Week 4: Segmentation, Targeting, Differentiating and Positioning

Actions for the week
This week, I read the two coursepack articles about TFC and the post title.  I found it very interesting to ready how The Fashion Channel advertisements work.  It makes complete sense that the more segmented their viewing audience is, the more valuable the time is for advertisers since they will be able to target more specific viewers.

I found this very similar to the way Google adwords works. Google charges a different amount for different search terms you want based on market demand for them.  This market demand is affected by others that want their ads to show up when someone searches for that term.  For example, if I have an ad campaign for tablet computers and want to use the search term, "Best business tablet PC", the cost per click would be around $6.27.  Each time someone search that phrase and clicked on my ad, Google would charge me $6.27.   Insurance search terms like "buy car insurance online" are pushing $70 per click right now.  That is high price to pay for a click on your advertisement!

Questions for the Week
How does segmentation facilitate consumer obsession?
Customer obsession seems to come from the right customers having good interactions with the firm.  Segmentation facilitates this by helping the firm focus it's energy on the right customers.  For example, if Harley can focus energy and interactions on the right people, these people will become obsessed or even more obsessed.  The right people means that they will value the interactions/advertisements/brand building exercises and increase their consumer activity or spread their obsession with others.

When a firm chooses a particular segment for targeting what are its primary considerations?
The primary considerations should be to ensure that the benefit of the firm's product or service is seen as valuable to those in the segment.  For example, if an insurance company pays $70 per click on their ad when someone searches for "buy car insurance online", they better be sure that their web page and insurance services will meet the needs of the type of people that are using this search term.  If those people look at the web page and the products offered are not valuable, they will not purchase anything and the insurance company is out $70 (Of course, Google makes money no matter what the outcome of the click is).

What is positioning?  Where does a firm's position reside.
Positioning is when marketers try to show a products value in the minds of customer by creating an image.  A great positioning statement that comes to mind is L'Oreal's "Because you're worth it".  The marketers at this firm are positioning L'Oreal's products as superior and worth the price because the buyer is worth paying the extra money for high quality products.  The position resides in the positioning statement.  In the book Crossing the Chasm. by Geoffrey Moore, the positioning statement should be:

For (target customer) Who (statement of the need or opportunity) The (product name) is a (product category) That (statement of key benefit – that is, compelling reason to buy) Unlike (primary competitive alternative) Our product (statement of primary differentiation)

Think about a couple of companies competing in the same space with different segment focuses.  Discuss these firms and their various approaches.  Why are they different?
Two firms that offer similar products but with different segment focus are Apple (iPad) and Amazon (Kindle Fire).  The iPad and Kindle fire are both tablet computers with applications, internet access, media provided by firm, color touch screens and web browsing.  There are some very similar aspects of both, but the differentiation between the two is where the segments are divided.  The iPad has all the features, and is the best on the market right now, but the cost is prohibitive to many people.   Amazon's target segment is for those that want all the capabilities of an iPad, but want to pay less.

Segmenting, Targeting, Differentiation and Positioning

STDP in a digital age must be massively easier than it was 20 years ago.  The video below shows how Google ad-words allows you to target your ads to a specific segment or niche audience.  This allows companies and marketers to easily display ads to groups that are similar and learn what works to get the appropriate reaction (click on the link and buy products).

Week 3: Research for Consumer Insights

This week I watched the assigned videos from Rosling and Gladwell.  Despite the fact that I have seen them before, really enjoyed them and was inspired by them.  This time when I watched these TED talks, I wanted to see if I could glean information that would be applicable to marketing and especially research and consumer insights.

The Customer Doesn't Know
It struck me to hear how consumers in the food market don't know what they want. Howard Moskowitz was able to find out what consumers want in spaghetti sauce, not by asking them directly, but by gleaning the information indirectly through the right kind of surveys.  I am in new product development and am constantly trying to get accurate Voice of Customer to determine specific deliverables for these products.  This adds a whole new dimension if I am to get the customers unspoken desires. We need to find out what they want or need by approaching the research in the right way.

Statistical Relationships
Rosling does a great job at showing how statistical relationships, when viewed in the right way can reveal otherwise hidden trends.  Information is available in abundance, synthesizing that information to make it meaningful and actionable is the key to successful strategy.  For my wife's etsy.com store, some data is available that shows search words that lead people to the site, number of sales over time and a few other stats.  The problem with attempting to synthesize this data to direct our strategy, is that we are missing the connection between the sales data and the search terms.  I have no idea if 1 of the 10 search terms results in 90% of sales. 

