Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning

University of Zimbabwe Graduate School of trouble *Marketing Ma*nagement Question Kotler (1988) has decl ard that The heart of modern strategic merchandising faecal matter be described as s.t.p. sectioning, gulling and belongingsment. Discuss this statement utilise appropriate examples. Introduction Market partitioning By definition grocery store breakdown is the variability of a marketplaceplace into dis akin groups of customers with similar call for.Or to express it in a nonher way, market air division is the division of a mass market into identifiable and distinct groups or segments, and each has ordinary characteristics and needs and displays similar response to market actions. In essence it is the process of dividing a varied and differing group of buyers or potential buyers into smaller groups, within which broadly similar patterns of buyers exist. (Wilson and Gilligan, 2007, p. 318). There atomic number 18 several shipway in which companies drive o ut segment their markets. mental pictureive as you rat divide an orangish up into segments you can divide the race as a whole into distinct groups of people or segments that get down something in common. Marketers therefore look for variables they can practise to divide up the population. According to Kotler (1997) the ordinarily procedured variables be Geographic segmentation, demographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation and behavioural segmentation. Products can be aimed at a lifestyle. People ar grouped according to the way they forgo their lives and the attitudes they share. For example, young professionals may drive a sports car because of the image they requirement to portray. unite parents might want the same things, exactly flummox to provide for their children, which is a liberal extra cost. They turn up need a family car to suit their lifestyle. gum olibanum you al humbled for husking a couple that has near married and have no children, beq ueath go for a Mazda 3, while elder couples with three or so children exit go for a Mazda BT-50 because it is bigger and can accommodate the whole family. up to now the project and variety of marketing decisions suggest that all attempt to use a individual basis for segmentation may result in in go down marketing decisions as wholesome as a macerate of resources.Thus increasingly today you leave behind find marketing strategies combining two or practically basis for segmentation of their market. TARGETING Once the firm is satisfied that the segments warrants guardianship there are various ways in which a firm can then target a market. The showtime is a star harvest offering. In other words, the marketer targets a single harvest-tide offering at a single segment in a market with many segments. For example, British skyways Concorde is a high pry product aimed specifically at lineage people and tourists provideing to pay more for speed.Identifying marketing targets enables organisations to find opportunities and tap into them. It bases firms the teaching needed to focus on the buyers that are interested in what they have to offer. This saves both(prenominal) time and m geniusy in an ever-changing connection. However if you pursue i segment of your target market and the demand for your product decreases, so will your financial force play. In essence, you are putting all your pelt in one basket. When your firm becomes well established in a finical market segment, it may be toilsome for you to move to another segment. This may encounter due to your market reputation or popularity.For example, if Lorimark HR Consultants becomes k straight offn for helping college graduates find jobs, unemployed professionals may perceive them as only having the expertise to serve that market. another(prenominal) downside of target marketing may that a large segment of the population may be left out in the cold. Though demographics and segmentation might give an overall view of the intended market, consumer expending habits change greatly, depending on trends and economic factors. With society taking on more of a unisex lifestyle businesses should be minute when using for example gender to target market.An example of a product that was traditionally targeted at women and is now being targeted with variations in strategy at men is hair colouring. Men now pay specific attention to their hair in much the same way as woman. Thus target marketing should be do with extra care taking into accounting all factors that may have an effect on the organizations profitableness and the perception or shoes it wants to build in the market. POSITIONING Thus fix is all more or less perception and is inextricably linked to segmentation. It cannot be defined until the market has been divided into unique segments, and target segments have been selected.As perception differs from person to person, so do the results of the positioning map. Posi tioning reflects the place a product occupies in a market or segment. A booming position has characteristics that are both differentiating and great to consumers and the characteristic may or may not reflect reality. A position is effectively built by communicating a consistent message to consumers about the product and where it fits into the market in call of the features, performance, quality, conformance, durability, reliability, style and design through advertising, scar name, and packaging and all the other elements of marketing mix. Kotler, 1997, p. 301) For years OK Zimbabwe has constantly and systematically bombarded the minds of consumers with the message . where your money buys you more. Thereby creating in the mind of the consumer that OK has the outmatch prices and your sawhorse with OK can take you a long way. Another example will be that of Colgate and Surf by Unilever, these products are stuck in the minds of consumers (positioned), such that if someone is get any other toothpaste or dry wash powder, not necessarily Colgate or surf, they will still refer to the product as Colgate or surf respectively. It is the product in mind of the consumers.That is positioning. What is our current position? What does the lacuna look like what are the nearly important dimensions in the category? What are the other products in that space and where are they? What are the gaps, unfilled positions or holes in the category? Which dimensions are most important? How do these attitudes differ by market segment? What position do we want to have? Some of the positioning opportunities for a product include Finding an unmet consumer needs or at least one that is not being adequately met now by completion? Identifying product strength that is both unique and important.Determining how to correct a product weakness and thereby enhance a products appeal. For example Ponds new and improved. changing consumer usage patterns to include different or additional us es for the product. Identifying market segments, which represent the best targets for a product. How do we create a new positioning? Physical product differences. Communications- finding a memorable and meaty way to describe the Positioning is not what you do to a product positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect. (www. s-m-a-r-t. com/Exp_brandpros. ) Accessed 3 September 2009.Other questions that the marketer should fight down with in terms of positioning are whom do I have to subdue to own the position, do I have the resources to do it, can I hold out until I get there and are my tactics supporting the positioning objectives I have set. The positioning map at a impressioner place will show how the motor intentness positions their products in the market. Positioning map + high up (price) From the above positioning map it can be concluded that products tend to heap in the high price/low rescue (fast) sector and also in the low price/high economy sector. There i s an opportunity in the low price/low economy (fast) sector. perchance Hyundai or Kia can consider introducing a low cost sport saloon. However it is all down to the perception of the market about the product. Conclusion Undertaking a Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning process is probably one of the most important processes management should approach both at the onset of a new offer creation as well as part of a periodic revision of the portfolio of offers and strategies used by organization. A market research is continuously the starting point in the STP process otherwise the organizations resources will be misdirected. References Aaker A. David, (1995).Strategic Market Management, 4th Edition, lav Wiley &038 Sons, Inc. Armstrong J. Scott, (2006). Strategic Marketing Management A Business Process Approach. Brand pros on hand(predicate) at http/www. s-m-a-r-t. com/Exp_brandpros. Accessed 3 September 2009. Grahame Dowling, (2004). Creating incorporate Reputation. Identity, Image and performance. Oxford University Press Inc. Kotler P, (1997). Marketing Management, Analysis, Planning, executing and Control, 9TH Edition, Prentice Hall. Malcolm H. B. McDonald, (1996) Marketing Plans, How to prepare them how use them, 3rd Edition, Butterworth-Heinemann. Wilson and Gilligan