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