The author need not tell the readers what a solar eclipse is. There was one today (July 22nd, 2009) , with a 100% eclipse in the two most populous countries of the world (http://www.mydigitalfc.com/knowledge/solar-eclipses-history-and-science-844_)  The mentioning of the “populous country” concept was used not as much to strike a sense of grandeur as to evoke a sense of business strategy. From the most miniscule to the most exorbitant of  customer segments …. here is a product segmentation pyramid that attempts to explain the cosmic events becoming prospective business    (Read on to find out)

Take a look at the cost/ price pyramid above, featuring products/ services which are sold during an event as occasional as a total solar eclipse

These are business contingencies that sell on one / both of the two factors as below:

1. Selling Exclusivity

2. Selling Experience

The lowest layer in the pyramid represents that product set which serves to everyone and which everyone can buy. Usually it is often seen in a country like India or China ( Russell Peters would use the word “cheap people” ) that many enthusiasts just go for an experience as long as it looks like a “value-for-your-money” proposition!

Eclipse souvenirs include things which fascinate and provoke impulsive buying. Why would a rock fan shell out double the money for the memorabilia (read t-shirts, etc,) in a rock fest than he would shell out on a casual-shopping trip . Its the rarity of the stock and the limited editions of the memorabilia that creates exclusivity. Similar can be the case with eclipse souvenirs which are just nothing more than normal stuff, but with perhaps a solar eclipse picture on them.

The cheap experience selling comes in the case of stupid fraud glasses which are positioned as Eclipse-viewing glasses. They are unsafe, though obviously relatively cheaper. They play the dangling carrot to the rabbit-minded proletarian mentality. But of course the real eclipse-viewing equipment are at a higher cost level in terms of the cost.

Then of course the solar eclipse TV shows where channels are the customers and the scientists are the sellers, selling their expertise to give explanations on TV to starry-eyed, eclipse-viewing star-gazers. Perhaps in the future, when living standards rise and general public become more interested in science-oriented leisure, such shows might even become pay per view (which, the author suspects, is already the case in some rich developed countries)

Selling expertise reminds the author of something else. Educational tours for schools and colleges in observatories. Cases where planetariums cancel their usual recorded shows and use their equipments for highly priced tour-packages to students. A clear cut case of more returns since the payments from schools and colleges come from corporate machinery!And then, more expensive and cash-generating would be Tourist packages (In days when going to the moon is a tourist package , what is eclipse-viewing)

Of course the rich and those with money to splurge would definitely like to buy servies related to the eclipse . At the moment the author light heartedly would fancy mentioning that it is contemporarily cooler to talk about scientific inclinations than art at ‘Page 3′ parties!  Well! Which nouve’ rich lad wouldn’t like having a miniature version of the Hubble telescope (with eclipse viewing glasses et al)  in his living room …

And then in some places you have these crazy guys who worship/ abhor the eclipse linking it with religious orthodoxy or cult-like phenomena or just plain  old super-enthusiasm . Perhaps, selling to questionable intentions some kind of eclipse viewing tour packages gets you big bucks. Identifying these segments is tough but in cases where the service is  positoned well in their zone of visibilty, their hyper-passion would do the rest (read this … 81ooo INR for a flight ticket)

And so there fellas! The cosmos de-mystifed for a seller ….

~Touchwood

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