Marketing Principles and Strategies

Question: Discuss about the Marketing Principles and Strategies. Answer: Inroduction: It involves dividing a market place into slices or different segments based on their level of homogeneity, common features and value offer feature. Various types of segmentation can be: (Kotler et al, 2010) Geographic segmentation: This type of segmentation is based on location of individuals and divides them based on where they are. It can be in terms of countries, states, regions and local as well. Kelloggs has adopted national level geographic segmentation in Australia with an aim to cover as much geographical region as possible to cater to all kinds of people and serve their health as well as nutritional needs by offering healthy breakfast option to them. (Kelloggfoodservice, 2016) Demographic segmentation: This type of segmentation is based on various demographics i.e. human characteristics and how they differentiate from one another. It can include characteristics like age of a person, his/her level of education, level of income, gender and so on. Kelloggs has segmented the market mainly on the basis of gender wherein it focusses on women and children more as compared to men. Also, it has used level of income of its customers as a way of segmenting by keeping the prices of its products reasonably low so that it can be purchased by all income groups. (Brewer, 2011) Psychographic segmentation: This type of segmentation is done on the basis of values that people possess, their lifestyle, various activities that they indulge in as well as their interests and opinions, to name a few among many others. Kelloggs has used this segmentation to create homogeneous groups of people who have similar way of leading their life and have relatable value system. For example, Kelloggs Special K is targeted at those women who are health conscious and generally undertake various activities to reduce fat and carbohydrates from their body by way of exercising or any other method. (Lam, 2012) Benefit segmentation: This type of segmentation is based on the benefits (generally perceived) which your product or service is capable of providing to different interest groups and consumers. Kelloggs has used this segmentation on the basis of various benefits that its products provide and has segmented the market based on that. For example, Kelloggs Special K gluten free aims at giving nutritional benefits by making the product gluten free and reducing sat fat to only 0.3g. (Kelloggs, 2016) Usage rate segmentation: It is a type of behavioural segmentation and divides the market into non-users (dont use the product at all), light (use of product is infrequent), medium (use of product is average) and heavy (use of product is high) users of the product based on their usage of the same. Kelloggs has used this to give extra incentives in terms of discounts to heavy users and identify light and non-users of its products to come up with strategies which can aid Kelloggs to convert them into at least medium users, if not heavy. (Cahill, 2011) Targeting It focusses on identifying the target market or target population based on above mentioned segmentations to focus on those concentrated markets which are in lieu with companys product offering and objectives instead of all the markets to save time, money and resources. (Kotler et al, 2012). Kelloggs has mainly targeted: Women, who are health conscious and look for reduced fats and sugar in their consumables to main their figure by offering products like Kelloggs Special K products like Protein bliss bites, Protein crunchy 3 grain granola, Special K Nourish etc. and also handing them free fitness trackers on purchase of three Special K products. (Ausfoodnews, 2016) Children, by offering tasty yet nutritional products like choco pops, crunchy nut etc. Office going population, who are often in a hurry to leave home early in the morning and Kelloggs acts as their saviour by offering nutritional as well as healthy breakfast which is quick to prepare and consume, aiding them to save time and also have a healthy meal in the morning. (Armstrong, 2009) Positioning It is a way of creating an image of the product in the minds of people about the product which is unique, distinct and differentiated as compared to what is offered by its competitors. A good positioning can often be the main differentiator between two companies in terms of sales and revenue. Kelloggs has tried to position its products as nutritious, healthy and tasty which offer superior value to customers. This positioning has worked very well for the company and is well backed by the quantum of products that it offers making it one of the most profitable companies not only in Australia, but rest of the world as well. (Mohapatra, 2013) Conclusion From part A of the project, we can conclude that better understanding of consumer decision making process can help us in attaining a good market share and taking swift decisions in regards to their behaviour and activities. Many factors like cultural, social, individual, psychological etc. can aid us in achieving the same. We also learned how Kelloggs performs in regards with Maslows need hierarchy theory wherein consumers needs are divided into five levels based on their relative occurrence levels. As seen, Kelloggs proves potent to satisfy four out of those five needs, which are basic and physiological needs, security and safety needs, esteem needs and self-actualisation needs. From part B of the project, which discussed about segmentation targeting and positioning strategies of Kelloggs, we learned how segmenting a market plays a crucial role in determining our target audience based on common features or homogeneous traits. After proper segmentation of market, a company can target its intended group better which can help it cut down on cost and time constraints as wastage of resources, manpower and marketing efforts are drastically reduced since our target audience is well known to us. The last part of this talks about positioning of our product in consumers mind which as discussed, has to be done in such a way that it can occupy a crucial space which should be difficult to hinder by the competitors no matter how hard they try. Once a company is able to successfully achieve the above mentioned points, it can compete with practically anyone for a big share of the pie, which in this case is market share and a permanent place in consumers heart. References Kelloggs.com. (2016). Kellogg's Official Website | Breakfast, Snacks, Recipes, Cereal. [Online] Available at: https://www.kelloggs.com/en_US/home.html [Accessed 14 Sept. 2016]. Kelloggfoodservice.com.au (2016). Quick view | Kelloggs food service. [Online] Available at: https://www.kelloggfoodservice.com.au/en_AU/quick-view.html [14 Sept. 2016] Ausfoodnews.com.au (2016). Cereal | Australian food news [online] Available at: https://www.ausfoodnews.com.au/tag/cereal [Accessed 14 Sept, 2016] Mohapatra, C. (2013). STP and marketing strategies [Blog] Available at: https://chandanmohapatra.blogspot.in/2013/10/stp-and-marketing-strategies.html [Accessed 14 Sept. 2016] Kotler, P, Keller, K.L., Koshy, A. and Jha, M. (2010), Marketing Management: A South Asian Perspective, New Delhi, PHI, 14th Edition. p. 248-253. Lam, C.W., Hair, J. F. Jr., Sharma, D. and McDaniel, C. (2012), MKTG: A South-Asian Perspective. Delhi, Cengage Learning, 11th ed. p. 462-475 Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Saunders, J. WONG, V. (2012). Principles of Marketing, Cambridge, Prentice Hall Europe [Online] Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-13389-5_7 [Accessed 14 Sep. 2016]. Bruwer J, Li E. (2011) market segmentation: demographic and behavioural factors.Emarald group publishing ltd. p. 119134. Armstrong G. (2009)Marketing:An Introduction. Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Prentice Hall, 7th edition. p. 58-61. Cahill, D. (2011), Target marketing and segmentation: valid and useful tools for marketing Management Decision. MCB UP Ltd, vol 35. p. 35-48.