Target marketing segmentation

Target Marketing involves breaking a market into segments and then concentrating your marketing efforts on one or a few key segments. Definition: A Target Market is a specific group of potential customers which you have identified who have needs or problems which your products or services can fulfill. The characteristics of this group include:

Target marketing can be the key to a small businesss success. The beauty of target marketing is that it makes the promotion, pricing and distribution of your products and/or services easier and more cost-effective. Target marketing provides a focus to all of your marketing activities. To successfully target markets using a segmentation approach, organizations should engage in the following three-step process. 1. Identify segments within the overall market 2. Choose the segment(s) that fits best with the organizations objectives and goals 3. Develop a marketing strategy that appeals to the selected target market(s) Target Market Segmentation can be done in many ways, depending on how you want to slice up the pie, three of the most common types are: Bases for Segmentation in Consumer Markets Consumer markets can be segmented on the following customer characteristics.

Geographic Demographic Psychographic Behavioralistic

Geographic Segmentation The following are some examples of geographic variables often used in segmentation.

Region: by continent, country, state, or even neighborhood Size of metropolitan area: segmented according to size of population Population density: often classified as urban, suburban, or rural Climate: according to weather patterns common to certain geographic regions

Demographic Segmentation Some demographic segmentation variables include:

Age Gender Family size Family lifecycle Generation: baby-boomers, Generation X, etc. Income Occupation Education Ethnicity Nationality Religion Social class

Many of these variables have standard categories for their values. For example, family lifecycle often is expressed as bachelor, married with no children (DINKS: Double Income, No Kids), full-nest, empty-nest, or solitary survivor. Some of these categories have several stages, for example, full-nest I, II, or III depending on the age of the children. Psychographic Segmentation Psychographic segmentation groups customers according to their lifestyle. Activities, interests, and opinions (AIO) surveys are one tool for measuring lifestyle. Some psychographic variables include:

Activities Interests Opinions Attitudes Values

Behavioralistic Segmentation Behavioral segmentation is based on actual customer behavior toward products. Some behavioralistic variables include:

Benefits sought Usage rate Brand loyalty User status: potential, first-time, regular, etc. Readiness to buy Occasions: holidays and events that stimulate purchases

Behavioral segmentation has the advantage of using variables that are closely related to the product itself. It is a fairly direct starting point for market segmentation.

Brand Positioning

Definition: Branding is when you associate things like design, signs, symbols or words with a particular brand. Its something that that identifies a product and differentiates it from its competitors.

Brand positioning in simple words means to position your brand or some important products of your company to make it more presentable and known to the customers. This definition can be considered as a right one. The concept of brands has become very famous amongst people and they require the products or services of a renowned brand. If you actually need to make your services or products to gain the category of brands, you need to make them accessible to people in such way that they start recognizing your brand name by the products or services you offer. It makes your brand to gain popularity and streamline the processes of sales in a well defined manner.
Brand Positioning can be defined as an activity of creating a brand offer in such a manner that it occupies a distinctive place and value in the target customers mind. For instance-Kotak Mahindra positions itself in the customers mind as one entity- Kotak - which can provide customized and one-stop solution for all their financial services needs. It has an unaided top of mind recall. It intends to stay with the proposition of Think Investments, Think Kotak. The positioning you choose for your brand will be influenced by the competitive stance you want to adopt.

Brand positioning refers to target consumers reason to buy your brand in preference to others. It is ensures that all brand activity has a common aim; is guided, directed and delivered by the brands benefits/reasons to buy; and it focuses at all points of contact with the consumer. Brand positioning must make sure that:

Is it unique/distinctive vs. competitors ? Is it significant and encouraging to the niche market ? Is it appropriate to all major geographic markets and businesses ? Is the proposition validated with unique, appropriate and original products ? Is it sustainable - can it be delivered constantly across all points of contact with the consumer ? Is it helpful for organization to achieve its financial goals ? Is it able to support and boost up the organization ?

Importance of brand positioning

In simple terms, brand positioning means placing your brands or crucial products of your company for making it more presentable as well as known for the customers. The very idea of brands has become popular among the people as they long for purchasing only branded products and services. In case, you wish to make the your services as well as products to gain the reputation of brands, then it is important to make them accessible to people in such a way so that they commence recognizing the brand name via products or services on offer. This makes your brand for gaining popularity as well as streamlining the processes of sales in a defined manner.

