TARGET MARKET

Q15: What are the possible strategies to target the market? 

INTRODUCE:

Market segmentation reveals a company's market segmentation opportunities. The company must now evaluate the difference segments and decide how many and which segments it can best serve. Now let's see how the companies rate and select target segments.

 TARGET MARKET:

A target market can be defined as:
“A collection of buyers who share a common need or characteristic that a company
service decision.

It can also be defined as:

"The target market is a group of customers within the company's available offering.
market to which a company directs its marketing efforts and resources.
TARGET MARKET SELECTION PROCESS:

Here is the process of identifying the target market:

One's Choice
target market
Evaluation
market
segment
Make a choice
target market

STEP 1: ASSESS THE MARKET SEGMENTS:

When evaluating different market segments, a business should consider three factors:

1. Size and growth of the segment:
2. Segment structural attractiveness and
3. Company goals and resources. 

1. Size and growth of the segment:

The company must first collect and analyze data on the current segment's sales, growth, and forecasts. profitability of different segments. It will focus on segments of the right size and growth rate featured. But "right size and right growth" is a relative question. The largest and fastest growing segments are not always most attractive to each company. Small businesses may lack the skills and resources needed to serve larger segments. Or they may find these segments too competitive. These companies can target segments are smaller and less attractive in absolute terms, but are more profitable for surname

2. Segment structural attractiveness

The company should also consider the key structural factors that influence the segment's attractiveness over the long term. These factors could be Competition: A segment is less attractive if it already has many strong and aggressive competitors. Substitutes: The existence of many actual or potential substitutes can limit prices and Profits can be made in a segment. Buyer Power: Buyers have strong bargaining power over sellers who will try to lower prices, require more services and create competition with each other, all to the detriment of the seller's bottom line. Strength of suppliers: A segment may be less attractive if it contains strong controllable suppliers. price or reduce the quality or quantity of goods and services ordered. 

3. Company's Objectives and Resources

Even if a segment has the right size, growth, and structural attractiveness, the company must still consider own goals and resources. Some attractive segments can be quickly dropped because they don't fit together with the company's long-term goals. Or the company may lack the skills and resources needed to success in an attractive segment.

STEP 2: SELECT TARGET MARKET SEGMENT 

After evaluating different segments, the company must decide which and how much to target.
Market targeting can be done at many different levels. Define target market levels: Companies can target very broadly (undifferentiated marketing), very narrowly (micromarketing), or somewhere in between (differentiated or focused marketing).

 

1) Undifferentiated Marketing / Mass Marketing:

A market hedging strategy in which a firm decides to ignore market segment differentiation and target the entire market with a single offer. Such a strategy focuses on what is popular in consumer demand rather than what distinctive. The company designs a product and a marketing program that will attract more buyers.

2) Differentiated/segmented marketing:

A market coverage strategy in which a company decides to target multiple market segments and Design provided separately for each. By offering product variations and marketing to segments, companies hope to increase sales and a stronger position in each market segment. Develop a stronger position in multiple segments generates more total revenue than undifferentiated marketing across all segments. But differentiated marketing also increases the cost of doing business.

3) Focused Marketing/Nine marketing:

A market hedging strategy in which a company targets a large market share of one or a few segments or recess. Through concentrated marketing, the company gains a strong position in the market due to better knowledge of consumer needs in the niches it serves and the distinctive reputation it has get. It can market more effectively by adjusting its products, prices, and programs to according to the needs of carefully defined segments. The niches are smaller and may attract only one or a few competitors. Focused marketing can be very profitable. At the same time, it involves many normal risks. Companies that rely on one or a few segments for their entire business will be hit hard if that segment goes bad. Or larger competitors may decide to join fragment has more resources. For these reasons, many companies want to diversify several market segments. 

4) Micromarketing:

Tailoring products and marketing programs to specific individual needs and desires
and local customer segments; He understands:

 Local marketing
 Personal marketing. 

a) Local marketing:

Local marketing involves tailoring brands and promotions to the needs and wants of consumers customer groups - cities, neighborhoods and even specific stores. The brand's store designers create the format of each new store based on the neighborhood
features - for example, shops near the office park have islands featured with
Prepare meals for busy workers. Utilize loads of customer data on daily sales in
per store, Walmart adjusts each store's merchandise with the same precision. Local marketing has some downsides. This can increase production and marketing costs
reduce economies of scale. It can also create logistical problems when companies try to
to meet the diverse requirements of different regional and local markets. In addition, a brand
The overall image may be diluted if the product and message differ too much
localities.

b) Personalized Marketing/Personalized Marketing:

Tailor products and marketing programs to individual needs and preferences
customer - also known as one-to-one marketing, one-to-one marketing, and one-to-one markets marketing. Mass customization is the process by which companies interact directly with the masses customers to design products and services tailored to their individual needs. One-on-one marketing has made customer relationships more important than ever. Choose a targeting strategy Companies need to consider many factors when choosing a market targeting strategy.

What The best strategy depends on the following factors:
Company
Resources
Choosing the best strategy depends on the company's resources. When the company
With limited resources, focused marketing makes the most sense. product level
change The best strategy also depends on how variable the product is. Undifferentiated marketing is more suitable for homogeneous products, such as pomelo or steel. Product Lifecycle
(PLC)
The stage of the product life cycle must also be taken into account. When a company introduces a new product, it may be convenient to just release one version and
Undifferentiated marketing or focused marketing can make the most of
feel. However, during the maturity stage of the product life cycle (PLC),
Differentiation marketing often makes more sense. Changes in the market If most buyers have the same taste, buy the same quantity and react the same
marketing, marketing without discrimination is appropriate. Competitors’
marketing
strategies
When competitors use differentiated or concentrated marketing,
undifferentiated marketing can be suicidal.

