- Understand needs
- Plan for meeting those needs
- Communicate & execute the plan
- Build relationships
Marketing is all about capturing value from targeted customers by creating profitable relationships with them and building value for them. This requires a great deal of strategy.
During the screening and concept phases of product development, a need is targeted. This need is compared to current solutions using both marketing concepts and value propositions.
Targeting and Segmentation
Markets can be segmented in many ways. Segment variability and available resources determine a which segments are targeted (chosen as the buyers or consumers). The most common segments are based on:- Geographic
- Demographic
- Age
- Lifestyle
- Gender
- Income
- Psycographic
- Behavioral
- Occasion
- Benefit
Effective segmentation means that a segment and resulting reactions must be:
- Measurable
- Accessible
- Substantial
- Differentiable
- Actionable
One way to identify holes in the market, or segments that are not being served is to use positioning maps. An example is shown below:
Marketing Concepts
Concepts in marketing (your overall strategy for selling) include:- Availability and affordability
- High quality and high performance
- If large scale marketing and selling efforts take place
- Knowing the needs and wants of the consumer
- Long term interests of consumers in business and society
Value Propositions
A value proposition (all the value that you are offering) points you in the direction of your positioning strategy. A positioning strategy is generally one of the following:- More for more
- More for the same
- More for less
- The same for less
- Less for much less
To communicate this to the customer, you create a positioning statement. This statement takes the form of:
The marketing mix supports the positioning strategy and statement.