The very idea of brand positioning is however huge than the mere simple term. In other terms, it refers to refurbishing or rebranding the product in such a manner to make it varied and unique when compared to products of the same kind. This will eventually make your product for getting under the exclusiveness category and making the product a renowned name in any industry or even market of your working. Brand positioning helps in measuring the real strength of your brand. Moreover, it can be considered as a form of stock taking strategy. With its help you will gain knowledge about how far you have gone and where do you exactly reach in the present competitive scenario. A very proper understanding of the present position will eventually go a long way in helping you on the steps and thus moving your products and services beyond the present state. It refers to an effort for giving in all the popularity which is good as a choice for making your brand reach the top position. Brand positioning also helps you for sufficiently judge the way customers judge your products or services as compared to other competitive brands available with the same products or services. You will surely be accosted with fierce competition as there is rarely any niche which doesnt require the right way to marketing along with proper identification as well as implementation of brand positioning. Thus, in short, you will be able for keeping your brand in a position that will rarely be affected by the impending disaster of strong opposition as well as competition. There exists one way which will be able to make your efforts in a worthwhile manner as well as build a great brand reputation. It is very crucial for making your ability as per appropriate customer research. It will eventually help you for getting best output0s according to the needs of the customers. It is essential to make some enquiries and even surveys from the customers for knowing about their likings. You need to pay for some qualitative surveys but they are in actual very helpful for knowing the customers. You need to be sure that your products and services are able to withstand the testing time and provides the best result.

Advertising

Advertising is nothing but a paid form of non-personal presentation or promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor with a view to disseminate information concerning an idea, product or service. The message which is presented or disseminated is called advertisement. In the present day marketing activities hardly is there any business in the modern world which does not advertise. However, the form of advertisement differs from business to business.

Advertising objectives:

#1: Basic Goals of Advertising Advertising has evolved to become one of the most important industries. The basic objectives of advertising are to secure, develop, innovate and create advertisements to sell a product. All advertising techniques and strategies that are required for making a product successful are designed by keeping in mind the results it has to give. So in essence, goals of advertising are generally in line with objectives of firm's plans and marketing campaigns that can generate maximum profits and provide quality service to its customers. #2: Informative Objectives One of the first goals of crucial advertising campaigns is to inform customers about products and its development. Through informative objectives, customers are informed about the product, its working, pricing and cost standards. Besides these, informative advertising objectives include developing an awareness about the product and the company among consumers. Now, these objectives are achieved during launch and re-launch of a new or an already existing product. #3: Persuasive Objectives When a firm focuses its marketing strategies on very highly competitive markets, it involves tools of persuasive marketing to go ahead of its competitor by adopting methods of 'comparison advertising'. This is a very common observation in day-to-day life. Firms with same brands are often seen proving their products better than their rival. #4: Reminder Objectives Some products that have become legends are always in the mind of customers. However, it doesn't mean that advertising firms don't work on advertising those products. Such products are advertised by a technique called reminder advertising and it is done by firms that have to retain some of their brands in the market. Such advertising methods are used by firms like Rebook, Nike, Coco Cola, etc to maintain their position in the market. #5: Advertising Message An appealing message to the audience is the most essential part of every advertising campaign. Without an effective advertising message, it's impossible for any firm to succeed and achieve its objectives. Due to immense information that is projected on the minds of consumers, striking and impressing the consumer is very difficult. Hence, advertising messages become extremely crucial. #6: Communicate Effectively Nowadays, just being an inexpensive product and with quality features may not be enough for the success of a product. The product must establish an emotional connection with the consumer. Through series of market research, it has been proved that products that are able to influence consumers at emotional level are always best sellers. So the bottom line of advertising objectives is to communicate effectively.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR : CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Consumer behavior is the study of how people buy, what they buy, when they buy and why they buy. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics, psychographics, and behavioural variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. STAGES OF THE CONSUMER BUYING PROCESS : STAGES OF THE CONSUMER BUYING PROCESS Consumer buying decision process includes six stages. They are: Problem Recognition Information Search Evaluation of alternatives Purchase Decision Purchase Post-Purchase Evaluation

1. PROBLEM RECOGNITION : 1. PROBLEM RECOGNITION Difference between the desired state and the actual condition. Example: By seeing a commercial for a new pair of shoes, stimulates your recognition that you need a new pair of shoes. Hunger stimulates your need to eat.

2. INFORMATION SEARCH : 2. INFORMATION SEARCH Internal Search: --- Memory External Search: --- Friends and Relatives A successful information search leaves a buyer with possible alternatives, the evoked set. Example: Hungry, want to go out and eat, evoked set is Chinese food Indian food Burger king

3. EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES : 3. EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES Need to establish criteria for evaluation, features the buyer wants or does not want. Rank/weight alternatives. Example: If you want to eat something spicy, then Indian food gets the highest rank etc

4. PURCHASE DECISION : : 4. PURCHASE DECISION : Choose buying alternative, includes product, package, store, method of purchase etc. 5. PURCHASE : May differ from decision, time lapse between purchase decision and the actual purchase, product availability.

6. POST-PURCHASE EVALUATION : : 6. POST-PURCHASE EVALUATION : It is the outcome Satisfaction or Dissatisfaction. This can be reduced by warranties, after sales communication etc.Example: After eating an Indian meal, you may think that really you wanted a Chinese meal instead.

