Occasion

• Based on when product or service is purchase or consumed
• Clothing, Snack foods

Most Useful for companies whose products satisfy needs that vary by region.

Allows people to describe themselves using characteristics that help them choose how they occupy their time (behavior) and what underlying psychological reasons determine these choices.

Groups consumers on the basis of the benefits they derive from products or services. Dividing the market into segments whose needs and wants are best satisfied by the product benefits can be a very powerful tool.

Firms often employ a combination of segmentation methods, using demographics and geography to identify and target marketing communications to their customers, then using benefits or lifestyles to design the product or service and the substance of the marketing message.

Firms must be able to identify who is within their market to be able to design products or services to meet their needs. It is equally important to ensure that the segments are distinct from one another, because too much overlap between segments means that distinct marketing strategies aren’t necessary to meet segment members’ needs.

Just because a firm can find a market, it does not necessarily mean it represents a good market. If a market is too small or its buying power insignificant, it won't generate sufficient profits or be able to support the marketing mix activities.

The best product or service cannot have any impact, no matter how identifiable or substantial the target market is, if that market cannot be reached (or accessed) through persuasive communications and product distribution. The consumer must know that the product or service exists, understand what it can do for him or her, and recognize how to buy it.

To be successful in segmentation, customers must react positively to the firm's offering. If, through the firm’s distinctive competencies, it cannot provide products or services to that segment, the company should not target it.

An attractive segment today may not last long enough to make it worth the investment. Many firms are investigating when and how much to invest in the Millennial/GenY generational cohort for profitability both, current and future times.

• Identical products that can be substitutable by products from other suppliers.
• Undifferentiated products compete on the basis of price and availability.
• Appropriate for products for which almost anyone can be a target customer, customer needs and wants are similar across all groups

• For several market segments with a different offering for each.
• Companies use this strategy to obtain a bigger share of the market and increase the market for their products overall. Targeting several markets help diversify business and lower company's overall risk.

• Selects a single target market and focuses all its resources on providing a product to fit that market's needs.

• Tailoring a product or service to suit an individual customer's wants or needs and the company only manufactures the product when there is an order from a customer

Market Positioning

• Defining marketing mix variables so target customers have a clear, distinctive understanding of what product does

• The bottom left circle in part represents the customer needs and wants, the bottom right circle represents the company’s offerings (i.e., its capabilities), and the top circle represents the benefits offered by competitors. The best situation is if a company’s product or service offering overlaps with customer needs and wants but suffers no overlap with competitors’ offerings. The shaded portion reflects the value proposition, or the intersection of what the customer needs and wants with what the company can offer.

The objective is to play up how the brand being marketed provides the desired benefits better than those of competitors.

1. Determine consumers’ perceptions and evaluations in relation to competitors’

Relevant Readings

• Yuen, S. (2020, January 22). Ries Strategy Positioning Consulting adds Simon Zhang to lead global business. Retrieved June 29, 2020, from https://www.marketing-interactive.com/ries-strategy-positioning-consulting-adds-simon-zhang-to-lead-global-business
• Ragavan, S. (2020, March 25). How brands are positioning their messages during COVID-19: Marketing. Retrieved June 29, 2020, from https://www.campaignasia.com/article/how-brands-are-positioning-their-messages-during-covid-19/459023
• 江欣珍, S. (2017, September 28). Why the days of consumer segmentation by age are numbered: Analysis. Retrieved June 29, 2020, from https://www.campaignasia.com/video/why-the-days-of-consumer-segmentation-by-age-are-numbered/439967
  Market Segmentation 101. (n.d.). Retrieved June 29, 2020, from https://www.techinasia.com/market-segmentation-101