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Oct 20, 2009 -

The Food Network is masterful at defining the “niche.”  If you do not watch the Food Channel on cable TV, you might be tempted to think, ‘Cooking is cooking – how boring to have cooking shows 24/7. Every show must be the same.’ 

Ah, but you’d be wrong. 

They have been incredibly innovative at taking a broad general category, that could be boring or routine, and turning it into much more by carving out narrow niches. There’s a lot to be learned from developing a niche for your own business by watching the Food Channel.  I’ve learned 5 lessons about niches:

1) Slice and dice your target market as narrowly as possible

The Food Channel manages to specifically define shows that appeal to just about every conceivable age group, gender, ethnic group, cooking style, type of food, consumer interest.  To understand how to define your niche, just look at some of their niches:

Older women and those who love comfort food (Paula Deen)
Healthy eaters (Ellie Krieger)
Hispanics (Daisy Martinez)
African Americans (The Neelys)
Manly men (Emeril Lagasse and Guy Fieri)
Food nerds (Alton Brown)
The young and laid-back (Jamie Oliver)

You name the type of interest – and there’s probably been or is a show to appeal to it.

A niche by definition is narrow.  It will not appeal to everyone.  But if you have captured your niche properly, those in the niche will recognize it -- instantly.

2) Understand the difference between experts and DIY-ers

The Food Channel tends to appeal to the masses, rather than professional chefs.  Where the Cordon Bleu and the Culinary Institute are into training chefs, the Food Network has an entirely different mission. Yet they manage to make do-it-yourselfers feel like they are professionals – or at least semi-pros. They elevate the non-chef’s skills. 

What novice cook could not watch a Bobby Flay Throwdown where he competes with a local chef on a version of the chef’s specialty, and not learn something about putting flavors together and creating your own recipes?  Perfect for the DIY-er.   But fundamentally they know their target audience is primarily the typical consumer, not the elite pros.

What they do is help DIY-ers appear professional.  Is that a niche you could go after?

3) KNOW your customer’s need – and solve that need even if it’s unglamorous

They understand that some people watch because they have real needs to solve.  Take for instance, Rachel Ray.  Her “30 Minute Meals” show is obviously designed for the harried working woman who comes home and needs to get sustenance on the table fast.  Rachel doesn’t aspire to be a chef — just to dish out nourishing food fast. Any woman who gets depressed around 4 pm with the thought of “what the heck am I going to cook tonight” can identify with Rachel’s approach.

Then there’s Sandra Lee’s “Semi-Homemade Cooking.” Here again is a show designed to appeal to women -- this time for women who want to entertain and make a good impression, but have limited time or cooking skills.  Sandra Lee quickly pulls together prepared foods, box mixes and canned goods to create a finished dish.  Not everyone’s style, but considering that many of the recipes that I ask for at parties are conveyed as “it’s so simple … just 2 cans of this and a box of that …” lots of women entertain this way.

Know what makes your customer’s life easier and solves a problem for them.

4) Make the experience your niche

In the book, “The Experience Economy” the authors describe how companies are creating memorable experiences, and it’s the experience that then becomes the product.

You see that with a show such as Iron Chef, where chefs compete with one another racing the clock before a panel of judges.  Or Ace of Cakes, a show where a unique cake is created for a special occasion, with bits of drama over how to artistically develop this or that, and how to get the cake to its destination in one piece.

Watching these shows is not so much about learning how to cook something.  Rather, it’s about the drama surrounding the characters and their activities. It’s not a cooking lesson – it’s an experience that you get to be part of.

Can you define your niche in such a way that it is more about the experience, than the actual product?

5) Understand how to appeal to senses and emotions

Just listen to Giada De Laurentiis break off a piece of garlic from the bulb, with the sound magnified due to the microphone right next to it, and you can almost taste the biting flavor through the TV.  The Food Network has been described as “food porn” with its emphasis on mouth-watering close-ups of food and enhancement of sounds to evoke taste.  They play up food and make it more than mere food – it’s feel good time.

Not every business lends itself to becoming the level of sensual experience that certain Food Channel shows deliver.  But the point is that it’s not just about satisfying a basic need on the Maslow hierarchy.  It’s also about appealing to emotions, because that is indeed how customers make purchasing decisions.  Buying starts from your emotions, and then we convince our brains why our decision makes sense.

Appealing to the senses in a way becomes its own niche – you appeal to those who are particularly susceptible to the emotional element.

What about you – what other niche examples do you see from the Food Channel?