Google AdWords Test

What better time to create an account and start a Google AdWords campaign than during the quarter I am taking a marketing class?
Today I contacted an Adwords consultant and he is creating a campaign for my wife's business, uVinyl.  He explained to me a bit how it works and offered to create set everything up in the campaign for me to launch it.
Over the next few months I plan to learn more about how AdWords works and try to apply principles I am learning in class to my ad campaign for uVinyl.
A SWOT may be a good place to start...

Week 2: Examining Environmental Variables

This week I read through chapter 2 in The Marketing Plan Handbook, watched a prezi on the topic, watched the lecture, and listened to a podcast about marketing.

It seems to me that understanding the environment or current situation is the foundation to a solid marketing initiative.  I have been going through this class (my other classes as well) consistently trying to apply the content to my full time job and my wife's online store.  I have a lot more control over the marketing aspects of her store than I do at my work, but at work most of the marketing work is already being done and I have access to a fair amount of the results.  It is very interesting to read through competitive analysis and market intelligence reports that pertain to my actual company as opposed to examples of others in the book.

Mission Statements
I've been in several organizations that have some kind of mission statement. In my experience, the value of a mission statement is in how it's applied to daily work.  The large company in which I work probably has several mission statements (each division etc), but I couldn't find one in a 5 minute search.  Also, I haven't heard about it specifically in the year and a half I've been in the division.  That makes me think that it is weak.  However, I do have a very good feel for what our mission statement would entail because of the way people talk and the initiatives that get focused on.  That makes me think that the mission is strong.  I know that we are all about providing solutions for retailers to help them empower their brands.  We are very solutions oriented and not as much product oriented.  This means that we will invest in whatever products lead to solutions for our customers--a very positive influence on our culture.

External Environmental Changes
The company that my wife and I run is very much affected by external environmental changes.  My wife designs baby onsies that she appreciates and hopes other will too based on social/cultural trends.  No one would buy a onsie that says "Muggle Born" if it weren't for the popular Harry Potter books. A key aspect that we need to think of is how do we keep innovating in line with what people will find value in?

Week 1 Plan

The quarter has started!  This is the blog for my personal journal in Strategic Marketing C570 at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.  The purpose of this blog is to reflect on the content I am learning in this course. 

To begin, week 1 is the introduction to marketing.  Here are my deliverables for this week: 

• Read Ch 1 in "The Marketing Plan Handbook" (done)
• Read "Marketing Myopia" by Levitt
• Set up personal journal/blog (done)
• Watch Jeff Bezos video (done)
• Watch John's prezi (done)
• Contribute to wiki (done)
• Add a marketing podcasts for my stitcher favorites (Marketing over coffee and Bean)
• Touch base with team (done)
• Check out software that came with the book

Marketing is a topic that has interested me for a while.  While at college, I took a marketing class for my business minor and really enjoyed learning about the marketing that is going around me all the time. I thrive on understanding how the world works around me and utilizing that information. 

Bezos Video

This week while watching the Bezos video, I took the following notes: 

• Bugs/mistakes during the early days. Programed a bell to ring for each sale.
• Started off all orders were from family members until the first stranger ordered.
• Everything I know:

1. Obsess over customers
1. Customers 1st
2. Pay attention to competitors, but most of energy goes to customers
2. Invent
1. Do not accept either/or thinking when a problem presents itself
2. Do not accept either/or thinking when a problem presents itself
3. Invent on behalf of customers
4. Customers wont/can't tell you everything
3. Think long term
1. Projects could take a long time to pan out for shareholders (5-7 years)
4. It's always day 1
1. Always new things to do

It was very interesting to get this kind of advice directly from someone like Jeff Bezos.  As an avid user of Amazon.com, I can see these principles directly in action.  Looking at the Kindle and the Kindle fire I see Amazon putting all 4 of these items in practice.  I'm sure it was not an easy thing to do to make compete against their book sales with a digital reader. They probably were looking long term and predicted the future of reading and media consumption when they decided to canabalize their book sales with an e-reader.  

This is exactly what the Marketing Myopia article is about.  Bezos looked at Amazon and asked "what business are we really in?".  I can bet you that he didn't say "selling printed books".  Amazon is in content distribution business. One aspect is delivering media (ie books) to consumers in an effective way.  They furthered this with the Kindle.

Application of Marketing Principles

There are a couple reasons I am excited about the study of marketing right now.  The first is because my current role is within innovation and product development where I am involved with the marketing and communications department when we launch new products.  The topics covered in this course will have direct application to the new product development projects that I am managing. 

The second reason is because my wife has a business selling decorative pillowcases, tshirts and other items on etsy.  The last month has really taken off for her store and I'd like to work with her to ride the wave by improving the store's marketing and drive more traffic and sales to her business using the tools and concepts in this class.