STP - Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning

Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning are the building blocks of Branding and it deciphers how the marketer identifies the potential customer , profiles them , targets them and positions his offering inthe mind of the customer.

Segmentation : It is the process of dividing the target customers into a set  of homogeneous groups on the basis of their demography, geography and psychography.

1. Demographical Segmentation : On the basis of their age, gender, family size and income groups.. Demographic segmentation variables are amongst the most popular bases for segmenting customer groups. This is partly because customer wants are closely linked to variables such as income and age.

2. Geographical Segmentation : On the basis of the grographical ares they belong to. For instance, Rural or Urban.

3. Psychographic Segmentation : On the basis of theirculture and lifestyle.

Targeting : Target Market consists of a set of buyers who share the common characteristics that the brand, in this case Vicks decides to serve.

Criteria for Targeting

Ø  Who buys our product?

Ø  Who does not buy it?

Ø  What need or function does it serve?

Ø  What are customers buying to satisfy the need our product serves?

Ø  What price are the paying?

Ø  When is the product purchased?

Ø  Where is it purchased?

Ø  Why is it purchased?

The Target Strategy opted by Vicks is the ‘ Mass Market Strategy’. 

Mass marketing is a marketing philosophy and method in which a single, wide-ranging marketing strategy is developed to target the greatest number of people, rather than one designed to target each specific population segment.

P- Product M - Market

	M1	M2	M3
P1	0	0	0
P2	0	0	0
P3	0	0	0

Positioning: Positioning is the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the consumers. 

It is the place the product occupies in consumers’ minds relative to competing products. Its typically defined by consumers on the basis of important attributes. A brand could be positioned on different attributes; examples of which are given below:

Bases for Positioning:

- Features: Physical traits and perfirmance

- Benefits: Feviquick, Nerolac paint, Fairglow Soap

- Usage: Chawanaprash for body resistance, pulsur for specific areas

- Parentage: Sony Vaio, Tata Indica, Fiat Palio

- Manufacturing process: Fabindia hand crafted

- Ingredients: 100% cotton, 100% woollen

- Endorsement: Lalita Ji Surf Ad, Sachin 'Boost is the secret of my energy'

- Pro-Environment: canon made from recycled material

- Product class: Dove as moisturizer not as toilet soap, Pears as glycerin soap

- Price/Quality: Zenith computers, "Multinational quality, Indian price"

- Country or geographic area: German engineering, Bansari sari

Positioning of Vicks VapoRub:-   Vicks VapoRub is positioned along Mother's Love platform 

Who am I? Vicks VapoRub is a rub for cold

What am I? VapoRub pioneered the concept of " Touch therapy" linking it to the rubbing of VapoRub on the child's chest. Its key benefits include :

1. Clearing blocked nose
2, Cough relief
3. Body ache relief
4. Head ache relief.
5. Relaxing muscle stiffness
6. Easing breathing difficulty.

For whom am I? VapoRub was initially targeted at children but later the company found out that it is used mostly by adults.

Why me?.
VapoRub also ranks best among the consumers in the following parameters : Non greasy, Smells better, Long lasting relief.

Advertising & Promotions: -

Vicks had traditionally targeted itself at mothers, as a ointment for the benefit of their children.  All their advertisements, beginnng their entry into the Indian market have focussed on the Parent-Child relationship.

A very old Print Ad

This ad describes the famous 'Touch Therapy :-

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A modern advertisement

Even today in India, Vicks employs the same strategy, now widening itself to include fathers in their TV ads. Interestingly,  fathers enter when the mother is away, reliably applying the product to their child's chest - to the child's instant relief.

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Vicks attributes its success to its careful positioning, which they believe has built up their brand, even internationally.

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Organisational Buying Behaviour

Organizational buying is the decision making process by which formal organizations establish the need for purchased products and services and identify, evaluate and choose among alternative brands and suppliers.The difference in organisational buying and individual buying is that organisational buying involves multiple individuals in the decision making and is governed by rules and standards.

The buying centre involves all those individuals and groups who participate in the purchasing decision making process, who share some common goals and the risks arising from the decisions.It includes:-

1.INITIATOR - who request that something be purchased.

2.USERS- who use the product or service.

3.INFLUENCERS- influence the buying  decision, by helping define specifications and providing information for evaluating alternatives. The people who help into the making of the antiseptic liquid comes under the influencers.

