the average, with a small minority existing at both extremes. This central axis of math is applied daily in business, science and many other spaces without second thought. So the question bears asking, why does it not apply to marketing to people with disabilities?

There exists a paradox in disability today when it comes to branding. When one thinks of disability, one immediately goes to images of ‘the blue wheelchair', white canes, sign language and parking spaces. The reason for this is that charities and governments have been branding these physical disabilities exclusively, as historically, society has deemed these populations in ‘need of care’. Yet when one steps back to view the 1.1 billion person global marketplace of people with disabilities, visible disabilities make up less than 10% of this market. Close to 1 billion people have a disability, and you would never know it by looking at them.

The legacy of these charity/government approaches has two primary consequences. First, as we’ve previously discussed, the brand of disability does not reflect the quality available from it. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the bulk of the market does not identify with the brand. By catering to the visible segment of the disability market, one is concentrating efforts on a small portion of the potential market. The ‘meat’ of the curve, those who do not identify with the ‘blue wheelchair’, is both ignored and repelled. If polled, it can be wagered that even those portrayed in legacy approaches do not relate to how they are depicted.

The critical concept of marketing to people with disabilities is to ‘get outside the space’. The vast majority of people with disabilities live their lives in mainstream society, without carrying a banner announcing their status to the world. They are your doctor, baker and candlestick maker. They deal with their disability as they do, without a parade down the canyon of heroes. In order to reach them, one must avoid the stereotypes that this market sees as non-representative. Put your product first, and then find a way to connect the market to it.

Recently, there has been a lot of buzz about people with visible disabilities in ads, TV shows and movies. Big deal. This is not a feat. It is the realization that this is a mammoth market, and firms must reflect their markets publicly. This will grow, and the few actors with disabilities will get more work. This is simply because it’s the low hanging fruit, easy to write into scripts and ad campaigns. All it takes is firms’ understanding the market. This will be the norm in 3 years, but that won’t be enough to capture meaningful share in this market.

Truly innovative firms will research this market as they do any emerging market. Women, Latinos, African-American and gay/lesbian markets have already created a rich case history. The best firms will realize that digging deep and understanding what makes customers with disabilities tick (then buy) will reap early and sustained rewards.

The key success factor is to fuse this diverse market to one common bond. Firms successfully tapping this pool must recognize that the Holy Grail in the disability market is to de-segment. Disability is to become the largest lifestyle brand on the planet. The numbers are there, the branding experts just don’t know it yet.

The days of cheering the hero with dyslexia who teaches her child to read Mark Twain are over. The days of reaching that hero to convince her to buy a cheeseburger and a new hybrid hatchback have started. The real challenge is to bond that potential customer to the rest of the market who has a different path to a common goal. One just can’t argue the math.