Marketer or Consumer !!!

What do you think the “Marketers” are? Well, a part of answer lies in the question, that is, they are the ones who tend to serve the customers. Looking from a broader perspective, a marketer is the one who caters to consumer need and he can understand those needs only if thinks like a consumer. To find the gap in the market, a marketer has to place himself in customers’ shoes.
Well, you all must be familiar with Mattel’s BARBIE. It’s a fashion doll, manufactured by Mattel Inc. in 1959. Prior to Barbie’s birth, the dolls were the illustrations of infants. One day, Ruth Handler saw her daughter, Barbara giving adult roles to her paper dolls. Handler realized that most kids see adults as their role models and as such, there is a gap in market, wherein they can fit-in adult bodied dolls. She gave the idea to her husband, a co-founder of Mattel Inc. The doll was named after their daughter Barbara. The dolls and the idea were a great success, and till date, they rule the toy market.
The birth and success of Barbie is a lesson for all fledgling marketers like us. We have to remember the stoned fact, "Customer is the King" and we have to give them what they want. Now, the customers won’t ever come to us to tell us their needs, rather we have to identify their wants, but how do we do that? The answer to this complex problem is simple. Marketers have to think like consumers, recognize their problems and come up with solution to their problems in form of their products.