Target Marketing

It appears to me that using the target market strategy of:

"dividing the total market into different segments on the basis of consumer characteristics, selecting one or more segments, and developing products to meet the needs of those specific segments"

proves to be more profitable than simply focusing on one target market. An example of a company that does this extremely well is Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lauren Collection is the premiere product line but within that line they have multiple brands such as Ralph Lauren Blue Label, Ralph Lauren Black Label, Pink Pony, Ralph, Polo Jeans Company, Ralph Lauren Gold, and RLX. All of these labels represent high end merchandise but each one targets a different segment within the larger market of people who are looking for high fashion, high quality garments. Having 7 different labels within the larger company allows for a much higher profit potential and a much wider customer base than simply having 1.

B2B Chapter

I found this chapter to be very interesting because business to business relationships are very important in what I aspire to do upon graduation: apparel buying. Buyers for large department stores must maintain an ongoing relationship with the manufacturers and companies they purchase their apparel from. A concept that was covered in this chapter was the idea of straight re-buys which are situations in which the buyer makes a routine purchase that requires little decision making. Often times large department stores have a list of pre-approved vendors from whom they can purchase. Basic items such as socks or plain white t-shirts are often times reordered automatically via computer without the buyer having to make any decisions regarding the purchase. Straight re-buys are a very large part of apparel buying and I found this to be an interesting connection to my major.

Consumer Behavior

It just so happened I was shopping with my boyfriend, looking for a topical cream for a recent outbreak of acne. I thought this would be simple but when asking his opinion he always chose the more expensive option because he automatically assumed that the more expensive option would in turn be more effective. I combated his argument by showing him that both products had the exact same ingredients, how could one be more effective than the other? But he remained firm in his belief that the more expensive product would be a better choice. This just illustrated to me how differently people are in their attitudes and perceptions of products when shopping. The process by which my boyfriend selected, organized and interpreted new products was by their price tag, whereas my perceptions took far more consideration of the ingredients, price, etc.

My final decision:

Mall Intercept

Before taking this class I never realized just how effective mall intercept marketing is. Our text defines mall intercept marketing as "a data gathering technique where researchers talk to shoppers in shopping or public areas and ask them to fill out a survey, take a taste test...etc."

To the consumers it appears as if they are simply getting a free sample and perhaps a coupon, but really by doing this sort of technique researchers can gather information regarding what consumers think of the taste: their facial expression after sampling, whether they sneak back for seconds, or they can actually do a formal questionnaire. Also, when consumers see or sample the product they may end up purchasing it when it wasn't even on their list to begin with. In my opinion mall intercept marketing is far more effective than other techniques.