Segmentation and Possible Target Markets - Case Study Example

Segmentation and Possible Target Markets Geographic, psychographic and behavioral patterns influence the process of market segmentation by the Coca Cola Company especially in the sales of Coke and Coke Diet. The United States qualifies as a market segment of coca cola. The consumption of the drink is a maturity level in this market segment as compared to other market segments divided via geographic factors. This market segment provides a large human population that creates a base for the coca cola market. In addition, the location of the Coca Cola Company is suitable for the consumption of coke and diet coke. This is because both of these drinks initially originated from the United States hence the people identify with the brand. Behavioral aspects of the people of the United States also determine the marketing segment. The people constantly enjoy a soft drink as compared to the other part of the world where beverages like tea possess more popularity. Hence, the United States is a market segment for coke and diet coke based on geographic, psychographic and behavioral patterns (D’Altorio, 2010). The product coke targets towards the whole population in the market. However, Coca Cola Company takes exceptional effort to ensure that various age groups associate with this brand. As a result, teenagers become a market segment for the Coca Cola Company. Teenagers are a notorious market segment that prove hard to impress various times. However, Coca Cola takes up the challenge to identify their brand with the young generation since teenagers constantly consume soft drinks. Teenagers provide a good market segment since they are an ideal target for both coke and diet coke. While Coke aims at the general teenage population, diet coke appeals easily to teenage girls who are health conscious and prefer to consume a low calorie soft drink. Coca cola targets the teenage population by placing their products in school vending machines. In addition, the social media plays a crucial role in ensuring the brand advertises itself to teenagers through popular sites such as face book and twitter. One of the advertisements by coca cola targeting teenager is the global ad campaign that uses the love of music by teenagers to appeal to them (Chapman, 2011). Women in the United States are a market segment specifically due to their consumption of Diet Coke. Since the release of the product in 1982, diet coke receives appraisal and acceptance in the United States market as a feminine drink. This is because the drink attracted more female customers than it did male customers. As a result, the Coca Cola Company saw the need to isolate women as the target segment market for the coke diet product. The company capitalizes on advertisements to appeal to the female market segment. According to Marketing Week, over the years, the objectification of men in diet coke adverts serves as a major way of attracting the women customers. In addition, the adverts strongly use women icons in a bid to attract associate the brand with empowering of women. These strategies in the past several years segment women as a market brand and go further ahead to make them identify with the product easily. Since diet coke targeted towards women, coca cola developed another brand of diet soda that targets health conscious men. This brand is Coke Zero (Ginger, 2011). Target Marketing Various factors influence the process of target marketing when it comes to the key products Coke and Diet Coke. These factors include age, gender, lifestyle and Socio economic factors among them. Based on age, coke diet targets the young people as the major consumers of the product. According to Bauer Media, coke diet is highly consumed by women between the ages of 16-24. This is backed by the fact that women of these ages tend to be more health conscious than those of different ages. Coke diet is a sugar free soft that has lower calorie content as compared to other Coca Cola Company soft drinks. This makes it a better alternative for young women sensitive to health. Other than age, the lifestyle of people influences target marketing of coke and diet coke. The products target towards urbanites with a fast paced life and busy lifestyle. The packaging of the drinks promotes the use of this drink on the go or the road. An example of such packaging is the use of the can. It creates an easy way for busy people to enjoy a drink while working without interrupting their schedules (Bauer, 2008). Under lifestyle, diet coke targets the individuals who are health conscious and have specific health needs. For instance, diabetics and people that only take soft drink with low sugar content opt for diet coke as the drink is sugarless. This enables Coca Cola to create a target market of not only for individuals who can take sugar without any complications. On the contrary, coca cola manages to allow individuals with low sugar tolerance to enjoy the taste of sugar without creating a negative impact on their health. Coca cola engages in campaigns against sugar related health complications such as obesity (Parsons, 2011). Nevertheless, Beverage digest states that Coca cola controlled a forty two percent market share in 2010, with coke taking 17% and diet coke taking 9.9%. Therefore, Coke and diet coke enjoy a large market size. The Coca Cola Company stands out world wide as among the biggest soft drink companies with products in America, Africa, Asia and Europe. With such a broad market base, the company requires a technique that allows it to meet the needs of certain groups of people. Therefore, it creates products aimed at the identified groups instead of creating one product for everyone. Therefore, no group feels left out in enjoying the products of Coca Cola (Hartlaub, 2012). References Bauer Media. (2008). CASE STUDY: Diet Coke Targets Women 16-24 on Heat Radio. Getmedia Retrieved from < http://www.getmemedia.com/ideas/case-study-diet-coke- Targets-women-16-24-on-heat-radio/bauer-media.html> Chapman M., (2011) Coca Cola Target Teenagers with Global Push: Marketing Week Retrieved From http://m.marketingweek.co.uk/3024423.article? Mobilesite=enabled> D’Altorio, T. (2010). Coke Vs Pepsi…Are the Cola wars Finally Over. Investment U Retrieved from < http://www.investmentu.com/2012/February/are-the-coke-vs-pepsi- cola-wars-over.html> Ginger, C. (2011). Coke Tops Pepsi in US Market Share; Dayton Business Journal, 3, 18 Retrieved from < http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/search?q=Pepsi+Co.+Inc.> Hartlaub, P. (2012) Sweet! America’s Top 10 Brands of Soda; NBC News Retrieved from Parsons R., (2011) Diet Coke: A History Through Ads: Marketing Week Retrieved From Read More