Marketing Management:
MKT2311: Session 05 – Part 02 : Target marketing
Sanju Wickramasinghe
Department of Marketing
Bachelor of Business Administration Degree
Faculty of Management and Finance
University of Colombo
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Introduction to Target marketing
• Markets consist of buyers & they are different
• Three are three major steps in target marketing.
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What is Targeting?
Targeting can be defined as:
"the process of evaluating each market segment's attractiveness and selecting one
or more segments to enter."
The purpose of targeting is to focus marketing efforts on the most profitable and
suitable market segments.
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You should ideally consider the below criteria to choose your targetable segments:
• Size: Your audience segments must have enough potential customers to be worth
marketing to. If your segments are too small, you may not get enough conversions to
justify your marketing efforts.
• Difference: There should be a measurable difference between any two segments. The
lack of it leads to unnecessary duplication of efforts.
• Reachability: The segments should be accessible to your sales and marketing teams and
not be marred by technical or legal complications.
• Profitability: The segment should have a low-to-medium customer acquisition cost (CAC)
while bringing in high returns, i.e., the audience must be willing to spend money on your
product.
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Targeting Strategies
Targeting Targeting
broadly narrowly
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Targeting Strategies
Undifferentiated (Mass) Marketing : A market-coverage strategy
in which a firm decides to ignore market segment differences
and go after the whole market with one offer.
Example : "Share a Coke" campaign.
Differentiated (Segmented) Marketing : A market-coverage
strategy in which a firm decides to target several market
segments and designs separate offers for each.
Examples
1. Unilever targeting different segments with its multiple laundry
detergent brands.
2. Nike targets different sports categories as segmonts
Nike - Unlimited.mp4
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Targeting Strategies
Concentrated (Niche) Marketing : A market-coverage
strategy in which a firm goes after a large share of one or a
few segments or niches.
Example : Rolls Royce focusing on the luxury electric vehicle
market
Micromarketing (Local or Individual Marketing) : Tailoring
products and marketing programs to the needs and
preferences of individual customers.
Example : Starbuck’s #itstartswithyourname campaign
Interior
My Video.mp4
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Ethical Considerations in Targeting
• Avoiding vulnerable or disadvantaged groups
Marketers should be cautious in targeting vulnerable or disadvantaged groups, as it may raise ethical
concerns
• Inclusive marketing
Ethical targeting practices should promote inclusivity and consider the diversity of consumers, avoiding
stereotypes and discriminatory marketing messages.
• Privacy and data protection
Marketers must adhere to ethical standards in collecting, using, and sharing consumer data to ensure
privacy and prevent misuse.
• Truthful and non-misleading communication
Ethical targeting requires that marketing messages are truthful, accurate, and do not mislead or
manipulate consumers.
• Social and environmental responsibility
Ethical targeting should consider the broader social and environmental impacts of marketing decisions.
• Encouraging responsible consumption
Ethical targeting should encourage consumers to make informed, responsible choices rather than
exploiting impulsive or harmful behaviors.
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• Do you think they chew the same tobacco they sell? It’s called advertising.
My Video1.mp4
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What is Positioning?
Positioning can be defined as:
"the act of designing the company's offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the
mind of the target market."
The purpose of positioning is to create a unique and appealing value proposition for the target
customers.
For example, A handbag maker may position itself as
a luxury status symbol.
Spa Ceylon Luxury Ayurveda.mp4
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A perceptual map in positioning
A perceptual map is used to show consumer perception of certain brands. An example of consumers’
perception of the price and quality of brands in the automobile industry is mapped below:
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Value proposition
• a value proposition expresses why a customer should choose your products and examines
your company’s benefits. (Basically, the point of differences)
• The greatest value proposition examples usually include a headline, subheadline, or short
paragraph and a visual to add extra interest, such as an image, video, or illustration. After
reading value propositions, customers should have no misunderstandings about what a
brand stands for and what it can offer them.
• Example: Nike value proposition
Nike bases its value proposition on the practice of sport as a generator of confidence and
success, will and effort, going against what is established, and bringing inspiration and
innovation to every athlete in the world.
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Apple
Apple offers both essential information about Short but sweet, Grammarly tells you everything
what and multiple value factors about their new you need to know right away with its value
operating system. proposition. 13
• Deciding on a positioning requires,
1. choosing a frame of reference by identifying the target market and relevant
competition
2. identifying the optimal points-of-parity and points of-difference brand associations given
that frame of reference
3. creating a brand mantra summarizing the positioning and essence of the brand.
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1. Choosing a frame of reference
• The competitive frame of reference is a fancy way of describing the market or context in
which you choose to position your brand.
• How many times have you taken a step back to think about what industry your company or
product/service is playing in? Where do you compete?
• Being really clear about what we call your “competitive frame of reference” is critical as it
defines your current and potential future competitors and should drive your product/service
innovation strategy
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• Let us take Coca-Cola as an example. Consider each of the frames of reference outlined in
the following table:
Frame of Reference Potential Competitors Point of difference
Cola Pepsi, RC Cola ?
Carbonated beverage (soda) 7 Up, Dr. Pepper ?
Soft drink Crystal Light, Gatorade ?
Non-alcoholic beverage Chocolate milk, root beer float ?
Beverage Wine, beer ?
Liquid refreshment Water, bottled water ?
Coke - waterbottle.mp4
Psychological refreshment A walk in the woods, yoga, a swim ?
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Benefits of Frame of Reference
• Parity: Frame of reference can help you identify points of parity—or similarities—between
your brand and successful competitors, equating your brand with companies that people
already trust and see as effective
• Differentiation: Understanding the frame of reference for your product helps you identify
the positive ways that it differs from other similar products on the market.
• Consumer insight: Locating your frame of reference helps you understand the target
audience you're trying to reach, which can help inform your brand strategy. You can use
these consumer insights to discover what your target market values, and tailor your brand
messaging to prioritize these values.
• Brand positioning: Positioning your brand within a frame of reference offers your consumers
a value proposition by giving them the ability to weigh the points of difference and points
of parity of your brand with your competitors.
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2. Identifying the points-of-parity and points of-difference
• Once marketers have fixed the competitive frame of
reference for positioning by defining the customer target
market and the nature of the competition, they can
define the appropriate points-of-difference and points-of-
parity associations.
Points-of-Parity
• Points-of-parity (POPs), on the other hand, are attribute or
benefit associations that are not necessarily unique to the
brand but may be shared with other brands.
Points-of-Difference
• Points-of-difference (PODs) are attributes or benefits that
consumers strongly associate with a brand, positively
evaluate, and believe they could not find to the same
extent with a competitive brand.
Both are related to positioning, but only one separates a
business from the competition. 18
Comparison between POP and POD
POP POD
• Essential industry standards that make a business • This should be determined once the POP has
a legitimate one in their field. been covered.
• Qualities which should have by all businesses to • Things that are unique to your business and give a
be competitive and to par with one another. competitive edge
• In other words, industry-specific similarities are • When you are creating a marketing mix, POD are
shared among many businesses. what you should highlight
• This feature cannot be replicated by any
other company and forms the unique selling point
for the brand.
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Example: Angel Soft - Toilet Paper
Points of Parity
• Everyone has toilet paper in their home. It’s a necessity with basic points of parity like:
• It needs to be made of durable softwood fiber paper that won’t tear.
• The tube should fit standard toilet paper holders.
• It has to be flushable, so it won’t clog the toilet.
Points of Difference
• Angel Soft toilet paper recently found a great differentiator. They’ve leveraged an
overlooked part of the toilet paper roll – the tube. Angel Soft has added a lavender
fragrance to their toilet paper tubes. Now you don’t need potpourri because your toilet
paper is pulling double duty. This is a big differentiator that comes from Angel Soft’s
understanding of complementary products that are used in the bathroom.
• Product Video Sample - Product Marketing - Product Photography.mp4
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In-class activity
When to use POP and POD?
• Should be focused on …………………… If the company is a market leader where it needs to
maintain the position of market leader and the company should be seen as superior.
• Should be focused on …………………… If the competitor is a laggard or a me-too type company,
then to survive
• Should be focused on highlighting …………………… When the market is mature and established
and the new company enters it, then the likelihood of customer conversion is very low because of
the habitual loyalty of the customer to the existing products or services
• Should be focused on …………………… When the market is price sensitive, then the organization
should focus on providing more benefits to justify the pricing so that the customer does not focus on
the price but rather on the features or the customers are to be introduced to cheaper alternatives
which may or may not be a substitute of the original.
• When the market is very fast growing, and the organization is also growing along with it then to
meet the primary demand of the market, …………………… should be the focus to capture new
customers
Homework
• Find out about the POP and POD tradeoff or how to balance POP and POD when executing
positioning strategies
• Find what are the points of parities and points of difference you can see in the Sri Lankan banking
industry. If you need, you can take one bank specifically to make the comparison with other banks
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3. Creation of a Brand mantra
• Brand mantra, also known as a brand essence or core brand promise. A brand mantra is a
short three- to five-word expression of the most important aspects of a brand and its core
brand associations.
Let’s take a look at some famous brand mantras:
• Nike: Authentic Athletic Performance
• Disney: Fun Family Entertainment
• BMW: Ultimate Driving Machine
• Apple: Think Different
A brand mantra serves major purposes:
• It communicates the idea behind the brand
• It simplifies the message of the brand
• It clarifies the positioning of the brand
• It inspires people & creates an emotional connection
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3 Step Rule to Create a Brand Mantra
• Brand function - It describes the nature of the product or service or the types of experience
or benefits the brand provides.
• The descriptive modifier -This further describes whom the brand is basically for, i.e. athlete,
family.
• The emotional modifier - It describes how consumers should feel about your brand, i.e.
athletic, fun, raw. Disney+.mp4 BMW - We Only Make One Thing.mp4
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• Nike: Authentic Athletic Performance - Nike - Unlimited.mp4
Nike marketers adopted the three-word brand
mantra, “authentic athletic performance,” to guide
their marketing efforts. Thus, in Nike’s eyes, its entire
marketing program—its products and the way they
are sold—must reflect that key brand value. Over the
years, Nike has expanded its brand meaning from
“running shoes” to “athletic shoes” to “athletic shoes
and apparel” to “all things associated with athletics
(including equipment).” Each step of the way,
however, it has been guided by its “authentic athletic
performance” brand mantra. For example, as Nike
rolled out its successful apparel line, one important
hurdle was that the products must be made
innovative enough through material, cut, or design to
truly benefit top athletes. At the same time, the
company has been careful to avoid using the Nike
name to brand products that do not fit with the brand
mantra (like casual “brown” shoes)
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Nike Romaleos 4 Nike Nike SB Zoom Blazer Mid Premium
Weightlifting Shoes Lifestyle Shoes Skate Shoes
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Beanies
Kids' Backpack
Yoga mats
Sport Accessories
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Jordan Jumpman ( Men's T-Shirt ) Nike Dancing outfits
Nike Sportswear Premium
Essentials
Men's Long-Sleeve T-Shirt
Men’s Dri-Fit Golf Polo
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Homework
McDonald’s brand mantra : Food, Folks, and Fun
Do you realise how McDonald's has positioned itself as a place where people
have fun? It's not just a fast-food restaurant chain.?
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Thank You
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