Your Customer is not your Audience

You’ve seen this disaster play out before. Hollywood gets its hands on a beloved IP: a best-selling video game, an iconic comic book, a novel with a cult following. They drop a nine-figure budget, cast some A-listers, slap on a familiar title, and assume the money will print itself. After all, the fans are already there, right?

Wrong. The movie tanks, critics eviscerate it, and the studio execs scratch their heads, wondering why their “sure thing” turned into a flaming pile of celluloid.

Here’s why: The audience of a movie is not the same as the audience of the IP. Studios bet on the idea that gamers (or readers, or superfans) will drive ticket sales. But they forget that movies aren’t video games. The experience is different. The expectations are different. And, newsflash, the people who see movies extend well beyond the core gaming customer.

Courtesy of WIX Media

Translation? Your customer is not your audience. And if you don’t understand that distinction, you will fail.

Your Customer Paid Already. Your Audience Hasn’t Even Heard of You Yet.

Brands make the same mistake Hollywood does. They think if they just push messaging toward their existing customer base, they’re good. But in reality, their marketing reaches a much bigger, much more complex audience – people who may never have bought from them, people who don’t even know they exist, and people who are just close enough to care what others think. Understanding these layers is the difference between building a brand and flushing your ad budget down the drain. Let’s break it down:

1. Your Creative Target (The Customers)

   • These are your die-hard fans, the people who already buy your stuff.

   • Goal: Loyalty. You want to keep them engaged, turn them into brand evangelists, and make them feel like they’re part of an exclusive club. Think: Apple fans or sneakerheads camping out for the next drop.

   • Channels: Owned media. Your website, social media, newsletters. Keep it in-house.

   • Tactics: Reward them. Give them early access, exclusive deals, inside scoops. Make them feel special. Do NOT patronize them. No one likes being manipulated.

   • Keep in mind: Customers can turn into your most vocal critics if you let them down. They are the ones who have invested in you already, and with that comes expectations. If you change what they love, introduce unnecessary gimmicks, or ignore their needs, they will be the first to call you out. Loyalty is a two-way street: earn it, and don’t take it for granted.

     
     

2. Your Media Target (The Casuals)

   • These are the people circling your brand but who haven’t pulled the trigger. They follow your competitors, they’ve seen your ads, maybe they’ve checked out your website, but never hit “buy.”

   • Goal: Purchase. Get them off the fence and into your ecosystem.

   • Channels: Earned media. Influencers, word-of-mouth, PR, third-party recommendations. They don’t trust you yet, but they trust people who talk about you.

   • Tactics: Align with their values. Consumers today smell BS a mile away, so if you’re pretending to be eco-friendly but dumping waste in a river, they’ll find out and cancel you. Permanently.

   • Keep in mind: This group is hesitant by nature. They need social proof, testimonials, and evidence that your product delivers before they take the plunge. Your marketing here must be razor-sharp: clear, direct, and packed with the kind of credibility that removes doubt and builds confidence.

     
     

3. Your Commercial Target (The Oblivious Masses)

   • These people don’t know you, don’t care about you, but are aware you exist because they see your ads.

   • Goal: Inform. Let them know who you are without turning them off.

   • Channels: Paid media. Billboards, YouTube ads, TikTok placements; this is where you go broad.

   • Tactics: Big, bold creative. This is why Super Bowl ads cost $7 million for a 30-second spot. It’s about reach. You’re not expecting these people to buy today – you’re setting the stage for when they finally enter your orbit.

   • Keep in mind: This is not about immediate conversion. You are planting seeds, shaping perceptions, and ensuring that when they do encounter your product in a meaningful way, it’s already familiar to them. The worst thing you can do here is be forgettable.

     
     

The Domino Effect of Marketing Missteps

A misfire in one of these groups doesn’t stay isolated. It ripples outward. If your Creative Target (your loyal customers) feel alienated, they won’t just stop buying – they’ll start talking. And when they do, your Media Target, the people considering your brand, will hear it. Suddenly, your biggest advocates become your biggest liabilities. And when that happens, your Commercial Target, the masses who don’t know you, will only hear the backlash. You’ve now managed to turn potential growth into a self-inflicted PR crisis.

Want proof? Look no further than Bud Light’s recent marketing misstep. A brand that spent decades cultivating an all-American, blue-collar image suddenly pivoted into an entirely different cultural message, without properly managing the transition. We are not judging the message here, but the methodology. The result? Long-time customers felt abandoned, social media exploded, and even people who weren’t Bud Light drinkers started taking sides. Sales plummeted. Not because of a single marketing campaign, but because of a failure to understand that different audiences require different communication strategies.

Know Your Audience. Or Burn Your Budget.

The biggest marketing fail is assuming everyone is the same. They’re not.

If you talk to your customers the same way you talk to people who’ve never heard of you, you lose both. Your customers will feel ignored, and the masses will find you irrelevant. Your job is to tailor the message, the channel, and the experience.

Hollywood keeps failing at this. Brands do too. But now? You won’t.

Go forth, and don’t make another Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad.