Week 2.3 Targeting and positioning

Marketing Environment

Simon Isrif, 438344, DIM1VC

30-11-2016

Week 2.3      Targeting and positioning

Create a short questionnaire with which you can measure the consumer perceptions of your product:

Consumer Perception Questionnaire

 

Answers to Questions 1-5:

 (SurveyMonkey, 2016)

Execute three face to face interviews with your friends and/or members of your family, based on the questionnaire you created. Create a positioning map for your product, based on these interviews.

Based on five interviews, given through the made survey, can be concluded that Sennheiser Headphones are perceived as primarily technological advanced and high performance (price worthy) related products. Multiple ‘excellent’ scores were given by the interviewed persons in these two sectors. 100 per cent of the people interviewed were familiar with the Sennheiser brand and 80 per cent owns, or has owned, one or more Sennheiser headphones. Sennheiser also has the competitive edge, according to the survey, with 100 per cent of the participants finding Sennheiser Headphones somewhat or slightly more effective, in relation to question 2-4, than similar products offered by Sennheiser’s main competitors (Apple, Shure, Beats) (SurveyMonkey, 2016).

References

SurveyMonkey. (2016). Sennheiser Perception Questionnaire. Retrieved from https://www.surveymonkey.com/analyze/z68u5JtofGpPI7n_2BSzz_2FBO_2FFKqsHztJUAaFEpysKXVA_3D

Week 2.2 Segmenting markets

Marketing Environment

Simon Isrif, 438344, DIM1VC

23-11-2016

Week 2.2      Segmenting markets

(Wikipedia, n.d.)

Describe the market segment(s) your product aims for. What segmentation targeting strategy does the manufacturer follow? Which market segmentation criteria are used? Also describe the positioning strategy used for the product.

Sennheiser has a very wide target audience, from broadcast and audio industry professionals and studio or sound engineers, to regular customers with different price range focusses, age and motives (Wickedweb, n.d.). It is a difficult task for Sennheiser to satisfy this diverse and wide target group and therefore a clear segmentation targeting strategy has to be used. Because of this wide target group, using the Single variable segmentation would be very inefficient, it would take too much time and resources to use one variable at a time to research all the consumers. The Multivariable segmentation technique would be a better fit for Sennheiser, using multiple variables like occupation (for example DJ’s or other audio industry professionals), age and income for segmentation would make it easier to find larger target groups and make the segmentation process more efficiently. Sennheiser has its own fully operating Consumer Division that focusses on staying ahead and researching of upcoming trends and consumer preferences (Sennheiser, n.d.). The positioning strategy used for Sennheiser headphones depends on the target group, the product has to be positioned in the mind of all the consumers of the various target groups and so the marketing strategy differs greatly. The right positioning and strategy for professional users, which can be achieved by for example promotions and advertisements, would be the focus on quality and durability, while for regular user the focus on fun, price and differentiation might be more important.

Describe the basic conditions for effective segmentation and evaluate whether these conditions are met for the segments you described before.

The basic conditions for effective segmentation are:

·         Homogeneity of segments, which means that people in the segment group should have relatively the same needs for a product or service,

·         Heterogeneity between segments, which means that people in different segments should have different needs.

·         Accessibility, which means that the product or service should be easy to reach due to the developed marketing mix.

·         Stability, which means that the segments will be around long enough for any action to be taken.

·         Buying power, which means the segments should be profitable enough to compensate for the developed and maintained marketing mix (Blackboard, n.d.).

Most of the basic conditions for effective segmentation are met for the segments described before. Homogeneity of segments, because of the same aim for quality products of the professional users of Sennheiser headphones for example. Accessibility, due to difference in positioning achieved my promotions and advertisements. Stability, and therefore also buying power due to large size and quantity of target groups.

