Focusing Marketing Strategy With Segmentation and Positioning

Segmentation

• Single Product, Single Segment

• Single Product, Multiple Segments

• Multiple Products, Multiple Segments

Targeting

Positioning

• Positioning Map

Six-step template for successful positioning:

Segmentation

To get a product or service to the right customer, a marketer would firstly segment the market, then target a single segment or series of segments, and finally position within the segment's). .

Segmentation is essentially the identification of subsets of buyers within a market who share similar needs and who demonstrate similar buyer behavior. The world is made up from billions of buyers with their own sets of needs and behavior. Segmentation aims to match groups of purchasers with the same set of needs and buyer behavior. Such a group is known as a 'segment'.

Segmentation is a form of critical evaluation rather than a prescribed process or system, and hence no two markets are defined and segmented in the same way. However there are a number of underpinning criteria that assist with segmentation:

• Is the segment viable? Is there a profit to be had?
• Is the segment accessible? How easy is it to get into the segment?
• Is the segment measurable? Is realistic data available consider its potential?

The are many ways that a segment can be considered. For example, the auto market could be segmented by: driver age, engine size, model type, cost, and so on. However the more general bases include:

• by geography - such as where in the world was the product bought
• by psychographics - such as lifestyle or beliefs
• by socio-cultural factors - such as class
• by demography - such as age, sex, and so on.

A company will evaluate each segment based upon potential business success. Opportunities will depend upon factors such as: the potential growth of the segment the state of competitive rivalry within the segment how much profit the segment will deliver how big the segment is how the segment fits with the current direction of the company and its vision.

Targeting

After the market has been separated into its segments, the marketer will select a segment or series of segments as a target. Resources and effort will be targeted at the segment. click here to see single product to single segment sketch

In this case, the marketer targets a single product offering at a single segment in a market with many segments.

In the second instance, (click here for sketch)  the marketer ignores the differences in the segments, and choose to aim a single product at all segments i.e. the whole market. This is typical in 'mass marketing' or where differentiation is less important than cost.

In the multi-segment approach (click here for sketch) the marketer will target a variety of different segments with a series of differentiated products. This is typical in the motor industry.

Positioning

After segmenting a market and then targeting a consumer, one proceeds to position a product within that market.  Positioning is all about 'perception'. As perception differs from person to person, so do the results of the positioning exercise.  For example,  what you perceive as quality, value for money, etc, is different to someone else's perception.

Products or services are 'positioning map'. This allows them to be compared and contrasted in relation to each other. Marketers decide upon a competitive position which enables them to distinguish their own products from the offerings of their competition (hence the term 'positioning strategy').

The marketer would draw out the map and decide upon a label for each axis. They could be price (variable one) and quality (variable two), or Comfort (variable one) and price (variable two). The individual products are then mapped out next to each other Any gaps could be regarded as possible areas for new products.

Six-step template for successful positioning:

1. What position do you currently own?

2. What position do you want to own?

3. Whom you have to defeat to own the position you want.

4. Do you have the resources to do it?

5. Can you persist until you get there?

6. Are your tactics supporting the positioning objective you set?