Elements of Marketing Strategy Article Review

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Marketing



Segmentation is dividing customers according to "distinct characteristics, needs or behaviors.". This is distinct from targeting, which takes those segments and then seeks to determine how valuable each segment is to the business. So the targets are roughly the segments, put into order of attractiveness. Positioning is how the product's messaging will position the product for each segment. What this really means is finding the messaging that will appeal to each target market, based on its needs and behaviors, as identified during the segmentation process.



Dolan notes that there are several different common segmentation variables (p.12). There are demographic variables, such as age, income, education level, ethnicity and gender. It is important for marketers to know whether their product appeals to specific demographics or whether it has a broad-based appeal.



Another form of segmentation is geographic, wherein the location of the customer matters. Again, some companies are only operating in specific geographies -- for example if you do not have labeling to sell in a certain country, you wouldn't sell there.



There are psychographic considerations, which are lifestyle and value-oriented. The marketing of athletic apparel companies -- whether Nike or lululemon -- reveals a focus on particular lifestyle factors that drive the branding of those firms.



Benefits are another means of segmenting the market. In some cases, there is really only one benefit and it does not matter who the person is, you just want to reach people who need that benefit. In other cases, a product might have two completely different benefits. Think of something like baking soda, that has a few different uses. The best way to understand that market is to know how many people buy for each use.



Usage is deemed different from benefit, though that makes little sense.

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You use things to get a specific benefit, so I'm not sold on this one, but it's on the sheet.



3. There are different ways to determine which segment to target. First, you can target based on how many people in the segment are using the product -- you know there is a market so you focus on that. But it is also possible to target, for example, something that is underserved. You can determine that if consumers in New York really like Product A, maybe you can start to market Product A in Philadelphia, too. This depends on strategic goals -- how does the company intend to grow, and does this growth involve driving more business from existing markets or seeking out new markets. There are usually a number of different considerations that go into such a decision.



4. Positioning is important to marketing strategy. One of the reasons is simply that positioning helps to guide the different marketing decisions. It certainly influences pricing, because pricing conveys positioning to the end user. Same thing with the choice of distribution channels. Furthermore, positioning will help to define the messaging -- how will the company reach the target market, and what will the company say to the target market. So positioning actually drives a lot of the ground-level, functional marketing decisions that the company will make, which means that positioning is an integral part of marketing strategy.



5 Positioning is the result of determining the markets that the company wants to target, and aligning those with the segmentation work that has been done. In other words, you figure out who you want to sell to, and what those people are looking for. Then you position the product in such a way that will specifically….....

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