Download Assignment 4 Marketing

Assignment 4 Marketing
Graham Hart
Sure, a business can have an amazing product, the greatest product within its category, but the
business will not last if the marketing plan is insufficient; how will the product get into the hands of not
just the consumer, but the right consumer at the right time and at the right place. For this to successfully
happen, the marketing division must use two very important marketing techniques: market
segmentation and the positioning process.
Market Segmentation is important to the business because they will be able to specifically
target, market and distribute products that cater to the characteristics of the segment, in way exploiting
their group specific identity and characteristics. Some of the most common ways of segmenting
consumers are: Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic and Behavioral.
Geographic:
Consumers are grouped by a common geographic aspect, they could be cities, regions,
countries, postal codes and the list goes on. With this information business can specifically meet the
needs of the region, say for example you are selling winter jackets in Alaska or trying to sell beach wear
in Miami.
Demographic:
Consumers are grouped by such factors as age, income, gender, education, family size and
occupation. This is by far one the most popular choices for market segmentation because age and
income are directly related to a consumers definition of needs and also that there is a large amount of
data already available for this type of segmentation.
Psychographic:
Psychographic segmentation is the process in which a psychology is used to differentiate
consumers by lifestyle and social class.
Behavioral:
Is the process of segmenting consumers based on their interactions with the product and their
knowledge of the product.
The key decisions in a proper market segmentation process are in order: Identify the
segmentation bases, develop profiles for each segment, forecast the potential demands and select
specific target market segments. When these questions are answered the firm must decide which
strategy they will have to go with. The three most common are mass-market, differentiated and
concentrated.
Mass market strategy where there is one product service mix for all consumers, like McDonalds
for example. A differentiated strategy is when there is more than one market segment with a
separate marketing program for each one, for example the different level of quality throughout the
different Hilton owned chain hotels. Finally the concentrated strategy is when there is only one market
segment that has limited changes in their marketing; they only pursue one type of client.
The Positioning Process
The positioning process is a business figuring out how to differentiate There are four steps the
positioning process:
1. Determine the ideal mix for consumers
 Figure out the Salient Attributes, these are attributes that are the most important ton
consumers when evaluating the competitions alternative product.
2. Measure consumer perceptions of available services
 Perceptual Mapping is a popular technique
 Constructing a graphical representation of the customers perception of the products
relative quality
 Similarity-Dissimilarity data
- Is obtained by asking consumers to make direct comparisons with alternative
options based on a degree of similarity
 Preference Data
- Is obtained by asking consumers to rate brands by personal preference
 Attribute Data
- Is obtained by asking consumers to rate the alternative options on pre decided list
of attributes
3. Look for gaps in coverage and select a desired position
 Positioning Statement:
- This comes from consumer research and the perceptual mapping, this should
differentiate a firm from the competition
 Unique Selling Proposition:
- This is where a firm will promote a unique element of the product service mix
4. Develop a strategy for obtaining the desired amount
 This can be further broken down into six steps
1. What position do you own?
2. What position do you want?
3. What must you outgun?
4. Do you have enough money?
5. Can you stick out?
6. Do you match your position?