Target Market
The Alpha Lake Bike Rental and Repair Store currently has a regular clientele of local residents of Whistler.
This consists of people who work in the city but have residences in Whistler, professionals who work and live in
Whistler with their families, and the workers of Whistler Mountain. The previous owner of the store hadn’t turned
a profit in 5 years from the lack of year-round customers, but the current owner believes there is a need for his
business that will attract both local residents and tourists.
Our team has chosen diversification as our marketing strategy; to develop new products which will be
sold to new markets. We also would like to include market development into the strategy; to sell our existing
products to new markets.
The market we would like to target with the new products (which we have discussed earlier) can be
defined using four segmentation variables; geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioural.
Geographic: Whistler is a valley cushioned in between mountains with beautiful , glacier fed lakes, public
parks as well as untamed areas, and has a population of about 5,000 people during the off-season. However it is
only about 123 kilometers from one of the country’s largest urban areas (the Greater Vancouver area, with a
population of 2.1 million). We believe that urban cities like Vancouver should be part of the target market;
Whistler can provide a great getaway for residence of these cities, without traveling too far to reach it.
Demographics: The demographics of our target market include people in the Generation X or Generation
Y group, with lower-middle income to higher-middle income, families or singles, and professionals ( the summer
tourists include people coming to Whistler for work conventions – possibly a market for employers wanting to
organize a team building activity for their company ) .
Psychographic: We are looking to reach people who are experience seekers ( adventure!) , who are active
(or would like to be more active), who health is important to, are environmentally conscious (prefer outdoor
activities and respect the environment ) and have an interest in sports.
Behavioural: (Benefits sought, usage rate, user status, loyalty status) : The benefits sought by the
suggested target market include a memorable experience, exercise, safety ( with our added included safety
equipment), we are looking for existing users of the products, but new to OUR products, possibly new users.
In terms of the size of the target market; the Generation X and Generation Y groups together are said to
make up 41% of the Canadian population. The Greater Vancouver Area as a whole makes up 1/3 of the Canadian
population. Canadians are also becoming more health conscious; they are watching what they eat and fitness
activities including sports are more common in their daily lives. We believe this gives Adam a nice size market to
target.
Marketing Textbook
http://gocanada.about.com/od/vancouver/qt/Vancouver_Canada.htm
http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/society/youth/generation-x-lives-on-hold/boom-bust-and-echo.html
http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2012/02/2012-census-metro-vancouver-population-map
http://www.whistler.ca/