Segmentation Targeting and Positioning

This article discusses the importance of market segmentation, targeting and positioning in marketing. It explains how companies can leverage scarce resources to meet the needs of different consumer groups. The article also provides examples of companies that have successfully used these strategies to create a competitive edge in the market.

Running head: SEGMENTATION TARGETING AND POSITIONING
Segmentation Targeting and Positioning
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Table of Contents
Segmentation..............................................................................................................................2
Targeting....................................................................................................................................4
Positioning..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................9

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Segmentation
Market segmentation refers to division of the market into the various groups of the
customers who have the similar kind of needs along with the service requirements. Market
segmentation helps in dividing the mass market into the distinct segments that have common
characteristics along with the needs. Market segmentation helps in leveraging the scarce
resources that helps in taking care of the fact that the various elements of marketing mix can
meet the needs of the various kinds of the consumer groups. The companies have finite
amount of resources and they cannot produce the products for all kinds of people. The market
segmentation can help a company in picking the best opportunities (Ford 2019). The concept
of market segmentation can be said to be related to the concept of the product differentiation.
An example of market segmentation is when a fashion retailer makes the skirts that are more
colourful and use the lighter fabrics that can help in appealing to the younger women. In the
event of targeting the older women, a company should change the styling so that it serves the
needs of the older women. The older women prefer heavier fabrics and they want clothes
having longer hemline. Marks and Spenser had made use of the market segmentation for
attracting the young women in the stores. The company was instrumental in launching range
of female clothing by the name of Per Una which has become very successful. The company
has introduced the product variants with the help of the product differentiation approach.
A company can serve the needs of the customers by taking recourse to market
segmentation approach. Concept pertaining to marketing segmentation was proposed in the
form of alternative market development technique within the competitive marketplace. In the
event of the competitors selling the identical products a company would deliver the same
kind of results like the competitors. The tastes of the consumers has proliferated in the
modern age and the consumers in the modern age have greater amount of disposable income
at their disposal. According to DeSarbo, Blanchard and Atalay (2017), the marketers design

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the products along with the service offerings on the basis of the consumer demand and they
take recourse to market research so that they can carry out the process of segmentation in the
proper manner. There are various approaches that can be used for segmenting the markets.
The first approach conceives of the market to be comprised of the customers so the primary
task is the identification of groups who share the particular differences. This is referred to as
breakdown method. Second approach called the build-up method thinks that the market has
customers who are different so the main task is of finding the similarities. Breakdown
approach is the primary method that is used in the present age for the segmentation of the
consumer markets. Build-up approach moves from individual level where the customers are
different to the general level of the analysis on the basis of identification of the similarities. It
has been argued by Dietrich, Rundle-Thiele and Kubacki (2017), the customer-related
method that helps in segmenting the consumer goods makes use of criteria for profiling
regarding the market. The profile criteria uses the demographic methods like age, gender and
the race along with the socio-economics for understanding the needs of the customers. A
utility company can segment the households on the basis of geographical area that helps in
the assessment of the brand penetration within certain regions. Financial investments market
segments the market on the basis of age, employment along with the income. The
demographic variables relates to the aspects of age, family size, income, education, ethnicity,
religion along with the social class. Age is an important criteria that helps in segmentation of
the markets and it helps in delineating the market. The children can be targeted by taking
recourse to confectionary, music, toys along with the food and their needs are different from
the older people. Yoplait Dairy Crest has been instrumental in launching the Petits Filous
Plus yogurt drink so that it can increase the brand name. It has increased the appeal of the
drink and it has informed the parents regarding the fact that it can help in providing a
balanced diet to the children that can ensure their well-being. An example of chocolate drink

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is Milo which is targeted mainly to the children along with the teenagers (Nestle.com 2019).
On the other hand, Red Bull can be positioned in the form of energy drink that caters to the
needs of the young adults.
Targeting
The gender differences have brought forth range of the products that is targeted
towards the women like the beauty products along with the fragrances. There are various
kinds of products that is targeted at the men which includes the grooming products like the
hair gel along with the beverages like Heineken along with Carlsberg. There exist various
kinds of brands which develops the products that helps in targeting both the men along with
the women like fragrances called Calvin Klein. The marketers have recognized the
significance of the segments which have not been traditionally targeted by the product
categories (Camilleri 2018). There are insurance that are designed for the women like the
First For Women Insurance that is operative within South Africa.
A product that is designed on combination of age along with the gender is the product
range of Dove’s new Pro Age product range. The products help in reflecting needs of the
women at a later stage of life. It has helped in continuing the campaign of the company for
the real beauty by taking recourse to the television along with the print advertisements that
helps in targeting the women who are in the fifties. According to Thoeni, Marshall and
Campbell (2016), the income or the socio-economic status refers to a significant demographic
variable as it helps in determining whether the consumer is able to afford buying a product.
There are various companies that target the affluent customers like Chanel, Bentley along
with Ferrari. The targeting of the low-income earners can also prove to be profitable for a
company (Chanel.com 2019). There are various kinds of discount stores like Dollar Dazzlers
along with Crazy Clarks that has a significant influence on retail market by the development
of offer that serves the low-income market segment. Socio-economic distinction can be said

