Advertising and public relations (Virgin Money) - Essay Example

Advertising & Public Relations - Marketing and Section # of Segmentation is an important part of this market. What other tools of segmentation can be used to closely identify customers for Virgin Money When referred to the phenomena of marketing, segmentation is an integral part for all products that cannot be mass marketed, and credit card is one of them. Though the gurus of marketing once agreed that credit card can be mass marketed because once an application is received, its scrutiny would filter out the eligible candidates and those otherwise; however, this approach has been identified as one of the key drivers of the current credit crunch, and therefore, is no more valid.

Consequently, it is self-proven that credit card is not a mass market product. Therefore, when developing a card or marketing it to a consumer base, it is highly critical to ensure that the right segment of the market is identified and targeted. Cahill (2006) states that segmentation is a critical phenomenon in which markets are divided into various portions, thereby, the firm deciding on which portion (segment) to target, based on the marketing mix of the product that has been developed. At present, the strategy of Virgin is to develop segments based on demographics or the age groups in particular.

At the time of the initiation, Virgin identified its target market age group to be those in the age bracket of 30-45 years, while in sometime only, it was identified that most of its customers were in the age bracket of 25-35 years. Thereby, the firm had to revise the demographics of its target market segment. Interestingly enough, when it comes to market segmentation for a firm that aims for innovation, in accordance with McDonald (2004), as is for the case of Virgin, the goal really becomes to unleash the needs of the customers that are unique from the generalized population.

As mentioned in the case, Virgin differentiated its cards based on its design and several other distinct features and offerings. Furthermore, Weinstein (2004) states that finding the unique needs of the customers, which would ultimately lead into developing customized products for a given segment, is what can assist Virgin in identifying its customer-base beyond those currently present. Alongside, the following tools of segmentation can be used to closely identify customers for Virgin Money: Revising demographics based on the industry data and the economic data that is available from various sources Industry data would include the composition of the market and the changes that occur in it over a period of time, particularly when referring to the credit card industry, it is about various statistics such as: Division between convenience and revolving spenders Market share of the leaders and Virgin Trend of average and total amount outstanding on credit cards Substitute products Innovation in the global credit cards industry Competitor profiles, dynamics and innovations Demographics of the spenders and the shift in their trends Economic data would include the various trends arising in the industry and their reaction on the credit card industry such as: Fluctuations in interest rate vs.

trends in credit card spending The degree of convenience that economy feels The debt burden on the economy due to excess debt circulating within the economy Eligible individuals for credit cards vs. individuals holding credit cards Alongside this, there must be global analyses of the various tools and techniques that firms across the world are using and which of these are successful or otherwise. It is worth mentioning that this and a lot of worth analyzing data is available by means of variety of sources such as the internet, journals and various other publications; the need for marketers is to gather and sort the most relevant data out of it and comprehend it in a meaningful manner.

References Cahill D. (2006) Lifestyle Market Segmentation Haworth Press McDonald M., Dunbar I. (2004) Market Segmentation: How to Do It, How to Profit from It 3rd Edition Elsevier Weinstein A. (2004) Handbook of market segmentation: strategic targeting for business and technology firms 3rd Edition Haworth Press