Term Paper on "Marketers Contend That Demographics Are Not Really"

Term Paper 7 pages (2136 words) Sources: 1

[EXCERPT] . . . .

marketers contend that demographics are not really a basis for segmentation but are a descriptor of the segment.

Discuss examples to support both positions.

The contention that demographics are the basis for segmenting a market vs. descriptors is defined on a strategy-by-strategy and business model-specific basis. The majority of consumer products manufacturers (CPG) including Colgate, Proctor & Gamble, Unilever and many others rely on demographics as the primary means of defining market segments based on anticipated unmet needs of consumers or customers for their products, as do services companies. Globally and with its greatest impact on U.S. demographics, the baby boomer generation is for many marketing strategies and entire business models their foundation (Coleman, Hladikova, Savelyeva, 2006, pp. 191-209). Baby boomers are the most dominant demographic segment in the history of the U.S. And as a result are prevalent used as the basis for demographic segmentation and market planning due to the sheer size and earning power of members of this demographic segment (John Kavaliunas, 2001, p. 19). From these examples it is clear how demographics is a powerful segmentation criteria used for defining strategies and supporting business models.

From the standpoint of being a descriptor of a market, the use of demographics is prevalent specifically in the areas of advertising, media planning and increasing, in Web-based banner advertising as well. As a descriptor, demographics are predominantly used for media planning in print, radio, television and Internet-based advertising services as it is convenient to classify the audience by common demographic attributes (Bowles, Tim 1988, et. al.). Increasingly psychographic variables, which define how people view themselves as members of groups, are also being used to compliment and strengthen demographic variables as descriptors of target markets for services.

Explain what is meant by a central vs. peripheral route to persuasion and the factors that would determine when each might be used by consumers in response to an advertisement.

The concepts of central vs. peripheral route of persuasion are two concepts that are used to define how marketers attempt to change a prospects' or customers' perception of the value of their product per service. The central route of persuasion is where marketers attempt to change attitudes based on deliberate communications plans and strategies that seek to change the perception of value of a product or service. These include learning, retention and finding highly useful information in the context of the purchasing decision.

The peripheral route of persuasion is on the other hand concentration on redefining the attitudes and interests of prospects and customers through either the negative, positive or non-use of cues. The peripheral route also relies on using more attitudinal and product-neutral information in an attempt to indirectly influence customers.

Typically the central route of persuasion is used for products that are often purchased on impulse, and many times are commodities. This includes consumer packaged goods (CPG) and high tech products where pricing and availability are the common factors used for differentiating their value. The peripheral route of persuasion on the other hand is most often used in sales cycles where there needs to be a consultative or solutions-oriented selling strategy. The customers need to be given the appropriate information to make the best possible decision possible.

In meeting with your new boss, she informs you that the only goal of advertising and promotion is to generate sales. Present your argument as to why communications objectives must also be considered.

I would first explain to my new boss that advertising and promotion are often part of broader strategies for generating awareness, interest and eventually trial or sampling of the product being sold, and those communications objectives need to also be considered to create the right context for prospects to learn about our products. Secondly, I'd go to a conference room and draw a large upright funnel on the white board. I would call this the lead generation funnel. I'd next list all the many strategies and techniques for generating awareness on the top of the funnel. Next, I would define the key aspects of managing the lead generation funnel in its midsection and this would include the follow-ups to advertising and promotion activity, the development of solid sales leads and the use of communications objectives to generate higher levels of trust in both the company and the product or service. At this point I would tell my boss that it's really all about trust and we have to use communications objectives to drive critical programs including blogs, consumer-generated media and the entire Web 2.0-based communications strategies to ensure we're getting perceived accurately by potential customers. Lastly, I'd show that as advertising and promotion are strategies for driving prospects into the lead generation funnel, there are a multiple of factors to consider and keep in mind as leads are turned into prospects and hopefully customers. To tie back to an upper-funnel strategy purely as an indicator of future sales, I would make the point, doesn't take into account all the other factors that contribute to turning prospects into customers.

Assume you have been assigned to work on the advertising campaign for a new soft drink. Describe the various types of general and product-specific pre-planning input you might provide to the creative team.

In defining an advertising campaign for a new software drink, the marketing strategy, positioning and overall go-to-market strategy would have a significant effect on the selection of the various types of general and product-specific pre-planning put required. For purposes of this example the new soft drink is an energy drink that would compete with Gatorade. As a result the general and product-specific pre-planning input would center on how sports enthusiasts, amateur and professional athletes, and people with active lifestyles would view the drink.

To gain this insight a series of focus groups, taste tests, and surveys would be completed to gain insights into the unmet needs of target audiences who could feasibly be early adopters of the sports drink. Their impressions of the entire range of sports drinks including Gatorade, Propel, and the many others are also critical for planning advertising campaigns. Included in this body of research also needs to be taste preference and a discussion of which types of ingredients that potential customers would like to have as well. Finally there needs to be extensive research into the psychographics of each segment of potential customers, ensuring that the drinks' messaging and positioning appeal to them. Concepts for the advertisement need to center on how to create the greatest interest and awareness from potential customers while staying focused on the differentiating factors of the drink itself.

How important was creativity for the Telus (previously Clearnet) campaign?

It was critical to the success of the campaign and in fact could not have been completed without a highly creative approach to defining its presentation of messaging and content. Creativity is shown in the approach of using the animals to spell out the letters in the community commercial, and also in the "love will keep us together" commercial as well. In short, the use of very well-known songs with animals made the advertisements memorable. Advertisers often use animals combined with music to create a more immediate sense of belonging and toget6herness, and the ability to communicate more with people customers feel close to hence the use of a family of ducks, bunnies and monkeys as well.

Discuss some of the reasons why some companies decide not to measure the effectiveness of their promotional programs. Explain why this may or may not be a good strategy.

Many times promotional programs are not measured as they are seen as part of the broader and longer-term series of strategies for attracting prospects to the company's products or services. In other instances there isn't enough of a base of analytical tools or techniques available for measuring promotional effectiveness accurately over time. When viewed from a strategic level there are three sets of dominant objectives that promotional programs are designed to fulfill, and these are sales-related, customer-related and trade-related (Ziliani, 2006, pp. 249-259). Each of these classes of objectives has both short-term and long-term in nature (Busacca & Mauri, 1984, pp. 45-84) and the longer term the objective, the greater the difficulty in tracking promotional program's influence and impact on them. To be effective, promotional programs need to have at least three to six months to continually contribute to greater awareness and knowledge of the company and its products. To simply run a promotional program for a specific period of time is to short-change the total potential contribution of this type of strategy. Many companies rely on promotional programs as the basis for continually ensuring that potential prospects are made aware of existing and future products and just to stay relevant to consumers who may or may not choose their products. Promotional strategies are often referred to as the "air cover" that marketing organizations use to continually keep their names in the front of customers.

It is in fact difficult to measure the true effectiveness of… READ MORE

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