Market Segmentation Targeting Positioning Examples

The following article attempts to provide an answer to this prompt:

“…positioning and segmentation are distinct parts of the strategy process and provide us with some extremely powerful tools; but ultimately they are linked by the central issue of focusing on satisfying customer’s needs in ways that are superior to competitors” (Hooley et al, 2017 p159)

By reference to academic literature evaluate, and critique, the concepts of
Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning (STP) including a consideration of
implementation issues. With supporting evidence, use appropriate examples from different industries (plural) to exemplify how different organisations (plural) have applied STP, to demonstrate your learning and application of this topic. Indicate how any company could apply the concepts around STP, making generic recommendations for best practice.

Market Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning (STP) with Company Examples

Introduction

Ever increasing competition and greater demands by customers have rendered mass marketing virtually ineffective in several product categories (Harvard Business Review, 2006). As a consequence of the increasing competition and the rise of ever more demanding customers, producers are constantly seeking ways to differentiate their products and meet the specific needs of smaller customer groups. Today, it is a fact that coming up with a great product alone is not enough to achieve market success. Against this backdrop, companies need to apply strategic marketing. One of the strategic marketing tools that firms can use to their advantage towards achieving success in the market is segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP). Worth noting is that STP is as much a tool as it is a strategic approach and model used in marketing. STP is part of the process involved in coming up with a marketing strategy and summarises the market segmentation process. Hooley et al. (2012, p. 183) note that although positioning and segmentation are distinct parts of the [marketing] strategy, they are centrally linked by their focus on satisfying customers’ needs in a better way than competitors do. This paper discusses segmentation, targeting and positioning and illustrates the application of STP using different industry and company examples (with greater focus on car manufacturer, Volkswagen). The paper concludes with recommendations for companies with respect to the application of STP – market segmentation targeting and positioning examples.

Market Segmentation

Market segmentation, according to William Stanton, is the process of dividing the heterogeneous market for a product into several sub-markets or segments, each of which tends to display homogeneity in all important aspects (Rudani, 2010; Tabavar n.d., p. 63). … As noted above, segmentation is aimed at enabling the firm give proper attention to the needs of specific customers that collectively form a segment, thereby maximising consumer satisfaction and profits for the business (Bihani, 2004). A company’s market can be partitioned or divided based on different bases. Some of the bases commonly applied towards the segmentation of a market include demographic, behavioural, geographic, and psychographic characteristics (Anand, 2016). … A company such as cosmetics manufacturer L’Oréal applies demographic and psychographic segmentation in marketing its products. With regard to demographic segmentation, L’Oréal produces certain brands specifically for …. With respect to psychographic segmentation, L’Oréal produces different products that are targeted at different markets depending on …; there are products for general consumers and there are those for … consumers such as …. Continue reading .

Other subtopics included in the article: Targeting, Segmentation, Application of STP by Volkswagen (VW), Recommendations for Companies.