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to be apparent for the developing of the various kinds of retail brand labels of the large
retailers like Tesco, Wal-Mart along with Coles Myer. Tesco Finest develops for the markets
that has high amount of the disposable income as contrasted to that of Tesco Value. Tesco
Value is marketed to people who are price-conscious (Tesco.com 2019).
Lifestyle approach of segmenting the markets is on the basis of the fact that the
people in the various stages of lifecycle needs the various kinds of products along with the
services. The adolescents need different kind of product from a person who is 26 year old and
single. On the other hand, a person who is married and 26 year old have different kind of
product needs. The companies like TESCO along with Sainsbury wants to invest themselves
in developing the product lines that is targeted at the singles having high disposable income
along with the busy lifestyle. This can be said to be different from the companies that lay
stress on the element of the “family value” along with the “multi-packs” which are targeted
towards the families (Venter, Wright and Dibb 2015). With the growth of the family the
children leave the home and the needs of parents undergoes changes.
The markets can be considered on the basis of country or the region and by the size of
the town along with the city. The consumption patterns of the people helps in indicating the
preferences of the people on the basis of the various geographic regions. Geographic
segmentation can be said to be important pertaining to the retail location, advertising for that
of the media selection. It can be said that for armed forces the recruits from the various kinds
of the geographic areas have very specific kinds of demographic attributes. The low-cost
retail format can be used for the retail outlets within the boundaries of the low-income
regions. According to Kotler et al. (2015), the psychological criteria can be used for the
segmentation of the consumer product along with the service markets which is inclusive of
the attitudes along with the perceptions. The psychographic approach is dependent on
analysing the activities along with the interests of the consumers. It revolves around

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understanding the individual lifestyles along with the patterns of the behaviour of the
consumers (De Mooij 2018). Psychographic segmentation helps in understanding the values
which is crucial for the various kinds of the customers. Accor hotel group took recourse to
the value-based segmentation that has helped in developing the brand. Dorint-Novotel has
been repositioned for attracting the people who value the element of the personal efficiency.
They have changed the offering by the introduction of various kinds of facilities like the
automated check-outs, wireless computing along with the car hire facility. According to
Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick (2019), the product-related methods that segments the consumer
goods makes use of the behaviouristic methods that acts as the base for the segmentation. The
service providers segments market based on purchase behaviour of customers. The
segmentation can be done based on loyalty to service provider or any other kind of
mechanism. Service literature has pointed out to the fact that the service providers stay with
service provider even being dissatisfied (Dietrich, Rundle-Thiele and Kubacki 2017). This
can be stated to be true in relation to the retail banking that serves the current accounts. The
customers shift the suppliers in the event of perceiving service of being poorly priced.
The developing of the rapid technologies can help in facilitating rapid growth in
collecting the consumer purchase along with the transactional data. Collecting the purchase
data can be enabled with the help of installation of that of electronic-point-of-sale computing
system (Cross, Belich and Rudelius 2015). This can help the retailers in tracking in a more
accurate manner what is bought by the consumers of the present age. This can provide
companies with ability of monitoring the purchase patterns within the various kinds of
geographic regions.
Positioning
Positioning can be said to be of crucial importance as it acts as a means with the help
of which the goods and the services can be differentiated from each other. It provides the

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customers with a reason that helps them in buying a product. Effective positioning can
provide the customers with the benefits that can set it apart from the other competitors
(Graham 2008). The brand image can be used for the positioning of the products of a
company. Positioning needs the frame of the reference particularly pertaining to the decision
sets of the customers. Position can be said to be the perceived performance on the basis of
specific attributes of the products of a company. The two elements of positioning are the
physical attributes along with the manner of communication of the brand. According to Polo
Peña et al. (2016), positioning helps in designing the offering of a company and it helps in
providing a company with a competitive position within the market. Positioning is related to
the attributes along with the designing of a product. It helps in communicating various
aspects of a product that helps in the creation of a distinct impression in the minds of the
customers. The positioning takes place at the time of the process of the target market
selection. Strategic groups refer to the various clusters of the brand that competes directly.
There are various companies in the car market like Ford, Toyota along with Mercedes which
involves itself in a competition with each other in the segment of the luxury car market. The
perceptual mapping helps in representing geometric comparison regarding how the
competing products can be perceived. Perceptual mapping can help in providing the insight
regarding the operation within a market. It can help in providing the marketers with the
insight regarding the way the brands can be perceived.
The understanding of the positioning of the brands can help in providing inputs
regarding the performance of a brand. The marketing communications can be taken recourse
to that can play an important role in positioning of the brands. The positioning of the brands
in the functional manner can help in emphasizing features along with the benefits that can
help in attracting the customers (Ford 2019). A company can change product attributes and
communicate about new product to that of same market. Confectionary brand by the name of

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Yorkie was initially thought of to be a masculine chocolate bar when it was launched in the
year 1976. The media at that time was promoting stories regarding the success of the
feminine gender at the school. Volkswagen produces various kinds of cars for serving the
various kinds of needs of the customers. Volkswagen has chosen the multi-segment strategy
that has helped in popularizing the company before the customers. The cars that are offered
by Volkswagen are affordable and at the same time efficient that proves to be useful for the
common people. It can help in serving the corporate activity of a person. Volkswagen targets
high end customers by making use of cars like Audi and the Lambhorghini.
Market segmentation helps in indicating division of market into various kinds of
groups who are possessed of same kind of the needs. Market segmentation divides mass
market into various segments that helps a company in creating a prominent position in the
market. It plays an important role in catering to the tastes along with the demands of
customer. Positioning can be said to be of grave importance as the products within the market
can be separated from that of each other. The customers get a reason for buying the products
in the event of marketing activities of a company. It provides customers with benefits that can
provide a company with a competitive edge. It can be recommended that a brand like Coca
Cola can position itself in the right manner that can help it in surviving within that of the soft
drink market. Coca Cola can adapt to the local needs that can help in the process of
positioning of the company. Coca Cola has created the unique selling proposition by relating
their brand to the factor of joy along with happiness that has helped in providing a distinct
position to the company. It can be suggested that the company can outsource bottling
operations to franchisee that can provide the growth opportunities for the company.

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