Target Market Segmentation

Segmentation and Target Market

Proper marketing management is one of the major determinants of business success. Amongst the methods of marketing management, segmentation, target marketing, and positioning are of utmost importance. Market segmentation deals with the identification of the market constituents into different groups or segments based on specific profiles (Kotler and Keller, 2012). Target marketing deals with the selection of segments and development of the measures to attract the selected consumer groups (Kotler and Keller, 2012). Ultimately, business positioning deals with the ways in which the business remembers and distinguishes the brand of the company with the competing products by means of unique attributes and benefits

First and foremost, the segmentation may be seen from the types of products. Based on their functions and usage, the segment of the market may be classified into health care, beauty, and family care segments (Procter and Gamble, 2013). For products having similar functions, P&G also segments the market further based on their demographic characteristics such as age and gender. For example, “Noxzema” is aimed to young women and young men, while “Olay” is targeted to older women. Similarly, “Head and Shoulders” is oriented mainly to adult men and women who have dandruff, while “Pantene” is oriented to adult women. Furthermore, segmentations based on the geographical features are also present. For example, there are specific innovations in the brands, such as the growth of hair treatment brands for women with curly hair in African continent, in which women having such traits are prominent. Similarly, products able to give “silky-smooth” hair are also focused in Asian countries, in which such kind hair is considered as an indicator of beauty and elegance and is therefore desired. In addition, segmentations are also made based on the psychographic characteristics of the consumers such as the value, motive for buying, and lifestyle of the consumers. For example, “Gillette” is specifically segmented based on the lifestyle of the consumers. Some of the product offers adequate results with best price offer, while the

In this aspect, attempts are made in order to distinguish the brands of the company from their competitors in the consumer’s mind based on unique attributes such as the products, services, channels, people, and the brand image. This may be achieved by proper branding strategies, coupled with the marketing mix made previously. One of the most common strategies in this aspect, which is also used by P&G, is by signifying certain key facts or taglines related to the uniqueness or benefits of the brands or factors that lead to the claims and performance of the brand, as well as the association of particular brands to their brand ambassadors. For instance, the focus on dandruff treatment as a result of unique ZPT formula in the product “Head and Shoulders” are several key facts which are instilled by P&G to the minds of the consumers to differentiate the product with its competitors. This strategy involves several considerations such as the definition of the advertisement objective, the claims or commitment to be made, supporting claims of the commitment, the brand position of the competitors, as well as the evaluation related to the effectiveness of the approach on the understanding of the consumers and possible improvements to be made. Although the claim is usually made of just a few sentences, P&G conducts careful planning in the message generation and conveyed aspects. This emphasizes the importance P&G put on the aspect of