As you saw in the Introductory Video, the CanGo team is facing critical decisions about how to segment and target a vast and potentially profitable market. Because such decisions are so important, the marketing team must determine how to divide this market into segments of consumers they, define as precisely as possible. Only by doing so, will they be able to focus their marketing efforts effectively and maximize their resources. Further, by defining segments precisely, marketers can ensure that the benefits that accrue from tailoring product offerings to a particular segment are worth the necessary effort and expense. In other words, the marginal profit of crafting offerings for specific segments must outweigh the marginal cost.

The process through which firms like CanGo define and serve specific markets is called segmentation, targeting, and positioning. We'll review these concepts in the exercises below. Before we do, however, let's consider the marketing approaches that follow from ways in which marketers divide markets into segments. Depending on how narrowly they define market segments, marketers will employ one of the following approaches:

• Undifferentiated targeting approach: crafting a single marketing mix that would be attractive to all potential consumers. If CanGo adopted this approach, it would market uniformly to all potential consumers - Baby Boomer, Gen-X and Gen-Y.
   
• Differentiated targeting approach: different mixes appealing to particular groups or segments. Through this approach, CanGo would craft product offerings and marketing messages to suit the particular tastes of Boomer, Gen-X, and Gen-Y consumers.
   
• Niche approach: a single marketing mix crafted to appeal principally to only a chunk or similar chunks of the overall markets. With this approach, CanGo would divide its three principal segments, and target only, say, Gen-X consumers.

Again, what marketing approach firms like CanGo undertake depends on how they divide their target market. As the Introductory Video and the explanations of these approaches suggest, that process of division is challenging. Not all segments are viable, and only by defining viable ones can a firm sell its products effectively.

Turn now to the exercises and help the CanGo marketing team define the best possible segments, target them with the right marketing mix, and position its products to meet the segments' needs.

 
 
page 2 of 15 | go to page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15