Chapter Three
Positioning and
Targeting for MarCom
Efforts
All marketing communications should be:
(1) directed to a particular target market,
(2) clearly positioned, (3) created to
achieve a specific objective, and (4)
undertaken to accomplish the objective
within the budget constraint.
Brand Positioning
A positioning statement for a brand
represents how we want customers
and prospects to think and feel about
our brand.
Positioning Approaches
• Positioning via Attributes
» Product-related features
» Usage and User imagery
• Positioning via Brand Benefits
Positioning via Brand Benefits
Positioning with
respect to brand
benefits can be
accomplished by
appealing to any of
three categories of
needs.
Functional Needs
Symbolic Needs
Experiential Needs
Targeting Variables
1. Demographics
2. Psychographics
3. Geodemographics
4. Behaviorgraphics
Demographic Targeting
Baby Boomers
Demographic Targeting
Mature Consumers:
Demographic Targeting
Mature Consumers:
Demographic Targeting
Children and
teenagers
Demographic Targeting
Children and
Teenagers:
Generation Y
• Approximately 50 million people
• Born between 1982 and 1994
• Teens to mid-20’s
The Changing Age Structure
• 50+ million people born 1965-1981
• Baby Busters
• Portrayed as cynical, unmotivated,
hopeless
Demographic Targeting
Playboys
(19%)
Drifters
(16%)
Yup
&
Comers
(28%)
Bystanders
(37%)
Yup & Comers: The highest levels of education and income,
focus on intangible rewards and confident about themselves
Bystanders: Predominantly female of African-Americans and
Hispanics, disposable income is low but love fashion and shopping
Playboys: “Pleasure before duty” lifestyle, self-absorbed, fun-loving
and impulsive
Drifters: Frustrated with their lives, the least educated, and choose
brands that offer a sense of belonging and self-esteem
Demographic Targeting
% of population as of 2000
80
70
71
60
50
40
30
20
12
12
10
4
0
White
Black
Hispanic
Asian
1
Native
Americans
U.S. Demographics & Targeting
How do buyers of these
vehicles differ
demographically?
A) Sport-Utility Vehicles
B) Minivans
U.S. Demographics & Targeting
Which of these represent a
meaningful target market?
A) Baby boomers
B) African-Americans
C) Generation X
Lifestyles
More than a set of purchase
decisions. Express who one
is in society (and who one is
not).
Identities derive, in part, from
symbolism of products one
tends to consume.
Lifestyles
Products
Building blocks of lifestyles
Advertised as props
Used as props in ad background
Lifestyles
Meaning of Products
Lifestyles
Meaning of Products
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese
Lifestyles
Meaning of Products
Flannel Shirt
Consumption constellations
Sets of products whose
symbolic meanings are
complementary.
How do marketers characterize and
describe different consumption
constellations?
Psychographics
• Use of psychological, sociological,
anthropological factors to determine
how the market is segmented by the
choices of groups within the market.
• Combines knowledge of lifestyle
preferences with personality
variables and other information.
• VALS (SRI); Yankelovich MindBase
Psychographics: An Illustration
Molson Export Beer:
• Target customer:
• Ads:
• Claim:
Psychographic Targeting
• Psychographics represents a
combination of consumers’ activities,
interests and opinions (AIO items)
• Useful but more difficult to identify
and measure compared to
demographic variables
VALS
• Eight categories are identified based
on a combination of demographic
and lifestyle factors such as age,
income, education, level of selfconfidence, health, and interest in
consumer issues
• Two-dimensional format
VALS
Three motivational orientations
1. Ideals-oriented:
2. Achievement-oriented:
3. Self-expression-oriented:
Consumer Motivation
VALS Groupings:
What is this information used
for?
Consumer Motivation
Experiencers
Main component of actionoriented segment
n
Young, enthusiastic,
impulsive
n
n Active
VALS
Segment
in both physical and
social activities
n
Want “cool” stuff
VALS Segmentation
Isuzu Rodeo
Target: Experiencers
Positioning: Car that lets driver break
the rules (running with scissors,
coloring out of the lines).
What if…
Target: Achievement-oriented. What
would be a good positioning for
them?
Consumer Motivation
Believers
Conservative. Family and
community oriented people
n
n
Modest means
n
Brand loyal
Favor American-made
products
n
VALS
Segment
Consumer Motivation
Strivers
n
Lower-income people
n
Values similar to achievers
n Active
consumers, impulsive
but constrained
VALS
Segment
Consumer Motivation
Makers
n
Traditional, action-oriented
n
Self-sufficient
nSuspicious
Practical with little interest in
most material possessions
n
VALS
Segment
of new ideas
Geodemographic Targeting
People who reside in similar areas,
such as neighborhoods or postal ZIPcode zones, also share demographic
and lifestyle similarities
Geodemographic Targeting
• Companies that have developed
geodemographic services
» Donnelly Marketing (Cluster Plus)
» Claritas (PRIZM)
» CACI (ACORN)
» National Decision Systems (Vision)
Geodemographic Targeting
Claritas’s PRIZM
• Potential rating index by zip markets
• Delineated the 500,000 + U.S. neighborhoods
into 60+ (from 40) clusters with descriptive
names that characterize these regions
• www.yawyl.claritas.com (try it!)
Behaviorgraphic Targeting
Based on how people behave
(toward a particular product category
or class of related products) rather
than in terms of their attitude and
lifestyles, their age, income, or
ethnicity, or where they live.
The best predictor of one’s future
behavior is his or her past behavior.
Online Behavioral Targeting
• “Audience Management Systems”
track Internet users’ surfing behavior
in order to target them with specific
advertisements.