MarketingStrategyMarketSegmentationandTargetStrategyAmarketconsistsofpeopleororganizationswithwants,moneytospend,andthewillingnesstospendit.However,withinmostmarketsthebuyer'needsarenotidentical.Therefore,asinglemarketingprogramstartswithidentifyingthedifferencesthatexistwithinamarket,aprocesscalledmarketsegmentation,anddecidingwhichsegmentswillbepursuedadstargetmarkets.Marketingsegmentationenablesacompanytomakemoreefficientuseofitsmarketingresources.Also,itallowsasmallcompanytocompeteeffectivelybyconcentratingononeortwosegments.Theapparentdrawbackofmarketsegmentationisthatitwillresultinhigherproductionandmarketingcoststhanaone-product,mass-marketstrategy.However,ifthemarketiscorrectlysegmented,thebetterfitwithcustomers'needswillactuallyresultingreaterefficiency.Thethreealternativestrategiesforselectingatargetmarketaremarketaggregation,singlesegment,andmultiplesegment.Market-aggregationstrategyinvolvesusingonemarketingmixtoreachamass,undifferentiatedmarket.Withasingle-segmentstrategy,acompanystillusesonlyonemarketingmix,butitisdirectedatonlyonesegmentofthetotalmarket.Amultiple-segmentstrategyentailsselectingtwoormoresegmentsanddevelopingaseparatemarketingmixtoreachsegment.PositioningtheProductManagement'sabilitytobringattentiontoaproductandtodifferentiateitinafavorablewayfromsimilarproductsgoesalongwaytowarddeterminingthatproduct'srevenues.Thusmanagementneedstoengageinpositioning,whichmeansdevelopingtheimagethataproductprojectsinrelationtocompetitiveproductsandtothefirm'sotherproducts.Marketingexecutivescanchoosefromavarietyofpositioningstrategies.Sometimestheydecidetousemorethanoneforaparticularproduct.Hereareseveralmajorpositioningstrategies:1.PositioninginRelationtoacompetitorForsomeproducts,thebestpositionisdirectlyagainstthecompetition.Thisstrategyisespeciallysuitableforafirmthatalreadyhasasoliddifferentialadvantageoristryingtosolidifysuchanadvantage.Tofendoffrivalmarkersofmicroprocessors,IntelCorp.launchedacampaigntoconvincebuyersthatitsproductissuperiortocompetitors.Thecompanyevenpaidcomputermakerstoincludetheslogan,"IntelInside"intheirads.Asthemarketleader,Coca-Colaintroducesnewproductsandexecutesitsmarketingstrategies.Atthesametime,itkeepsaneyeonPepsi-Cola,beingsuretomatchanyclever,effectivemarketingmovesmadebyitsprimarycompetitor.2.PositioninginRelationtoaProductClassorAttributeSometimesacompany'spositioningstrategyentailsassociatingitsproductwith(ordistancingitfrom)aproductclassorattributes.Somecompaniestrytoplacetheirproductsinadesirableclass,suchas"MadeintheUSA."Inthewordsofoneconsultant,"Thereisastrongemotionalappealwhenyousay,'MadeintheUSA'".Thusasmallsportswearmanufacturer,BostonPreparatoryCo.isusingthispositioningstrategytoseekanedgeoverlargecompetitorssuchasCalvinKleinandTommyHilfiger,whichdon'tproducealloftheirproductsintheU.S..3.PositioningbyPriceandQualityCertainproducerandretailersareknownfortheirhigh-qualityproductsandhighprices.Intheretailingfield,SakeFifthAvenueandNeimanMarcusarepositionedatoneendoftheprice-qualitycontinuum.DiscountstoressuchasTargetandKmartareattheother.We'renotsaying,however,thatdiscountersignorequality;rather,theystresslowprices.Penney'stired—andforthemostpartsucceededin—repositioningitsstoresontheprice-qualitycontinuumbyupgradingapparellinesandstressingdesignernames.Thewordbrandsiscomprehensive;itencompassesothernarrowerte...
