Target-Market Selection - Research Proposal Example

5 Questions Why is target-market selection important for a driven marketing strategy? Discuss some of the negative consequences a company might incur from not paying enough attention to selecting its target market? Target market selection is important because it gives an important measure of the way market will be adequately segmented by the organization for its different brands, which could either be products and/or services. Target market selection holds the key for finding out who to address the marketing towards as well as gauge their personal preferences, their shopping habits, the consumer attributes and so on and so forth. Since target market looks to understand the psyche of the customer itself, it is pertinent to measure the attributes and characteristics which would bring the customer in close association with the brand – a fact that is highlighted immensely when the target market has already been devised and selected beforehand. If the company does not pay enough attention in order to discern its exact target market, it could land up in trouble at the time of devising its marketing strategy since it would address a completely unknown marketing segment, one which was not asked for by the product’s target domains. Thus it is essential that the target market is selected in a proper manner as falling short on the same count could lead to wastage which no organization is willing to afford. Wastage can also happen if secondary audience, one that is not exactly the audience for the said product is catered to the product and its message and thus there is a complete mix-up within the related ranks. (2) Beyond evaluating current businesses, designing the business portfolio involves finding businesses and products the company should consider in the future. Using the product-market expansion grid, illustrate the process that a company can use to evaluate a portfolio. Pick an example for your demonstration that is different from the one used in the text. Be sure your example covers all cells. The product-market expansion grid of Ansoff is basically a model that is useful in demonstrating a clear link between the different processes of the business unit strategy so that there is a clear cut identification of the growth opportunities for the business. Since this grid looks at product and market in different alignments, a company can analyze a portfolio by touching the method for market penetration where it could sell the product in an excessive manner by making it available in a wholesome quantity. This could also mean lowering the prices drastically to make its availability the real key. Market development could happen if the new markets experience the existing products in a head on fashion and thus get to know more about the already existing products, which were earlier used by other market segments. Product development is for the newer products within the portfolio which enters into the existing markets and thus tries to make a strong name and recognition for itself. This is a very risky yet expensive proposition. Lastly diversification is for the organization entering into newer markets with wholly new products which caters to the needs of the market. This is also risky in essence. (3) Distinguish between the five principles of enlightened marketing: consumer-oriented marketing, innovative marketing, value marketing, sense-of-mission marketing, and societal marketing. Consumer-oriented marketing is all about the way consumer wants the marketing to come down upon him/her. It looks at gaining a quick reaction from the consumer for which the product is basically being made available and marketed through the different channels. Innovative marketing is something excitingly fresh and appealing. It has the new and trendier look that comes with innovation and has not been experienced before by the target audience ever before. Innovative marketing could be risky since it has not been endeavored into the past and it could prove costly as times as well. Value marketing offers the customer a ‘value’ for his/her money. This means that he gets something ‘extra’ in the same amount of money that he/she would spend to buy a competitor’s product/service. Value marketing has been a hit in the recent years and will continue to gain strength to strength within the middle and lower-middle market segments in any socio-economic group of the society. Sense-of-mission marketing is marketing for attaining a mission that has already been planned by the brand team. This is usually target marketing to achieve goals and objectives which are usually for short term gains and results. Sense-of-mission marketing always succeeds when there is thought put into practice. Societal marketing is also known as ‘green’ marketing. It is the marketing done in the name of corporate social responsibility and the organization looks to be a socially responsible citizen of the state and caters to problems in the fields of environment, poverty, disease, etc. (4) What macro-environmental forces do you feel will have the largest positive and largest negative impact on online travel companies? Why? Economic factors hold the largest positive and technological factors hold the largest negative macro-environmental forces within the online travel companies. This is because the economy within an online travel company can boost its image and working regimes immensely. If there is surplus quantity of finances available for the online travel companies, it is an obvious point that they will achieve recognition within the relevant quarters as well as gain a larger share of the consumer market (the travelers). It will also ask the customers to become permanent, long term clients of such online travel companies and increase the sale of the tickets, etc. Economic factors contribute in the financial aspects and thus finances are directly related with the socio-cultural and political aspects as well. The largest negative factors include the technological regimes since technological advancements happen on a day to day basis and it would not be long before the online travel companies are superseded by another technologically advanced machinery or methodology. Thus the risk associated with investing in technology is present in huge amount nonetheless. Technological factors need to be backed up by research and development department helping on a proactive basis. Technological factors are however also dependent a great deal on the economic forces but political forces can mar the whole process since the political aspects are not forecasted at all. (5) Focus group interviewing is both a widely used and widely criticized research technique in marketing. List the advantages and disadvantages of focus group. Suggest some kinds of questions that are suitable for exploration by using focus groups. How could focus group research be done via the Internet? The advantages of focus groups are that they ask the participants to concentrate and find out the strong and weak points with the products that will be launched in the market. They give a lot of thought towards accumulating information and knowledge related with the product and hence they are able to constructively dissect the product’s good and bad points as well as offer opportunities for success in the long run. The disadvantages of focus groups are that they remain within a ‘laboratory environment’ and the real market domains are missing from the focus group scenarios. The focus groups look at the whole target audience in a vacuum yet fail to address the same within the pertinent market conditions and situations which is a downright negative to state the least. Some kinds of questions which could be explored include: 1. Is the participant ready to take a round in the ‘real’ market before making a decision? 2. Is the participant not comparing and contrasting the said brand with a favorable brand and its characteristics? 3. Is the participant ready to use the brand him/herself? Focus group research could be done through the Internet if the intended consumers or participants are sent a questionnaire related with the brand’s features/characteristics/service attributes. This could also be done in the form of open ended and close ended questions that could be presented to the participants of the focus groups. Bibliography Lunt, Peter. Rethinking the Focus Group in Media and Communications Research. Journal of Communication, Vol. 46, 1996 Compton, P. Environmental Management in Practice: Compartments, Stressors, and Sectors - Vol. 2, Routledge, 1999 Smith, Mike. Personnel Selection and Assessment: Individual and Organizational Perspectives. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1993 Word Count: 1,326 Read More