wc duke disability marketing

women using sign language

blind man at computer

woman on scooter in garden shop

Pay attention to persons with disabilities. They are a big market. If you can serve that market more effectively than your competitors, you may be able to capture a loyal and lucrative customer base.

 

 

 

Edith Brown of Weiner, Edrich, & Brown

The Disability Market – Large, Lucrative, & Loyal

According to the latest information from the U. S. Census Bureau (2010), nearly one in five Americans has some level of significant sensory or physical disability. This makes the 54 million Americans having hearing, visual, or mobility disabilities the largest consumer group in the nation. To help you visualize with size of this market, this is how it looks when equated with state populations.

 

us map with disability stats

Courtesy of IBM

Double This Market

These 54 million Americans with disabilities aren't orphans or friendless. The affinity markets of their families and friends share the same concerns and consumer habits of the disability market.

Add the Senior Market

They have hearing, visual, and mobility limitations because of the aging process, and the booming senior market is a travel gold mine.

The Wall Street Journal calls it “Handicapitalism.”

Trend specialists are referring to the Disability Market as a “Sleeping Giant.”

Spending Power

  • The 54 million Americans between the ages of 15 and 65 have an annual disposable income of $188 billion dollars.

  • Their discretionary income is more than $250 billion dollars annually.

  • With direct family members, the disability market is worth at least $3 trillion per year.

  • About 65% of Americans with disabilities are classified as “middle income,” virtually the same as the population of people without disabilities.

Sources:  US Census 2000, US Department of Labor, Advertising Age, Security Industry Association, and Social Security Administration.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE.....
  • Total travel expenditures for the disability market equal approximately $13.6 billion annually.

  • Americans with disabilities could spend twice as much, approximately $27 billion per year if the following needs were met:

    • Amenities and accessibility

    • Information

    • Staff members who go out of their way to accommodate guests with disabilities

  • Individuals with disabilities exhibit strong brand loyalty toward products affiliated with disability-related causes. In order to tap into this brand loyalty, there must be a logical relationship between the company, its values, customer, community, employee and the cause.

Sources: Harris Interactive, SATH, Travel Industry of America, and     National Organization on Disability.

If you don't have a significant number of customers with disabilities, where are they spending their money? The question you need to be asking is....

WHY AREN'T THEY SPENDING IT AT YOUR BUSINESS?

 

We Have The Resources You Want & Need

Besides providing you with training programs and instructional materials, we can help you successfully tap into this overlooked, under served market to get a significant return on investment.

Our marketing division provides strategic direction to companies wishing to create brand-building relationships with consumers having disabilities. We have succeeded in quickly responding to client needs while keeping very close with subtle shifts in the market. This enables us to provide clients with the most effective development and execution of strategies.

                             Solutions Marketing Group logo

We have a strategic alliance and partnership with the Solutions Marketing Group, the premier company in disability marketing expertise. SMG can provide you with a full range of marketing services to enhance your company's image, impact its bottom-line, and build brand-loyal relationships.

They have an extensive client list from a variety of business segments.

  • Abilities Expo

  • American Express

  • America Online

  • AT&T

  • Bank of America

  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas

  • Darden Restaurants

  • ESPN

  • Inland Empire Health

  • Fleishman-Hilliard

  • JP Morgan Chase

  • Nike

  • WellCare Health

  • Zappos