| Market Segmentation
Marketers pay attention to what products are in demand and to consumer
behavior. Traditionally businesses operating in the brick-and-mortar
world have held strong interests in geographic data and the desire to know
the following information about who lives there: ages, income level,
educational background, population density, and number of schools, to name
a few. Companies use marketing analysis to determine where to sell
their goods. For instance, your parents likely receive "junk" mail
based on their zip code because information has been sold to companies
based on geographic area. And many companies wait for growth in areas to
reach approximately 100,000 people and then they move in. Census bureaus,
statistics used by education, and taxation information are three examples
of public records used by businesses to obtain information about areas
with potential or current customers. Which television ads play during
daytime television line ups versus those which play during evening sitcoms
are all marketing based decisions, based on the current audience - which
is a form of market segmentation.
Each of us are in a market segment, whether we realize it or not.
We've all been classified by marketers for the purposes of doing business.
Example of Demographic and Psychographic
Segmentation
When young men get to be juniors and seniors in high school, many of them
begin receiving information from the armed forces, asking them to consider
joining. This is an example of grouping demographically by age and gender
and hoping to further segment that group based on psychographics, seeking
individuals with values that match their organizational goals.
Example of Geographic Segmentation
As another example, some geographic areas are marketed by Pier One Exports
and other areas are marketed by All-A-Dollar. And if you're thinking
that both of those stores are within a short driving distance of your home,
then what does that tell you of the area in which you live? It should
tell you that you are in a diverse area that fits both markets. However,
think of the distance between those stores. If you are in a metropolitan
area, there's likely a mile or two distance between the stores.
Also consider: what other stores and businesses surround them?
Groups Defined
Of the following segmented profile types, see if you can guess which
segmented group holds the most clout with Internet businesses. Markets
are segmented based on the following criteria:
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Psychographic segmentation -- grouping
individuals based on likes, dislikes, personality traits, social class,
desires, and values.
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Demographic
segmentation -- grouping individuals by age, gender,
income level, life stage, educational level, race and nationality.
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Product
related segmentation -- grouping individuals by
amount of usage, type of usage, brand loyalty, and benefits sought.
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Geographic
segmentation -- Off the Internet:
Grouping people by geographic location. On the Internet: The
web has removed geographic boundaries. So online, geographics play
a factor for shipping and taxation laws, but "place" is where they spend
time online, which opens the potential of a much larger audience.
Undoubtedly, psychographic segmentation, while
factoring in product related segmentation, is the most relevant to online
buying. This is true because the web removes the traditional
geographic factor. Reaching people's psychy is an achievable goal
when you are working in a niche driven environment; and the Internet is
definitely niche driven. According to theory, if marketers can reach
consumers who have a similar interest base, there is a lot of money to
be made. And the Internet increases the potential of reaching a much larger
target audience and of narrowing that audience to individuals with shared
interests, wants, likes, needs, and desires. This theory single-handedly
supports many online entrepreneurs and encourages them to make the decision
to conduct Internet business. If you can find the people who really want
what you have to sell, and the world is your marketplace, what is the potential?
The Jane Smith Theory
If you've taken another marketing class, you may already be familiar
with the "Jane Smith Theory":
To Sell Jane Smith What Jane Smith Buys,
You Must See Things Through Jane Smith's Eyes. |
Assignment
Part 1:
Before you can create marketing-related projects, you need to learn
a few techniques of graphics editing. So to begin with, you are going
to edit a picture of a rubber duck, make the duck float on a picture of
a lake, and rubber stamp additional ducks onto the lake.
By completing this assignment, you will be able to complete Part 2,
which is the actual marketing assignment.
Here are your instructions (Adobe Acrobat required to view): rubberducky.pdf
File Size: 3.5 MB. Wait to load or s ave the file separately
and open with Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Save the rubber ducky image and one of these water
scenes then open and complete the instructions for Part 1 of this assignment
(open the rubberducky.pdf file).
Note: If you choose to Copy and Paste the images into Fireworks
rather than saving and opening them, you will need to click File, New,
OK within Fireworks before pasting the image.
Part 2:
You will select a household product and come up with designs for the
following marketing mediums:
-
street billboard
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home page
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magazine cover
You need to:
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Define the target audience for your product
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Determine the colors that would best reach the target audience and positively
represent the product
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Defend your designs; tell us why your designs will be effective
Software needed for this assignment: Fireworks®. PhotoShop
can also be used, but the instructions are given for Fireworks®.
Here are your instructions (Adobe Acrobat required to view): psychographics.pdf
File Size: 3.8 MB. Wait to load or s ave the file separately
and open with Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Time frame for completing
this assignment: Part 1: One class period of 50 minutes. Part
2: Four class periods of 50 minutes each |
