Segmentation and Market Target Analysis - Essay Example

Segmentation and Market Target Paper In the modern marketplaces, there are trends of crowded products where companies are continuously competing to attain consumer attention for diverse aspects than before. The average level is 700 new brands created on a daily basis which adds on 2 million brands in existence. Such levels of competition make companies find alternative ways of attracting consumers to the main products. This paper focuses on Apple and its marketing segments. The paper discusses how Apple’s market segmentation is achieved against the advantages of market segmentation. The focus also provides several of the regional market segmentation. The essay discusses Apple’s criteria for market segmentation as well as market segmentation mediums. The main approach that the company uses is market segmentation. The management’s market segmentation is based on concepts of economics while dividing organizations and people into categories with a derivative of similar products. According to Hiebing, Cooper & Wehrenberg (2011), the concept responds positively to the marketing messages of the product. In achieving this, Apple eliminates wasted resources with an attempt of marketing to consumers without interests in the company’s product. The different segmentation types used by Apple include Demographic, Psychographic, Geographic, and Behavioral Segmentation utilized in creating effective marketing campaign. According to McDonald & Wilson (2011), Apple’s demographic segmentation involves division of the company products based on characteristics of certain market. The approach includes income, age, sex, race, and education. The geographic segmentation concepts are differentiated on the basis of physical locations in potential consumers. Further, Apple’s psychographic segmentation involves the lifestyles or personalities of potential consumers. Behavioral segmentation for the Apple Company is based on the analysis of consumers’ actions. According to Estelami (2009), market segmentation in has narrowed from complicated processes that required significant research on consumer behavior. Currently, the firm has in-depth understanding of company objectives and goals. The initial step for market segmentation involves identification of broad markets that are attained through existing channels. For instance, Apple Inc. has produced the iPod as one of its fast moving consumer goods. On the other hand, prior the start of research and development for the product, the department identified broad markets used by the iPod within music markets. The subsequent step included establishing success of iPod and creating inventory methodology for the potential customer needs. According to Hiebing, Cooper & Wehrenberg (2011), Apple started taking close focus on other music players with a determination of the missing aspects of the products. The focus groups formed allowed management to gain more insight to the consumers’ desires for portable music players. An overwhelming response to the activity included interactivity. Apple later created iTunes that were an ultimate sidekick for iPod. With the product, users easily make transfers while storing music on the iPod, as well as access to user interfaces on the computer. The iTunes product was launched in public markets before the product iPod in tasting the outcomes. The approach advanced on the market segmentation processes that were involved in the formulation of narrow markets in broad markets. For Apple, the target market was for music genres. According to Hiebing, Cooper & Wehrenberg (2011), the management split the potential consumers among rappers, rockers, and country lovers. The concept was a pre-determined variation in advancing the dimensions and needs of specific, narrow segments in the markets. The company focused on creating advertising campaigns while delivering the desired kinds of music lovers in the iPod. The approach is attached to labels of the narrow markets. The steps are evaluated to establish behavioral pattern for the narrow market segments. On the other hand, Apple Inc. Requires knowledge of the increased references to market share of rappers, rockers, and country lovers. The firm catered to the interests of rockers though approaching rock stars to endorse respective products as well as carrying out campaigns for the main genres. The concept of Apple’s market segmentation estimated the overall sizes of the narrow market segments. According to McDonald & Wilson (2011), Apple had a meticulous research on how people listened to the genres of music across the world. The result was that the firm was in a position of matching the supplies of the iPod with consumer demands. The iPod became responsible for the solicitation of Apple, Inc. to top Fortune 500 Lists on record sales. Prior the segmentation of marketed elements in several criteria, there were fulfillments of determined marketing campaigns as effective. According to Estelami (2009), Apple’s first criterion for the segmentation was based on measurability. Valuable segmentation data including consumer preferences and buying behaviors should be availed by the company to different stakeholders. The Apple Company does not have an awareness of successful products and marketing strategies without knowledge of information regarding the target markets. The adverse criterion is segmentation relevance. Market segments should be expounded to have larger profit potentials while justifying resources needed to create effective advertising campaigns. According to McDonald & Wilson (2011), the Apple Company is differentiated on criteria of accessibility. The segmentation of reachable markets is based on accessibility of mediums of communication within the company for elements such as magazines, the internet, and billboards. The concept becomes distinguished from specific target segments. Market segments should be diverse to engage different market reactions for differential marketing mixes. Individuals buy similar products for the extensive reasons where marketers appropriately target the distinguishable markets. The overall criterion in market segmentation achieves effective feasibility. Segmentation of Apple is stable for purposes of decreasing the costs linked to frequent changes of the segment characteristics. According to Hiebing, Cooper & Wehrenberg (2011), the consumers normally have attraction towards specialized product provided through large companies while usurping roles of specialized product providers. Apple is keen to create unique marketing campaigns targeting distinct people. The Apple leads in advancing higher market share. The other valuable is overlooked through a beneficial market segmentation affecting the company’s products. The products have improved Apple’s perspective through tailoring marketing campaigns and company gains to insights of the consumers’ wants. The elements change the product performance through specific catering to customer needs. Irrespective of the advantages, Apple faces several