Target Groups for Marketing and Advertising Campaigns - Essay Example

Answers to Questions Table of Contents Question Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Works Cited Question A. Expensive Jeans- young people who are single and have no kids will have the motivation to buy expensive jeans, one because they do not have the expenses that their peers with children do, and two because expensive jeans arguably have social value, something that young people will value. Young married people with no kids likewise may have the disposable income to buy expensive jeans because of their social value, as signals of social status and earning power. Full nest and single parents, middle-aged, and older people may not have the motivation to buy expensive jeans (“The American Society: Families and Households” 190). B. On the other hand, when it comes to the trip to Cancun, again those with more disposable income may have the motivation to purchase the trip. Older people with disposable incomes, middle-aged empty nesters both married and single, and young people with no kids all may have the motivation and may probably purchase the trip. In terms of the Household Life cycle therefore, both the young and those who are older, who have empty nests, those who are married, and those who are single all have the motivation, and are the likely customers for the trip to Cancun (“The American Society: Families and Households” 190). C. Breakfast bars are the probable purchase of young people across all groupings in the household life cycle, from singles to single parents, to married people with and without kids, because of the way the breakfast bars signify movement and convenience, as well as price consciousness and easy availability, whereas older people and middle-aged people may have different food preferences for breakfast. The latter groups in the household life cycle may prefer cooked breakfast food, either cooked at home or in restaurants and even fast food outlets, having more money for breakfast and in the case of older people more time and a greater concern for health and nutrition in food (“The American Society: Families and Households” 190). Question 2 A. The most relevant reference groups for the brand of toothpaste is arguably parents across the different HLC groups, from young single parents, to full nest parents, to delayed full nest parents, because of the way these groups make the purchase decisions for household items for the rest of the family. This reference group is also the appropriate target for marketing and advertising campaigns for toothpastes, even when the toothpaste caters to younger people in terms of its product attributes and in terms of the other elements of the marketing mix for such toothpaste products. Again this boils down to who makes the purchase decision for the family, and this group is made up of parents (“The American Society: Families and Households” 190). B. The reference groups for the purchase of the hybrid car on the other hand again are parents who have disposable income, and are the target market for these cars. They are middle-aged people in the HLC, from full nest to single parent II and the delayed full nest. This group drives the purchase decision because they have the disposable income to purchase hybrid cars and arguably have the greater technical and environmental savvy to seriously consider purchasing hybrid cars. They also have a large degree of influence because they drive the purchases for such cars, where older people may have more fixed preferences for traditional cars and traditional car brands (“The American Society: Families and Households” 190). Question 3 A. It may be that the way the marketing mix for the Hershey chocolate was not crafted to elicit response from the natural target market for chocolates. Looking at the natural market for chocolates, and then seeing whether that target market has a taste and the ability to purchase premium chocolate products, can give us an idea as to whether the hew Hershey product actually has a chance to take off. That target market can arguably consist of young women who may not have much disposable income, and that target market may also include men who buy chocolates as gifts. It may be that those target markets are not responding to the marketing mix elements, and that therefore the marketing mix, from the packaging to the distribution to the product aspects may need to be changed, as well as the promotions. If the intention is to keep the premium pricing, then that can be retained, and the right target market for premium chocolate need to be courted with the right marketing mix elements. The short of it is that whereas the traditional target markets for expensive chocolate are fixed, and have driven purchase decisions for traditional expensive chocolates, these same target markets are not being properly wooed by the marketing mix elements of the current Hershey chocolate product. Therefore, the different marketing mix elements may have to be tweaked in order to connect with those traditional target markets (“The American Society: Families and Households” 189-198). Question 4 A. Blackberry smartphones have for me the brand image attributes of convenience, safety, reliability, and obsolete or old technology. These relate to the old legacy attributes of Blackberry, and the fact that it has been relegated to marginal status in the present technology market with Apple and Samsung dominating the current market for smartphones. It is true that as a platform, Blackberry connotes trust and long track record of security from being used by corporations for secure communication, and those all translate as aspects of product safety and reliability. On the other hand, the brand image attribute of obsolescence is also present and is hard to shake off, given the long-term decline in terms of perception of its being cutting edge and innovative, which arguably are important brand image attributes that drive purchase decisions for smartphones, aspects that Apple and Google are careful to embody in their phone brands (“The American Society: Families and Households” 189-198). B. The Toyota Prius hybrid has brand image attributes of environmental friendliness, hipness, energy efficiency, reliability, and lifetime fuel savings. These brand image attributes are partly due to the sheen of the Toyota brand image in general and its attributes of engineering excellence, reliability, and fuel economy, and partly due to the success of the Prius brand itself. The Prius itself has become an iconic brand that has come to connote being on the cutting edge of environmental friendliness and use of innovative low-carbon footprint technologies to drive down fuel consumption and generated pollution. Newer brands such as Tesla may promise all-battery and no-fuel product attributes but as a brand the Prius brand is entrenched and has a long head start in terms of getting consumer mind share for its brand (“The American Society: Families and Households” 189-198). C. The brand image of United Way has attributes relating to dong good, prestige, charity, humanity, and the endorsement of popular figures in society, including the likes of Kobe Bryant, in support of important social causes such as health and education and youth-oriented causes. Those translate to many positive brand image attributes that have come to tie United Way with philanthropy, giving back to the community, serving those who are marginalized and at risk, and doing good to others in general. These attributes are the result of the overt advertising of United Way and my own prsonal long brush and familiarity with its programs and the press coverage of its programs, and the proof of the power of its brand image is that the United Way brand is able to rub its positive vibe unto its different program endorsers, including Kobe Bryant (“The American Society: Families and Households” 189-198). Question 5 A. Purell hand sanitizers address basic safety needs, and therefore the marketing strategy for this will highlight safety concerns across different demographics and the need for people to satisfy their needs to protect themselves from pathogens and bacteria that can harm their health. These relate to Maslow’s more basic needs at the physiological and safety needs levels in the hierarchy (“The American Society: Families and Households” 189-198). B. For Chipotle Mexican Grill the basic needs are based on physiology as well as love and belonging, because of the way food touches on those basic physiological and social needs. The appropriate marketing strategy then targets the higher belonging needs and love, with the basic physiological need for food subsumed within that higher Maslow need. Marketing campaigns then imply that those higher needs are primarily met with the physiological food needs being addressed too, as a matter of course (“The American Society: Families and Households” 189-198). C. Crest Whitestrips can address higher esteem and belonging needs, because of the aesthetic dimensions of the product that transcend basic physiological hygiene needs. The basic hygiene needs are met as a matter of course, but the more important social and self-esteem dimensions of people’s Maslow needs are the primary focus of attention in crafting marketing campaigns for this Crest product. Those higher needs can be the foundation of good marketing strategy for this product (“The American Society: Families and Households” 189-198). . 1 Works Cited “The American Society: Families and Households”. Read More