4.DECIDERS- decide on product requirements or on suppliers

5.APPROVERS- who authorize the proposed action of deciders or buyers

6.BUYERS- who have formal authority to select the supplier and arrange the purchase terms. They may even help shape product specifications, but they paly their major role in selecting vendors and negotiating. They could include high level managers.

7.GATE KEEPERS- who have the power to prevent sellers or information from reaching members of the buying centre.

STAGES IN THE BUYING PROCESS

1.Problem Recognition

2.General Need Description and Product Specification

3.Supplier Search

4.Proposal Solicitation

5.Supplier Selection

6.Order- Routine Specification

7.Performance Review

Sales Management

Fast Moving Consumer Goods are goods that are products that are sold quickly and at relatively low cost. Though the absolute profit made on FMCG products is relatively small, they generally sell in large quantities, so the cumulative profit on such products can be substantial.

Sales management is a business discipline which is focused on the practical 
application of sales techniques and the management of a firm's sales operations. It is an important business function as net sales through the sale of products and services and resulting profit drive most commercial business. These are also typically the goals and performance indicators of sales management.

Sales manager is the typical title of someone whose role is sales management. The role typically involves sales planning, human resources, talent development, leadership and control of resources such as organizational assets.

In an FMCG product like Vicks VapoRub, the importance of direct selling is comparatively lesser when compared to the product category of Eureka Forbes. We walk into a shop, super market and you pick it up out of the varied choices you see. Or, you get products like Vicks VapoRub in the nearest medical shop. An effective sales person’s role does not come in here when  a larger picture is considered.From a marketer’s perspectives sales for Vicks could be build up through the following:

§  High volumes

§  Low contribution margins

§  Extensive distribution networks

§  High stock turn over

SALES FUNNEL

The largest ring is the target market.And then it narrows down from there as the true leads come out of the target market. Then those leads are worked, some staying put as that funnel narrows, becoming sales.

 

Promotions IMC/ATL/BTL

Marketing Communications are the means by which firms attempt to inform, persuade and remind customers – directly or indirectly- about the products and brands they sell. In a sense marketing communications represent the ‘voice’ of the company and its brands and are a means by which it can establish a dialogue and build relationships with consumers.

Marketing Communications Mix

Advertising	Sales Promotions	Events & Experiences	Public Relations & Publicity	Direct & Interactive Marketing	Personal Selling
Print & Broadcast Ads	Contests, games, sweepstakes, lotteries	Sports	Press kits	Catalogs	Sales Presentations
Packaging-Outer	Premiums & Gifts	Entertainment	Speeches	Mailings	Sales Meetings
Packaging Inserts	Sampling	Festivals	Seminars	Telemarketing	Incentive Programs
Motion Pictures	Fair & Trade Shows	Arts	Annual Reports	Electronic Shopping	Samples
Brochures & Booklets	Exhibits	Causes	Charitable Donations	TV Shopping	Fairs & trade shows
Posters & Leaflets	Demonstrations	Factory Tours	Publications	Fax Mail
Directories	Coupons	Company Museums	Community Relations	E Mail
Reprints of Ads	Rebates	Street Activities	Lobbying	Voice Mail
BillBoards	Low Interest fianancing		Identity media	Blogs
Display Signs	Entertainment		Company Magazine	Web sites
Points of Purchase displays	Trade- in – allowances
Audio Visual Material	Continuity programs
Symbols & Logos	Tie-ins
Videotapes

The integrated marketing communication elements which various categories of Vicks VapoRub have made use of is mentioned beneath:

1. TV Advertisements

The focus on each ad is the mother's care and her use of Vicks on the child. The mother is seen to know how to care for her child by using Vicks to help the child get some relief. Vicks has used this subject - line continuously. It has worked very well in that people associate Vicks VapoRub with safe and effective use on children, and everyone.

Recently some ads feature fathers too. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSPHYJv_vQs

2. Posters / Print Media

Posters have also focussed on this subject line. 

More examples can be found under the post STP - Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning

3. Online Media

Vicks' facebook page has 401, 000 likes. It is a strong portal connecting the product to the online community, where visibility is important.https://www.facebook.com/vicksvaporubus

4. Campaigns

Vicks has successfully run many campaigns, in thr US, Philippines and in other places.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/business/media/vaporubs-ads-spell-relief-d-a-d.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

5. Instore placement

Vicks VapoRub is a cold and cough OTC drug. It is placed strategically to catch the customers eye. Customers inavariably buy Vicks and stock it.