market segmentation disadvantages. Apple has encountered higher costs with establishing target market research and unique advertising campaigns. There is a focus on the overall marketing costs affecting the company’s performance bottom line. Consumer backlashes are devastating outcomes of the overall market segmentation. The events of the company continue neglecting specific market groups for the desired products with bad publicity linked to damaging company’s reputation. Market segmentation limits the popularity of products from the global marketplace while targeting individuals with high purchasing likelihood for the Apple products. The choice of variables and mediums has a distribution of targeted campaigns with daunting tasks for the company. The media choices are often used in the determination of successes of campaigns despite how the well-crafted the systems are. The media is the central points of the market segmentation. Television has been a powerful resource in the marketing focus. Additionally, television marketing channels for the segmentation of channels cater to the Hispanics, African-Americans, food-lovers, and sports fans. According to Hiebing, Cooper & Wehrenberg (2011), the company utilizes the media for targeting specific people groups on the basis of their region (geographic), race (demographic), and lifestyles (psychographic). The alternative market segmentation media include Internet through Google and Facebook. Google makes for collections of information for the user relationship between basic information while advancing location, interests, and browsing habits. This information is based on their provision marketing companies for direct outlet through consumption for the likelihood of purchasing the company’s product. Facebook is based on the idea of making targeted advertising at the international levels. According to McDonald & Wilson (2011), Facebook users make inputs of personal details for the lives for the Facebook pages in the intention of achieving information public within the friends. Facebook gathers more information while categorizing the lumped individuals from different marketing groups. The advertising firms for the choices of groups involved in targeting users for football, basketball, and watch movies while users that are TV personality fans. Social media bears further collection of information in the age and race for users for the categorized individuals. The focus of the firm involves habits, personalities, and preferences. Poignant market segmentation shows examples for Apple in the advertising realm. According to Hiebing, Cooper & Wehrenberg (2011), market segmentation involves the creation of different advertising environments within the existing time periods. The firm has formal customization of mass marketing while the processes of advertising are flooding realms of information through products. Market segmentation provides Apple with the quantifiable intelligence for consumer behavior and absolute desires. Absence of specific tools in target consumers through direct companies with other substantial gains forms financial bottom line. Adults have been Apple Inc. Target market segmentations. iPhone products have been useful tools for adults in daily needs including phone calls, internet connection, map directions, cameras, and documents. The market allows for carrying small devices while making adults lives easier for daily communication. According to Wong (2010), business individuals have high intrigue of the Apple products. The Apple devices within the products of iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks have high business derivatives for the usage. The devices are involved in finishing works through an efficient and well-communicated manner with the clientele. Additionally, the persons are in a position of sending more documents easily and in an organized manner. According to McDonald & Wilson (2011), Apple products have an important use for young children as well as kids. The relevance of the devices includes applied aspects of iPods and iPads that deliver on ease in using due to touch screen quality for the benefit of the children. Parents can download more learning game apps within their Apple devices while teaching young kids and children. According to Estelami (2009), teenagers have been considered to be part of target markets in Apple Inc. Teenagers apply iPods and related devices to achieve different goals reasons. The reasons allow for socialization with friends as well as listening to music. The focus advanced on online platforms such as Facebook, MSN, and Twitter. The focus elements use gaming apps for appellate aspects for the iPods becoming trendy among the teenagers. According to Hiebing, Cooper & Wehrenberg (2011), university and college students target the instrumentation of Apple Inc. The students engage Apple Inc. Products for iPads, MacBooks, and iPhone in quick and well-recorded notes. The notes are maintained in an organized manner within the devices. Further, the products have the focus on the development of devices within classrooms and in schools. According to Pride & Ferrell (2011), Apple has differential products within markets and has extensive methods of achieving the goals. Getting resources from the people with a willingness to pay for more as well as get cash at such prices is a conscious approach. However, there are difficulties in ascribing the Apple products for increment of orders within the iPhones for the underestimated demands of the model. Such estimations have broad information on the guesses. People pay top levels for Apple brand lines while fewer people want functionality features without the brand’s consistency. In conclusion, Apple has enjoyed different advantages for the utilization of market segmentation. The firm Apple has been in a position of better-serving customers’ wants and needs through catering to direct and specific groups. For instance, Apple organizes its online presence by product and consumer groups including private corporations, businesses, and individual. The other advantage is higher profits. It becomes difficult to process the increased product prices within entire markets while developing higher pricing plans for affluent segments in the market. The segment requires more incitement towards paying extra for the additional services. The markets should be afforded growth opportunities into the niche markets within key market segmentation advantages. References Wong, K., (2010) Approved Marketing Plans for New Products and Services. New York: iUniverse. Pride, W. M., Ferrell, O. C. (2011). Marketing. New York: Cengage Learning. McDonald, M., & Wilson, H. (2011) Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Hiebing, R., Cooper, S., Wehrenberg, S. (2011). The Successful Marketing Plan: How to Create Dynamic, Results Oriented Marketing. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional. Estelami H. (2009). Marketing Turnarounds: A Guide to Surviving Downturns and Rediscovering Growth. New York: Dog Ear Publishing. Read More