Locusts don't serve individual customers. The business model instead sells to a mass of customers.
Selling to a swarm of customers poses two constraints when designing a value proposition:
Each person within the customer mass varies slightly from the others within it. A value proposition tailored to one will likely not quite suit another pool member.
Cost considerations make it difficult to customize a product or service offering for any member of the swarm. While technology has helped Internet-based Locusts overcome this to some extent (e.g., Amazon.com), economies of scale are the order of the day for most Locusts.
Locusts as a result aim their product or service at a common denominator, "consumer needs." They rely heavily upon (a) innovation to find new needs to satisfy and (b) marketing to deliver their promise of "needs satisfaction" to swarm.
Bare Escentuals (NASDAQ: BARE) develops, markets, and sells natural cosmetics, skin care, and body care items. The company owns about 100 stores. (It also sells products through about 800 beauty products retailers and about 1,500 spas and salons.)
BARE employs a "...media driven marketing strategy which focuses on educating (the customer) about the benefits of our products." (2008 10-K, p. 8) This entails extensive use of infomercials and home shopping television. Selling, general, and administrative expenses were 37.5% of 2008 sales, the largest single cost element.
I chose Bare Escentuals as the case in point because of their size and relatively focused product mix. An interesting exercise would be to compare BARE's 10K filings with the 10K filings of a large general retailer like Wal-Mart or Target.
To improve your mastery of the business model template: Chickens and Pigs - The Book