References

Blackboard. (n.d.). Marketing Env2 Wk2 Ch7 Market Segmentation. Retrieved from https://leren.saxion.nl/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=view&content_id=_1477773_1&course_id=_30261_1&framesetWrapped=true

Sennheiser. (n.d.). SENNHEISER AT A GLANCE. Retrieved from http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/about-sennheiser-at-a-glance

Wickedweb. (n.d.). Sennheiser. Retrieved from http://www.wickedweb.co.uk/casestudies/sennheiser/

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Typical bases used to segment markets. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_segmentation#/media/File:Market-segmentation.jpg

Week 2.1 Marketing Research

Marketing Environment

Simon Isrif, 438344, DIM1VC

16-11-2016

Week 2.1      Marketing Research

(Baschnagel-consult, n.d.)

Describe the Nielsen retail panel, explain which data the manufacturer of your product can buy from Nielsen and explain the benefits of these data.

The Nielsen retail panel delivers local and global insights into consumer behaviour and product sales across different categories. The combination of both deep data and insights the company provides are useful for business planning (Nielsen, n.d.). The Nielsen retail panel can provide a very wide range beneficial data for Sennheiser. Nielsen could provide Consumerization, a technique that broadens segmentation and that could help Sennheiser boost its consumer engagement. The company could also provide an Innovation process that identifies what consumers say they need as well as the needs they haven’t articulated yet, which could help Sennheiser with keeping up with the competition. Finally, Nielson could also provide Sennheiser with data which could increase marketing effectiveness by analysing current accomplishment and sales effectiveness by understanding consumer shopping behaviour so an enhancement in the marketing approach could be achieved (Nielsen, n.d.).

Describe the marketing research company GfK, and explain what kind of data GfK could generate with its consumer panels for your product / brand? 

GfK is a provider of relevant market and consumer information. The company uses technologies and data sciences to turn big data into smart data so that their clients have the competitive edge (GfK, n.d.). GfK’s consumer panels could generate relevant data for Sennheiser. The consumer panels provides an understanding of consumer behaviour, attitudes and who they are. Shopping behaviour, which the consumer panel also provides, could also be very beneficial for Sennheiser. It provides an analysis of consumer decision making a path to purchase. To conclude, GfK consumer panels could provide Sennheiser with a clear view of which audiences to target, the identification of market opportunities and it could help the company develop strategies for growth (GfK, n.d.).

Create a short questionnaire (12 questions) that you can use to research consumer attitudes towards your brand. Hint: find out how attitude surveys look like in general, and then apply it to your brand:

Sennheiser Attitude Survey

1.    Sex

Male:        ____

Female:    ____

2.    What is your age?

Under 20:             ____

20-29:                    ____

30-39:                    ____

40-49:                    ____

50-59:                    ____

60 and over:          ____

3.    What is your general opinion on Sennheiser?_____________________________________________

4.    When did you get familiar with the Sennheiser Company and by which means (advertisement, social media, relatives etc.)?  

_____________________________________________

5.    Have you ever bought a Sennheiser product? And if yes, how many?

_____________________________________________

6.    Do you prefer to buy Sennheiser products in retail stores or in online stores? Please explain why.

_____________________________________________

		Strongly Disagree			Strongly Agree
	Question	1	2	3	4	5
7.	Sennheiser provides quality products
8.	Sennheiser provides quality service
9.	Sennheiser is innovative
10.	Sennheiser is able to compete with other audio companies
11.	Sennheiser needs to increase product advertisement

12.   Do you have any personal tips or insights for Sennheiser?

_____________________________________________

Thank you for answering this survey.

References

Baschnagel-consult.Retrieved from http://www.baschnagel-consult.com/services/market-research/

GfK. (n.d.). About GfK | GfK Global. Retrieved from http://www.gfk.com/about-gfk/about-gfk/

GfK. (n.d.). Consumer Panel | GfK Global. Retrieved from http://www.gfk.com/solutions/consumer-panel/

Nielsen. (n.d.). Retail Measurement | In-House Retail Experts | Nielsen. Retrieved from http://www.nielsen.com/ssa/en/solutions/measurement/retail-measurement.html

Nielsen. (n.d.). Solutions | Consumer Insights for Smarter Decisions | Nielsen. Retrieved from http://www.nielsen.com/eu/en/solutions.html#consumerization-consumer-insights