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 The Changing Nature of MARKETING

Question : What is marketing? How has the marketing landscape changed in
Modern world? OR

Discuss trends affecting marketing and what these trends mean for
How marketers deliver value to customers. MARKETING DEFINITIONS:

According to Philippe Kotler:

"The process by which companies create value for customers and build strong relationships with them into capture customer value”.

 OR

According to William J. Stanon:

“Marketing is a set of business activities designed to plan, price, promote, and distribute demand.

to provide satisfactory products to target markets in order to achieve organizational objectives”. OR

According to the American Marketing Association:

“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions and processes of creation, communication, distribution and

valuable exchange incentives for customers, customers, partners and society at large”.

 CHANGING THE MARKETING LANGUAGE:

Every day, drastic changes are taking place in the market. The rate of change is so fast that it's possible change has become a competitive advantage. The future is not what it used to be. Changes in the market is observed suddenly. As the market changes, the people who serve it must change as well. Here we look at key trends and forces that are changing the marketing landscape and challenges Marketing strategy. We look at the main developments:

1) Precarious economic environment,

2) The digital age,

3) Rapid globalization,

4) A call to raise morals and social responsibility,

5) The evolution of non-profit marketing

6) Increase the number of jobs in the marketing department. 

7) Strengthen service marketing

first. Uncertain economic environment: Since the Great Recession of 2008, people have reshaped their consumption habits. They have identified their new purchasing priorities. The "new savings", born of the Great Recession, is becoming an ingrained consumer behavior that is reshaping consumption patterns in different ways. Even in As a result of it, consumers are now spending more cautiously. In response, companies in all industries, from discounters to luxury brands, have linked them marketing strategies with new economic realities. More than ever, marketers are focusing on value in their value propositions. They focus on value for money, practicality and durability in their product offerings and marketing. Even the wealthiest consumers join the frugal trend. The ostensibly free expenditures are Not so fashionable anymore.

For example,

for many years, Lexus emphasized status and performance. But now it has been focus on "lowest cost of ownership". His pre-Christmas ads often feature a loving spouse Gift your loved one a new Lexus with a big red bow tie. Lexus still runs these ads, but it also hedges by running other ads with the tagline "lowest cost of ownership." refers to Lexus' fuel economy, durability, and resale value.

 I. Top-down economic marketing strategy:

Selective discounts can be a key marketing tactic in a recession, smart Marketers understand that cutting back in the wrong place can hurt brand image in the long run and customer relationships. The challenge is to balance the brand value proposition with the present time and at the same time improve long-term equity. Monday. Marketing Strategies After the Recession: At the end of a recession, the organization's position in the competitive group will depend on How well do you handle tough times? So instead of discounts, many Marketers hold a price point of view and instead talk about why their brand is worth it. And more right rather than slashing their marketing budgets in tough times, companies like Walmart, McDonald's, Hyundai and General Mills have maintained or increased marketing cost. The goal in these uncertain economic times is to gain market share and build a customer base relationships that are detrimental to competitors reduce their costs.

2. The Digital Age:

The recent technological boom has created a digital era. The explosive growth of computing, communication, information and other digital technologies have had a major impact on the way companies bring value to their customers. Now, more than ever, we are all connected other people and information anywhere in the world. It used to take days or weeks to receive news about important world events, we now learn about them as they happen via live satellite news programs and websites. Where it used to take weeks to exchange letters with other people in faraway places, they are just minutes away from you via cell phone, email or webcam. For better or worse, technology has become an integral part of our lives. The digital age has provided marketers with exciting new ways to learn and track customers and create products and services tailored to each customer's needs. It helps marketers Communicate with customers in large groups or one-on-one. Through web conferencing, marketing Researchers from the company's headquarters in New York can consult focus groups in Chicago or Paris. without ever getting on a plane. Using today's powerful computers, marketers can create their own detailed customer databases and use them to target individual customers with offers designed to satisfy their specific needs. Digital technology has also brought a new wave of media, advertising and relationships create tools, from online advertising, video sharing tools and mobile phones to web applications and online social networks. They can't always control conversations about their brand. new digital world that makes it easy for consumers to absorb marketing content that once existed only in advertising or on Brand Web with them wherever they go and share it with friends. Current user statistics: Total Internet users worldwide 55.1% of the total world population Internet users in Pakistan (as of January 2018) 22% of Pakistan's population (44.6 million) Active social media users 16% of Pakistani population (32 million) Annual digital growth in Pakistan 27% per year (+10 million)

Source: Profit.PakistanToday.com

Online marketing is currently the fastest growing form of marketing. It's hard to find one these days The company does not use the web significantly. Business-to-business e-commerce (BtoB) is also exploding. It seems almost every business has a web store set up. 

3. Rapid globalization:

In an increasingly small world, businesses are now globally connected to their customers and business partners. Today, almost every business, large or small, is affected in one way or another by compete. American companies were challenged at home by skillful marketing of European products and Asian multinational. Companies like Toyota, Nokia, Nestlé, and Samsung often perform better their American competitors in the US market. As a result, managers in countries around the world are increasingly adopting a global, not just local, approach. overview of the industry, competitors and business opportunities. They ask: what is global marketing? How is it different from national marketing? How do competitors and global forces influence our business? To what extent should we “go global”?

4. Enhance social responsibility:

Marketers are rethinking their relationship with values ​​and social responsibility and with It is the Earth that sustains us. As global consumer and environmental movements mature, Today's marketers are called upon to develop sustainable marketing practices. Corporate ethics and social responsibility have become hot topics for almost every business. Customers today expect businesses to create value in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. Social and environmental responsibility movements will place stricter requirements on business in the future. Some companies are resisting these movements.

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