"Otaku is a Japanese term for people with obsessive interests..." (“This City is Full of Otaku” by Nakamori Akio). Otaku subculture began in the 1980s as changing social mentalities. Many people now self-identify as otaku. They are innovation lovers. They set new trends for the rest of the society by adopting new innovative ideas and products. By this way they played an important role in changing the Japanese economy.
The question may arise in your mind how otaku is related with marketing strategy. Please try to remember the concept of "Buyers' response to the innovation" concept. According to the concept there are five types of consumers in the market: innovators (2.5%), early adopters (13.5%), early majority (34%), late majority (34%), and laggards (16%). The traditional marketing strategy will suggest you to target all these consumers but laggards to sell your marketing offer. However, modern marketing strategy does not support this view as early majority and late majority always follow the trend set by the prior two groups of consumers i. e. innovators and early adopters. We may term these two groups of consumers as 'Otaku' as they are very passionate to a new product. They love to take challenges and always welcome an innovative idea. Through them all innovative ideas are defused in the society and rest of the consumers adopt those ideas.
In Bangladesh, if we want to promote new innovative products or ideas we have to find out the "Otaku subculture" of our society and nurture them properly. We should not forget that "Ideas that spread, win." Otaku subculture is important for this "idea diffusion".