Branding:

What is a Brand? A name , term , sign , symbol or design , or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors. Brand Elements: Brand names, slogans, characters, symbols, logos etc What is Branding? Providing goods and services with the power of the brand .

Branding is when that idea or image is marketed so that it is recognizable by more and more people, and identified with a certain service or product when there are many other companies offering the same service or product. Advertising professionals work on branding not only to build brand recognition, but also to build good reputations and a set of standards to which the company should strive to maintain or surpass. Branding is an important part of Internet commerce, as branding allows companies to build their reputations as well as expand beyond the original product and service, and add to the revenue generated by the original brand. When working on branding, or building a brand, companies that are using web pages and search engine optimization have a few details to work out before being able to build a successful brand. Coordinating domain names and brand names are an important part of finding and keeping visitors and clients, as well as branding a new company. Coordination of a domain name and brand names lends identification to the idea or image of a specific product or service, which in turn lets visitors easily discovery the new brand. Branding is also a way to build an important company asset, which is a good reputation. Whether a company has no reputation, or a less than stellar reputation, branding can help change that. Branding can build an expectation about the company services or products, and can encourage the company to maintain that expectation, or exceed them, bringing better products and services to the market place.

Retailing all activities involved in selling, renting, and providing goods and services to ultimate customers for personal, family or household use. In the channel of distribution, retailing is where the customer meets the product. It is through retailing that exchange occurs. Characteristics of Retailing There is direct end-user interaction in retailing.

 Sales at the retail level is generally in smaller unit sizes. Location is a critical factor in retail business. In most retail businesses services are as important as core product. It is the only point in the value chain to provide a platform for promotions.

Functions Retailers perform a number of functions. These are:

The retailer buys a variety of products from the wholesaler or a number of wholesalers. He thus performs two functions like buying of goods and assembling of goods. The retailer performs storing function by stocking the goods for a consumer. He develops personal contact with the consumers and gives them goods on credit. He bears the risks in connection with Physical Spoilage of goods and fall in price. Besides he bears risks on account of fire, theft, deterioration in the quality and spoilage of goods. He resorts to standardization and grading of goods in such a way that these are accepted by the customers. He makes arrangement for delivery of goods and supply valuable market information to both wholesaler and the consumer.

Introduction to Marketing Research

Market research and marketing research are often confused. 'Market' research is simply research into a specific market. It is a very narrow concept. 'Marketing' research is much broader. It not only includes 'market' research, but also areas such as research into new products, or modes of distribution such as via the Internet.

"Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information - information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the methods for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes, and communicates the findings and their implications." American Marketing Association (AMA) - Official Definition of Marketing Research

What is Marketing Research? This research can be defined as the process of gathering recording and analyzing the data related to certain products and services. This need for market research is derived from the concept that only by understanding the needs and wants of the target audience and by effectively meeting them, you will be able to achieve the organizational goals and surpass the competition in the specific market. Thus, arises the need to collect data about the customers, competitors, and other forces in the marketplace. This data in turn is collected and analyzed to make relevant marketing decisions, be it in relation to setting up a business, developing a product, creating a brand or coming up with an advertising campaign. There are two methods of marketing research, namely primary research or secondary market research. While primary research seeks to understand customer motivations, opinions and needs through quantitative and qualitative field research. In contrast to that, secondary market research uses already existing sources of information to gather the data. What is the Importance of Marketing Research? To Make Marketing Decisions: This research helps the marketers to make a decision about the product or service. Sometimes a marketer might believe that the new product or service is useful for the customers. However, research may show that customers do not need a product or are meeting their needs with a certain competitor product and so on. Similarly good research strives to provide options for the successful introduction of new products and services. This makes the market entry of a new product or service less risky. Survive the Competition: Marketing research helps in ascertaining and understanding competitor information such as their identity, marketing network, customer focus and scale of operations. This helps in surviving and in certain cases, even leaving behind the competition. Moreover, with market research you can also help understand the under-served consumer segments and consumer needs that have not been met. Helps to Decide Target Markets: Research helps provide customer information in terms of their location, age, buying behavior and gender. This helps the marketers zero in on the target markets and customers for their products and services. Maximize Profits: Apart from profit maximizing steps such as item optimization, customer profitability analysis, and price elasticity, marketing research allows you to find out methods that can help you maximize profits. For example, a product's price elasticity research can help you ascertain the impact of an increased price on the sales and the profits of a product. This emphasis on profitability also helps the company's focus to shift from maximizing sales to increasing the profits of a company. This helps the company survive in the long run and maximize its profits. Increasing the Sales: Increasing the sales of your products or services helps a company in maximizing its profits. By understanding the customer's needs, wants and attitude towards the products and determining whether your products fit the bill, marketers can increase their sales. This helps in not only increasing the sales to the target customers and people already using the

product but also converting the non users into customers for the product.