Week 2 discussion

In chapters 5-8 of the text, pick an IMC Focus and comment on it. Be sure to give some background before you give your opinion. The discussion posting should be at least one full page single spaced. That’s at least four paragraphs. On another date the same week, respond to two other student posts. Pick two that were on other topics other than your own. The response should be at least a few paragraphs in length.
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please after doing main post 1 page, reply 1/2 page for two replies with my classmates:

1st post classmate: Chapter 5: IMC Focus – Students: An Inviting Target for Odor-Fighting Products”
Within this section, the marketing segmentation, targeting, and position is presented in a very well analyzed and executed way. The text mentioned that, in realization on that reaching college students via conventional mass media such as television and magazines would be expensive and more likely with not effect, Procter and Gamble (company who makes products such as Febreeze) and its advertising agency opted for an online campaign using Facebook and postings to YouTube, as a focus on its marketing (Shimp, 2013). One of the things they have developed is, an interactive online site (www.facebook.com/pages/Telling-Febreze-WHAT-STINKS/21606803968) and postings were made to YouTube: “I Tell Feberze What Stinks”.

Procter and Gamble’s marketing strategy comes from the idea on that, college students with immense pressures on their time and the likelihood of two or more of them occupying the same room, apartment, study area, it is probable that it is (the room) not as clean or as odor-free as it may be desired. Like millions of other college students, the target audience/prospect are then good candidates for odor-fighting products while living in a dorm, fraternity/sorority building, or even off-campus apartment. The company integrated, as a consequence, the steps that are necessary for an effective identification of the specific market, which is; the process of segmentation, positioning and targeting, in this scenario, through online segmentation and the support of marketing. Within this IMC focus we are able to see in practice 3 important elements of the Marketing mix; Segmentation, targeting and positioning.

Market segmentation focuses on Identifying bases (e.g., behavior, demographics) to segment the market and developing profiles of resulting segments. In other words, A market segmentation is the act of dividing a market into distinct groups of customers who might require separate products and/or marketing-mixes. The segmentation process certainly can help with efficiently directing and accounting for marcom resources (Shimp, 2013). According to Martin (2011), to be successful in today’s global market, Organizations will have the think innovatively, be willing to change and quickly adapt to the new ways of conducting business in this twenty-first century. There are different segmentations, some of these are; Customer Market Segmentation, Geographical and Demographical Segmentation, Behavioral Segmentation, Psychographic Segmentation and Business Segmentation. According to Martin (2011), Marketing segmentation strategies can be cultivated through an extensive choice of attributes found among purchasers. While one faction within the market may be recognized by gender, another may be made up of purchaser’s behaviors within a certain age category, as an example. In this case they are focusing on a college students’ segment (which involves age segmentation, behaviors, and lifestyle, just to mention some), to be specific on the type of audience they are intending to attract.

Market targeting focuses on Developing measures of segment attractiveness and works on the Selection of the target segment (Shimp, 2013). Market positioning focus on Develop a positioning and a marketing mix for each target segment. The company of Procter and Gamble decided to target through online consumer targeting. Websites that increases in a highly phase are tracking their users ‘online site-selection behavior to enable advertisers to serve targeted ads (e.g., Google AdWords) (Shimp, 2013). This method is effective and less expensive for organizations. Ad network companies, as an example such as Audi-ence Science and Tacoda (now part of AOL) track online users ‘surfing behaviors and provide this information to advertisers that wish to target prospective customers based on their online search behavior (Shimp, 2013).

Positioning represents the key feature, benefit, or image that it stands for in the target audience’s collective mind (Shimp, 2013). Brand positioning represents the key feature, benefit, or image that a brand stands for in the target audience’s mind (Shimp, 2013). According to Shahid and Zafar, (2019), Brand positioning is the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market (consumers). As a result of brand positioning is, the successful creation of a customer-focused value proposition, a cogent reason why the target market should buy the product.

