The Big Opportunity

1. The Big Opportunity Erika Biederbeck Darin Devine

2. The Big Opportunity • Article discusses how obese Americans are becoming fastest growing consumer segment • 1980 – 23 million obese people • 2006 – 60 million obese people • 2012 – 112 million obese people • Entrepreneurs recognized this and are creating new products to satisfy their needs • “Just as baby boomers have driven business and shaped the economy during the past half century, the "plus-size" population is likely to dictate marketing trends through much of the 21st”

3. The Big Opportunity • Tim Barry • Air line seat belt extenders • Extra-large bath towels • High-capacity Scales • Liz Claiborne • First plus-sized clothing line • Toyota • RAV4 Bigger seats • Ralph Lauren, Old Navy, Jessica Simpson, and Tommy Hilfiger • introduced plus size collections • Hospital Furniture • Layne Bryant • Big John Toilets • Dance club only for overweigh people

4. Advertising • Companies don't want to be seen as enablers of an increasingly fat society • Don’t want to offend the customers • Must use creative marketing/advertising • Toyota – Named the seats “roomier” • Dove – Used bigger models, sales jumped more than 12 percent --far outpacing growth in its category. • “Those results suggest that plus-size consumers, like the rest of us, respond better to pretty portraits of themselves in ads than to what they see in the bathroom mirror.”

5. Recent Findings • Number of obese people has increased since 2006 when this article was published. • More robust furniture • Wider revolving doors – construction • Oversized umbrellas • Bigger bikes • More hospital equipment – bed lifts, wheelchairs • Plus-size shoes – Women Within • Jewelry • Double-wide coffins

6. "If we know anything about medical history, once you get past a certain weight, you're probably not going to lose it. You'll be my customer for life.” • Tim Barry

7. What do you think? Do you think these entrepreneurs are enabling obese lifestyles? Is this ethical?

8. Sources http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/06/01/8378500/index.htm http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20396291,00.html www.cdc.com http://www.openforum.com/articles/marketing-in-the-obesity-age/