Incase, you missed it, Mary J. Blige's 2024 Strength of a Woman festival and summit concluded on a high note with the launch of her limited edition boot in collaboration with Giuseppe Zanotti. The hip hop royalty has been known over the years for her iconic dance steps in her thigh-high boots as a part of her signature look since the 90s, which had fans asking her when she would release her own boots.
Well, Mary finally did it. The iconic hip-hop artist and the renowned designer unveiled a special "Giuseppe for Mary J. Blige" boot, drawing inspiration from the singer's preferred onstage back-to-back boot styles. Those thigh-high boots featured a slouchy design in a reflective rose gold hue with elevated sturdy block heel. However, this article is not about Mary releasing her boots because that i suppose is no longer news but the lessons in the release and the sales.
A preacher once said, five people cannot always be friends for five years and eventually, everyone finds thier level as life happens; people move on to other things and as part of growth and the friendship dynamics can change. That is be true to some some extent and for me, it translates to finding your tribe not just for social climbing networking or your reliable allies for things like girls' trip but it also translates to when you want to launch a product or start something that caters to a section of the population. For Mary, that would be her die-hard fans.
The Mary Boot, which retails for $1295.00 sold out just in 48 hours after going on sale even though the side talks on social media heckled about the price being out of the range of "Mary's Fans". This raised a question about who her die-hard fans really were since some people did not understand why her boots were that "expensive".
As the saying goes "everyone cannot be your target audience". Once you understand your brand and put it out there, you just know that your tribe and your true fans will show up - some will fall by the way side as life happens or they move on to something else. Like the analogy that five friends cannot be true friends for five years, you eventually outgrow some connections and your circle of influence changes. You learn to focus on where you get the best results with the least of your efforts. You grow into productivity, where the twenty per cent of your effort would be giving you the eighty per cent that is required.
Whether Mary's boots were expensive for her "supposed fans" or not, the boots sold out quickly (with another waiting list already) and those who bought it without flinching about the price are the target audience for the boots. If you could not afford it, then sorry, you were not in the plan.
No hard feelings to her "can not afford it" fans but considering what she had been through over the years; working so hard in the industry plus that contentious divorce that cost her good money, i bet she has learnt the skill of focusing on places you can win. Figuring the section of her fan base for whom she designed those shoes for despite all the cries of inflation everywhere, i think is a nod to being postively productive and choosing to make it a limited version boot launch is another excellent skill at marketing her signature look.
Finally, the other lesson is that we must believe in ourselves enough to launch out with our dreams. To take the plunge. To take the risk to put our idea out there and grow with the process. In this age of social media where the fame of many 80's and 90s celebs seems underrated with the present generation - because some people probably asking who is Mary J. Blige to be sellling her boots that expensive? LIke people suprised that WIll SMith could rap and sing besides acting. At least, the recent Apple 100 albums of all time ranking proved this point.
But She is Mary J. Blige for God's sake, she could sell her boots for $ 2000 and her tribe will buy. No one questions Beyonce about the price of her haircare range or perfume because she is Beyonce (people were crying about price, yet they still bought her Renaissance World Tour tickets months ahead). Victoria Beckham has stayed true to her brand and her target audience in her designs despite facing backlash for catering to a specific body types at the launch of her brand. Kierra Sheards brand - Eleven60 caters to plus size women. Both Kierra and Victoria are still in business focused on thier target audience.
In taking the time to figure out who your target audience is even before you design a product can make a world of difference in the sales compared to designing a product before you find who is buying. As a budding enterpereneur, this is a lesson for me because as i am learning now on my enterpreneurship journey, i have to discover a strong sense of what my brand is and then share my creative side with my tribe, particularly those who have stayed with me consistently on my journey and those who can relate with my brand.
Hence,i am now focused on how to max my 20 to give my 80 in what i put out there because people will buy into who you are, not just the item. I will not cater to everybody and i do not even need to try so hard to convince them to buy into my idea, Just like Mary's "expensive" boots sold out in 24 hours.