Class: Intro to Marketing

You are writing a reply to forum posts made by my classmates.

2 replies. 200-words in each reply. 

The main forum post[1] is at the bottom.

What you are replying to:

First Reply:

Targeted or differentiated marketing, takes place when an organization “targets” a specific segment or group of people to sell its product to. The organization will do this by marketing an offering, price or promotion to the targeted group. For example, an automotive company targeting military personal with incentives on purchasing a new vehicle. Targeted marketing has become more popular with organizations because it allows them to target a specific consumer base that could be beneficial to the organization. Mass or undifferentiated marketing sells the same products to everyone. It is often called the shotgun approach to marketing because organizations will use every means possible, television, radio, social media, etc., to get its marketing to reach every individual. The cost of mass marketing can be high. There are four common segmenting strategies ways that an organization can use to make it easier to target a specific target base. Behavioral, demographic, geographic, and psychographic segmentation are the different strategies on organization can use. Behavioral segmentation divides people and organization into groups according to how they behave with or act toward products. With behavioral segmentation, organizations are looking at what benefits the consumer is seeking in the product; how often the product is being used; when it is being used, daily, during holiday’s, etc.; and the buyer’s status or loyalty to the product. Demographic segmentation focuses on age/generation, income, gender, family life cycle, ethnicity, family size, occupation, education, nationality, religion and social class. Demographics are easy to obtain through many websites, such as the U.S. Census Bureau. Geographic segmentation looks at the region where the product is to be sold, the size of a city or town, population density, and climate. For example it would not be beneficial to sell snow sleds in a tropical climate that never sees snow accumulation. With geographic segmentation, organizations can then use geocoding or geodemographics to plot the information they obtained on maps. Geocoding plots only information obtained through geographic segmentation and geodemographics plots information obtained from both demographic and geographic segmentation. Psychographic segmentation involves segmenting consumers by their activities, interests, opinion, attitudes, values, and lifestyles. This form of segmentation is often used to fill in the blanks from the other forms of segmentation. Organizations can gather information on consumer’s activities, interests, opinions, etc. through surveys. The choice of hair products is one thing that my friend and I buy differently. She chooses to buy her hair products from the salon where she has her hair done. I’m much more on the conservative side and perfectly happy spending $3.49 for my shampoo. I don’t know the reason why my friend has the need to buy the higher priced salon products. Like many woman, I would say she buy’s it because her stylist recommended it during a hair appointment. I myself tend to not fall for the recommendation of my stylist. I like me cheaper products and feel that they do just as well as the higher priced items.
I believe it’s easier for the salon to target her because she has very long, very thick, curly hair and I have very thick, straight hair that I keep shoulder length. My friend’s hair tends to become frizzy and at times she has problems with split ends. After having her stylist recommend a Matrix Biolage product for curly hair, that is the only product my friend buy’s. It’s easier for not only the salon, but also the Matrix Biolage Company to target my friend. Biolage sells hair care product line that works specifically for consumers with curly hair. The type of hair a consumer (texture, dry, oily, etc.) has can be used to target a consumer and their specific hair care needs.
 

References
Tanner, J., & Raymond, M. (2012). Principles of marketing. Irvington, NY: Flat World Knowledge, Inc.

Second Reply:

Hello Class,

This week’s topic asks us to describe a product we like and believe more people should purchase. A product I thoroughly enjoy are amino acids. Amino acids are a form of energy booster targeted towards fitness minded customers. Generally, the boost comes from caffeine that’s mixed into the amino acids, yet the amino acids are specifically marketed only in the fitness industry. More people should choose this product over energy drinks and understand it does the same thing coffee does but has fitness benefits as well.

I would reposition this product as an alternative to energy drinks that contain many other ingredients that are not necessarily good for you. Amino acids typically contain different flavors which provides a similar experience as an energy drink. Additionally, amino acids have more health benefits than a cup of coffee, so go with the healthiest choice of the caffeine products and consume some amino acids.

The new tag line for this product. “Energy drinks got your heart thumping? Get the same wake-up with amino acids without having jitters of an energy drink.” Well, that is a rough tag line, but you get the point. I’m still just a marketing student not an expert.

The second part of the post this week was discussing products my friends use that differ from products I use, this is tough a tough task. Many of my friends are very like minded and use many of the products I do. For instance another friend named Matt enjoys AHA seltzer water as do I. While my friend Harry only drinks Black Rifle Coffee and I will drink various different kinds of coffee based on what is available to me. I think a way that Black Rifle could achieve more of my patronage (and for the record I’m friends with one of the owners of the company) would be to expand its availability which has happened extensively over the past few years. I feel that BRCC (Black Rifle Coffee Company) has done an excellent job expanding the company to reach a larger audience. What started as a highly targeted Veteran and Active Duty market has increased dramatically as store fronts are popping up and BRCC products finding their way into different retail space. I believe that BRCC will eventually become a major competitor against Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts due to the proud heritage in the BRCC company. Something that differs from the other competitors is the boasting claims of roasting their own coffee here in the US instead bulk acquisition from multiple places throughout the world. However, I feel BRCC will find it difficult to expand its business into the international space. 

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[1] Initial Forum Question: 

Answer the two questions below

1. Describe a product you like that you believe more people should purchase. As a marketer, how would you reposition the product in the customer’s mind to increase its purchase? Outline your strategy. Create a new tagline for this product.

2. Think about some of your friends and what you have discovered by visiting their homes. Do they buy different things than you do? If so, why? How might a company distinguish you from them in terms of its targeting?