To be successful in today’s marketplace, most marketing strategies are designed to appeal to
narrowly defined target markets. For example, instead of defining a target market based on just
an age group (e.g., all “millennials”) adding more segmentation variables such as income and
hobbies will make it more likely that consumers within the segment are interested in the same
product benefits. For example, millennials that are married likely have different needs than
single millennials; therefore, the smaller the segment, the more likely it is that those within the
segment will be alike. Smaller segments are more homogenous.
Once the target market has been selected, the company develops a positioning strategy for the
product or service that includes the point of difference that the company hopes will be
appealing to consumers in the segment. For this assignment you will analyze targeting and
positioning strategies based on a comparison of two competing products (e.g., two brands of
shampoo or two brands of running shoes).
Your analysis should include the following.
- Introduction – provide a short introduction to each brand and a link to a website for each
product. - For each product, identify the target market using at least three segmentation variables (at
least one must be demographic and at least one must be psychographic) for each product. For
each variable, provide an example for each brand of their marketing, perhaps something on
their website or the product itself to explain why you think this is a relevant target market. - Write a positioning statement for each product that reflects the point of difference you think
the product offers and the target market you have identified. The target market description
needs to reflect at least two of your variables.