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 |  Marketing A McGraw Hill and QUT Custom Publication
Market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
Internet Exercises| 3-1 FOCUSING ON AN INDIVIDUAL MARKET SEGMENT
As the authors point out, by tailoring marketing
programs to individual market segments, management can do a better marketing
job and make more efficient use of its marketing resources. The first examples
given in the text reflect a one- or two-market segment approach. Take a look
at the following homepages and describe how each of these firms is zeroing in
on a definable individual market:
Casual Male/Big & Tall http://www.thinkbig.com
Godiva Chocolatier http://www.godiva.com
Southwest Airlines http://www.iflyswa.com
Provide a description of the overall market environment
in which each company operates, followed by a profile of the individual market
segment or "niche" each company is trying to carve out. What are the potential
pitfalls of such an approach? What are the strategic advantages? If these companies
found their market segment definitions too restrictive, what could each of them
do to expand their market share?
3-2 ULTIMATE CONSUMERS AND BUSINESS USERS: THE
FIRST CUT
The first step in market segmentation is to divide
a potential market into two broad categories: ultimate consumers and business
users. How would you characterize the ultimate consumers and business users
for the primary product(s) or service(s) offered by the following companies?
American Greetings http://www.amgreetings.com
Verio New York http://www.servtech.com
How do these homepages address the different needs
and buying motives of these two market categories? Why is it important make
this distinction?
3-3 GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION
How can the following firms use geographic segmentation
to focus their overall marketing strategy?
Omega Research & Development http://www.caralarm.com
Zamboni http://www.zamboni.com
AGCO Corporation http://www.agcocorp.com
Hawaiian Tropic http://www.htropic.com
3-4 DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION BY AGE
a) The American Association of Retired Persons
(AARP) is one of the more obvious examples of demographic segmentation by age.
Or is it?
AARP http://www.aarp.org
Which age-based market segment would you expect
AARP to focus on? Is this what you found on their homepage? Besides seniors
(persons over the age of 65), what other age-based market segment(s) does AARP
need to address? Why? What does this say about the need for flexibility when
defining an organization's target age group?
b) It may surprise you to learn that the cable
music channels MTV and VH-1 are owned and operated by the same company. While
casual observers may see these two stations as competitors, they have actually
been cleverly positioned to appeal to different age-based demographic segments.
How do the following homepages reflect the age-based marketing strategy of each
channel?
MTV http://www.mtv.com
VH-1 http://www.vh1.com
What are the potential pitfalls of marketing to
specific age-based market segments?
3-5 PSYCHOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION
How can the concept of psychographic segmentation
be used to explain the marketing strategies of the following companies? What
personality characteristics, life-styles, and values are these companies catering
to? Give examples from each homepage to support your answer.
Airwalk http://www.airwalk.com
The Sharper Image http://www.sharperimage.com
What are the limitations of psychographic segmentation?
3-6 SEGMENTING BUSINESS AND CONSUMER MARKETS
Using the following homepages for reference, how
would you segment the business and consumer markets for photographic paper?
Kodak http://www.kodak.com
AGFA http://www.agfaphoto.com
Ilford http://www.ilford.com
3-7 TARGET-MARKET STRATEGIES
How would you classify the target-market strategies
of the following three companies? Decide whether each one represents a market-aggregation,
single-segment, or multiple-segment strategy. Provide examples from
each homepage to support you answer.
New Balance http://www.newbalance.com
Duracell http://www.duracell.com
Eldertreks http://www.eldertreks.com
What are the potential drawbacks of these strategies
for each company? |
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education