Acadia University Term Paper

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Marketing Segmentation, Targeting, And Positioning for Acadia University

This article reviews the marketing strategies for Acadia University, one of the higher education institutions that are trying to shine in the education sector. The article starts by identifying key issues related to the institution and thereafter evaluates and assesses the external and internal marketing situations. The paper also looks at some of the possible marketing strategies which the institution can employ to effectively segment, capture and penetrate its target market.

Acadia University was founded in 1838 and was one of the largest colleges in the Maritime colonies at the time. Acadia University is driven by the mission of providing rigorous and personalized yet liberal education. To this end, the university aims to promote a respectful and robust scholarly community and inspire students to become critical thinkers.

The university is perceived by many market analysts to focus more on customer needs and specifically the students, more especially after it shifted its focus to online marketing campaigns and developed new degree programs. In an attempt to address its customer needs satisfactorily, the institution launched a marketing strategy that involved dividing its clients and target customers into segments taking into account their respective financial positions, lifestyles and geographical position. In addition, Acadia University has diversified its product lines and has introduced new products including open distance learning.

Marketing Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning for Acadia University

Segmentation, targeting and positioning strategy for Acadia University comprise of a three-stage process. The first stage entails determining what kinds of customers exist in the market, which is the education sector. The second stage revolves around determining which category of customers it can best serve and the last stage is all about implementing segmentation by optimizing services and products for the chosen market segment and communicating the choice. Segmentation basically involves the University finding out what kind of customers exits and what their needs are. In the vast changing education industry, customers demand quality, efficiency and convenience while others are concerned with reduced education costs.
To effectively segment its target market and position itself strategically, Acadia University will have to consider exploring a number of marketing strategies including concentrated and differentiated strategies.

Market segmentation may however call for tougher choices including choosing between various variables that can be used to differentiate between customers of a particular product variety. For Acadia University, several variables are available at its disposal and these can be used to segment its target market. These variables include demographic variables which refer to personal statistics like gender, income level, education, ethnicity, location (rural vs. urban) and family size among others. Researches indicate that most of the urban population prefers open distance learning and thus Acadia University can benefit immensely by developing differentiated products aimed at the urban population. The institution can also segment its target market in terms of values and market styles. Another basis for segmentation open to Acadia University is behavior. Some customers are brand loyal and tend to stick to their brands even when competitive ones are on sale.

In the next move, Acadia University requires to target one or more of its identified segments. The choice in this case should generally depend on a number of factors including the existing segments served by rival universities. Targeting will enable the university to reposition itself strategically in the fast changing and unpredictable education market. Already, the Acadia University has chosen to reposition itself as an education institution that provides high quality, market oriented education at pocket friendly rates. Accordingly, the institution has done impressive work in advertising to promote its products. As part of the positioning strategy, Acadia University has adopted chosen brand images that appeal to the chosen segment. To effectively seal the positioning….....

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