Discuss about the Segmentation,Targeting and Positioning for Microsoft Company.
Microsoft is a corporation of multinational computer technology that was started in the year 1975 by Bill Gates. Since the Microsoft Company launched the lumia 950 in the Australian market, about 80% of Australians now use the device. The total number of smartphones in Australia is nearly 15 million currently. Australians are normally people who like multitasking, and within a day, you will find many of them glancing at their smartphones.
Segmentation, Targeting and positioning is the strategy that the Microsoft Company is using primarily to promote the lumia 950. The Microsoft Company uses this Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) approach to bring about communications in marketing since it enables the company to make propositions their priority. The Microsoft Company does this to keep their audience engaged. The STP is a method of great significance in marketing of smartphones. Application of personas can significantly improve digital communications of more relevance as indicated by the alternative approaches of the tactical customer segmentation (Sarasvathy, 2001).
The Microsoft Company uses STP in the following ways.
It is a fact that in every organization, brand or product may not be all that people look for. This is the reason every company must use STP. Microsoft uses segmentation of markets to group customers into small groups that are easy to reach. By doing so, they are able to meet the needs of each group effectively thus making them more competitive in the market. They identify niches in the Australian markets through segmentation. The company ventures into the mature markets to look for new potential buyers while providing more effective and focused messages meant for marketing. The company realized that the needs of marketing lumia 950 are the same across the entire country. The Microsoft Company designed the messages for reaching customers for every segment in a way that emphasized relevant advantages and features that were needed. The approach like this one is very appropriate since it helps in delivering the best mix to the same group of people (Cravens & Piercy, 2006).
Demographs
This is a strategy where the market is broken down in terms of age, gender, income, economic status and ethnic backgrounds. It also considers size of the market and residential places. The Microsoft Company uses demographic information to break down the market into sections so that they can easily reach the audience. Lumia is a smartphone and it is popular among youths. Targeting only the youths makes the Microsoft Company increase their sales since the youths really like smartphones (Harrell, 2002).
Psychographics
This refers to a way of revoking emotions of a person by telling them how a brand of a particular product is able to help them. By doing so, the person develops interest that later leads to loyalty in that particular product. Microsoft uses psychography to completely change the attitudes of the people. This not only increases their sales but also enables people to become attached to the product thus talking good of it to even bring in more customers (Kamakura, Kim & Lee, 1996).
Beliefs and Values
Different groups of people have different beliefs and values on particular things. People have different political, religious and cultural vies about smartphones. Microsoft Company promotes lumia 950 in Australia by making the people feel safe while using it. They dispel away any fears and concerns that people normally have regarding such items. So many people might have attached different beliefs regarding smartphones (Moschis, Lee & Mathur, 1997). These are the myths that the Microsoft Company seeks tro dispel away. By doing so, they make sure that people feel safe while considering using such devices.
Life Stages
Observing chronological life stages of different people is a good way of discovering what people love in different stages of their lives. Microsoft brought into the market the lumia 950 at a time when most of the Australian youths needed smartphones and as a result, they found instant market for the product. They perfectly timed the time to enter the market. During this time, most people had the urge to use smartphones but they lacked information regarding the usage. Microsoft Company made the people aware of the use of smartphones and explained different features that were found in lumia 950. After doing so, the Australians started developing interest and most of them strived to own a mobile device. The Microsoft Company made a lot of sales as a result (Moschis, Lee & Mathur,1997).
Geography
Microsoft made sure that every region across Australia had sufficient information regarding lumia 950. The company did vigorous promotion and made sure that everybody, regardless of where they lived had access to the information about the device. To make sure that they reach all the regions, Microsoft employed the use of brochures, the Internet and the use of television to reach audience across the country (Natter, et al., 2008).
Use of brochures proved to be very effective in helping Microsoft reach the audience across Australia. Apart from driving traffic to their website, the use of brochures made many people aware of the phone by improving the interaction between the people and their customers. Microsoft Company used QR codes to make the gap of the flat narrower. In their use of brochures to promote lumia 950, Microsoft came up with a clear strategy and message they want to pass across to their audience. Though the content they write is brief, they are normally to the point and whenever the client read them, they were sure of what was being said. In addition to that, Microsoft uses taglines and blurbs that are attractive and keep the customer interested while reading, thus making sure they read it to the end (Stokes, 2000).
