Segmentation, targeting, and positioning

SEGMENTATION, TARGETING, AND POSITIONING Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning Introduction In any competitive market, segmentation, targeting and positioning are important phenomena of marketing that ensure that marketers are able to gain competitive advantage over their rivals. Such competitive advantage comes because marketers are able to discover the right group of people whose needs are met by the products or services to be introduced and by so doing focusing the products or services in a way that directly addresses the needs of the segment. Another instance where segmentation, targeting and position are very important is when there is the need to introduce a new product such as the robotic lawn mower. For this product, the targeted segment to deal with is sports clubs.
Characteristics of the Segment
The segment that has been targeted is sporting clubs within the locality where the entrepreneur seeks to start the company. By sporting clubs, reference is being made to soccer teams, football teams, hockey team, and rugby teams. Characteristically, most of these teams own private fields and pitches that are well gardened and parked with various grasses and flora. Constantly, these grasses and flora are mowed by the teams to keep them attractive and within standards where they can be used for the various sporting activities. It can therefore be said that the robotic lawn mower comes with a functionality that is directly focused on the needs of the sporting clubs, as far as their fields and parks are concerned. Another characteristic is that this segment often has institutionalized organizational structure that put staff in charge of finance and accounting. What this means is that by targeting them, the entrepreneur and the company will be dealing with them on a business to business basis.
Reason for selected target market
The reasons for selecting the targeted market are directly reflected in the major characteristics that have been given about the segment above. In the first place, the size and number of these sporting clubs would mean that there will be a readily identified market for the robotic lawn mower. Indeed, the more the machines are sold, the more likely the company will be expanded. It is therefore important to choose this segment which guarantees ready market due to the type of business in which they are engaged in. Again, the financial risk in dealing with business to business marketing can be said to be relatively lower than dealing with business to customer marketing. This is because businesses guarantee quicker and assured payment of their debts than individuals do. This is another reason that makes the selected segment ideal and convenient, especially as this is a new product.
Conclusion
From the discussions above, it can be concluded that the success of the new product is highly dependent on how well the company is able to understand its targeted customers who are within the selected segment. This is because even though there has been a generalized description of the segment, it cannot be denied that individual clubs that form the segment may have their own needs for the product. Some of these needs may come in the form of customization, payment models, and functionality of the robotic lawn mower. To a very large extent therefore, the mere identification of the segment should not mark the end of the responsibility of the company and the entrepreneur. Rather, there ought to be field based research of the segment to understand the segment even better.