When targeting a young-adult market or segment, the internet, social media channels are the right way to go for an effective outcome. With the utilization of these channels, in addition to the focusing on behaviors which drive tendencies, a path can be traced towards the company’s goal. I believe these were the key points on the company Procter and Gamble on their intention to penetrate a product (that may not be as popular to these segment, as other products could be) for these type of consumers. The flow they took through the process from the segmentation and identification of their specific audience, their approach on targeting that market with the necessary tools proven to be effective on these group and the positioning effort to present the brand in an attractive manner, were just the right steps towards success. Moreover, how the company’s activities were executed along with the strategies towards the intended goal, is proof of that when a strong marketing steps are taken and putted into practice, the success is almost guaranteed.

Reference

Martin, G. (2011). The importance of marketing segmentation. American Journal of Business Education, 4(6), 15-18. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/874269598?accountid=35796

Shahid, S., & Zafar, S. (2019). Brand positioning strategies and their effectiveness: A case of high street fashion retail brands in pakistan. Paradigms, 13(2), 90-99. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.24312/1972130213

Shimp, T. A. (2013). Advertising, Promotion and Other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications (9th ed.).

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2nd clAssmate post:

rofessor & Class,

Chapter 5 IMC Focus: Geodemographics and Smartphone Use: It’s Not What It Seems

The article indicates that it may seem that everyone worldwide has a smartphone since in the United States the estimated percentage of mobile phone users with smartphones for 2014 is 54% and percentages even higher in some European countries, the truth is that worldwide the estimated percentage of mobile phone users with smartphones for the same year is only17% (Shimp, 2013). The article also shows different demographic variables of the users depending on different parts of the world (Shimp, 2013).

The best brands understand that they can’t please everyone; they understand that marketing to everyone in a noisy and crowded world dilutes the power of their message, making it irrelevant and therefore easy to ignore. Rather, they use targeting marketing to personalize messaging based on customer needs, preferences, and other factors (Martin, 2011). When messages are more relevant, customers feel validated and their engagement increases. When done right, segmentation helps brands avoid costly mass marketing techniques and enjoy better ROI on carefully targeted campaigns (Martin, 2011).

Market segmentation is the process of dividing a target market into groups, or segments, based on common characteristics, such as age, occupation, affiliation, location, behavior, and interest (Martin, 2011). Market segmentation is based on the theory that people whom have similar characteristics have similar unmet needs; therefore, people respond similarly to a brand’s marketing efforts, increasing their effectiveness.

For this IMC focus, we find an emphasis on the type of geographic segmentation and demographic segmentation.

Geographic segmentation consists of dividing the market following the criteria of physical location (Martin, 2011). Thus, the market is divided into different geographical areas, where the services or products will be directed. Each geographic area has different characteristics and cultural values ​​and these differences can be the key when distributing products, publicizing brands, or establishing subsidiaries of companies (Martin, 2011).

Multinational companies are the ones that make the most use of segmentation by geographic location because they need to distribute their products in different regions, countries, or continents and the geographical segmentation of the market provides them with relevant data to create differentiated marketing and communication strategies in each area (Adams, 2011). Thanks to geographic segmentation, large companies can implement different strategies that take into account cultural differences and the different criteria that must be used to transport and distribute products (Adams, 2011).

Demographic segmentation targets customers using basic information such as age, gender, education level, income level, family size, ethnicity, and occupation (Martin, 2011). This is a popular form of targeting because the types of products and services that consumers commonly purchase depend on demographic factors (Martin, 2011).

By segmenting markets, companies divide large, heterogeneous markets into smaller segments that can be more effectively reached with products and services consistent with their unique needs (Adams, 2011).

References,

Adams, R. (2011). Fragmentation and segmentation: Marketing global benefits. The International Business & Economics Research Journal, 10(9), 59-65. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/890556023?accountid=35796

Martin, G. (2011). The importance of marketing segmentation. American Journal of Business Education, 4(6), 15-18. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/874269598?accountid=35796

Shimp, T. A., (2013). Advertising, Promotion and Other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications, 9th edition. Cengage Learning