The Microsoft Company uses practical design in its brochures. Their brochures are in attractive colos that attract the readers and make them enjoy reading to the end. Another aspect that Microsoft considers while designing its brochures is readability. The company makes sure that the printed words are easily readable even to those who have difficulties reading without wearing glasses.
The use of websites has become quite common in marketing today. Microsoft uses website to promote lumia 950 to people who like hanging on the Internet. Through the use of websites, it is easy to target those who spend most of the time in their offices with the Internet (Smith & Hirst, 2001).
When it comes to product positioning, it is important that every firm finds out how best to position its product. This is so because the aim of any business entity is to target the customer segment that is most valuable. After that, they can come up with the most significant customer mix that will have the most impact in the market (Wood, 2011).
Microsoft Company considers first why their product should be purchased and not that of their customers. This helps them find the best way of positioning lumia 950. Microsoft Company uses the criteria of product positioning to identify the most effective way of communicatin the features of lumia 950 to the target groups (Ellson, 2004). They first find out the needs of the customers, competitiveness, the channels of communication available and key messages that are carefully crafted. By effectively positioning lumia 950, Microsoft ensures that there is a resonate of messages with the consumers they are targeting. This makes it necessary for them to take action.
Apart from Microsoft lumia 950, there are other brands of smartphones that compete in the Australian market. The major ones are Samsung Galaxy S7, iPhone 6s & 6s Plus, Google Nexus 5X and HTC 10 (Dibb & Simkin, 1991).
It is clear from the market positioning above that Microsoft lumia though highly priced, but still is of high quality. Marketing positioning helps Microsoft Company focus on the quality of Microsoft lumia while considering its market price. These kinds of maps help firms like Microsoft lumia come up with a positioning strategy to enable it compete in the market favourably. By studying the positioning maps, Microsoft can determine the positions of other products in the market and therefore determine where to place its product in the market. Knowing how the other firms price their items also enable you become aware of how to price yours (Bowen, 1998).
Microsoft Company has done everything possible to promote lumia 950 in the Australian market. From segmentation, targeting to positioning, the company has done everything it can to make sure that the Australians know about the smartphone. Because of this, it has made a lot of sales and a remarkable step ahead of its competitors.
References
Bowen, J. T. (1998). Market segmentation in hospitality research: no longer a sequential process. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 10(7), 289-296.
Dibb, S., & Simkin, L. (1991). Targeting, segments and positioning. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 19(3).
Ellson, T. (2004). Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning. In Culture and Positioning as Determinants of Strategy (pp. 21-34). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Cravens, D. W., & Piercy, N. (2006). Strategic marketing (Vol. 7). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Harrell, G. D. (2002). Marketing: connecting with customers. Pearson College Division.
Kamakura, W. A., Kim, B. D., & Lee, J. (1996). Modeling preference and structural heterogeneity in consumer choice. Marketing Science, 15(2), 152-172.
Moschis, G. P., Lee, E., & Mathur, A. (1997). Targeting the mature market: opportunities and challenges. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 14(4), 282-293.
Natter, M., Mild, A., Wagner, U., & Taudes, A. (2008). Practice Prize Report-Planning New Tariffs at tele. ring: The Application and Impact of an Integrated Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning Tool. Marketing Science, 27(4), 600-609.
Sarasvathy, S. D. (2001). Causation and effectuation: Toward a theoretical shift from economic inevitability to entrepreneurial contingency. Academy of management Review, 26(2), 243-263.
Smith, G., & Hirst, A. (2001). Strategic political segmentation-A new approach for a new era of political marketing. European Journal of Marketing, 35(9/10), 1058-1073.
Stokes, D. (2000). Entrepreneurial marketing: a conceptualisation from qualitative research. Qualitative market research: an international journal, 3(1), 47-54.
Wood, M. B. (2011). The marketing plan handbook. Pearson Higher Ed.
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