The Importance Of Marketing Segmentation

Market segmentation is a Marketing term that refers to aggregating prospective buyers into groups
or segments with common needs and who respond similarly to a marketing action.

When marketers use market segmentation it makes planning campaigns easier, as it helps to focus the
company on certain customer groups instead of targeting the mass market. Segmentation helps
marketers to be more efficient in terms of time, money and other resources. Market segmentation
allows companies to learn about their customers. They gain a better understanding of customer’s needs
and wants and therefore can tailor campaigns to customer segments most likely to purchase products.

Mass Marketing

In Segmentation, Mass marketing refers to the strategy of targeting the entire potential customer
market by means of a single marketing message. The marketing strategy used in this segmentation does
not target the specific requirements or needs of customers. Mass marketing strategy, instead of
focusing on a subset of customers, focuses on the entire market segment that can be a probable
customer of a product.

Segment Marketing

Segment marketing refers to a strategy where the company divides its target audience into different
segments based on their unique needs and requirements. This way the company targets different
messages to different segments, appealing them towards the unique features the product offers. This
strategy creates product differentiation for customers with similar needs and preferences, based on
their gender, age, income and location.

Niche Marketing

This strategy of marketing focuses on a narrower customer segmentation. Customers may want or
desire a product that is not met completely by the products offered in a market. When companies move
forward and develop highly specialized products to offer these customers their specific needs, they offer
distinct products in a market that caters to specific customer segments only.

Micro Marketing

Micro marketing follows an even narrower segmentation marketing strategy, catering to the attribute of
a much-defined subset of potential customers such as catering to individuals of a specific geographical
location or a very specific lifestyle.

Different Levels of Market Segmentation

Marketers subdivide markets into segments, so they can do focus on marketing plans. Each Level of
market segmentation determines the strategy a company will follow to promote, distribute and position
its product in the market and respectively target audience or its customers. Before developing a
marketing plan, one must know the what are the levels of market segmentation.
 Marketing segmentation strategies can be cultivated through an extensive choice of attributes
found among purchasers. One faction within the market may be recognized by gender, while another
may be made up of purchasers within a certain age category. Locality is another general element in
market segmentation, along with earning level and culture level. Therefore, although this causes some
consumers who fall into more than one class, marketing researchers generally allow for this singularity.
As a function of the development of a particular set within the larger consumer base, some businesses
are forced to ask questions that start some realistic suggestions on how to make a product or service
more advantageous to consumers

Market segmentation is customer-oriented.

BASES OF SEGMENTING CONSUMER MARKET

Consumer market segmentation includes:

Geographical segmentation

Geographic segmentation is based on the belief that consumers who live in the same region share
some related wants and needs and those wants and needs could be very different from the consumers
who are living in other regions of the world.

Demographical segmentation

Demographic segmentation consists of demographic factors such as age, ethnicity, nationality,

occupation, Income etc.Therefore, with these variables in mind, an organization can choose which
consumer they will accommodate.

Behavior segmentation

A variety of strategies for segmentation is available. However, previous studies show

recommendations that behavior-based strategies work well for most organizations. Segmentation
based on consumer behaviorvariables normally included a sub-segment of consumer segmentation.
Organizations often collect this data to see the segment that best fits their consumer behavior.

Loyal Status Hard-core loyal

Split loyal

Shifting loyal

Switchers

Occasions

Psychographic segmentation
 Psychographic segmentation was developed by marketing researchers to correlate personality
with brands. Psychographics is classified as “the study of personality, values, attitudes, interests, and
lifestyles.” Organizations need to know their consumers‟ habits to effectively connect with them and
for the consumer to identify the organization‟s products or services. Psychographic segmentation acts
on the psychology of the prospective consumer and helps the merchant decide how he or she must
manage their consumer that belongs to any specific segment.

Bangladesh Open University

Levels of product

Product as a combination of tangible and intangible attributes providing need-satisfaction to

consumers. A product can also be defined as anything that can be offered to the market for attention,
acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need

Intangible attributes of the product can frequently be more critical in the mind of consumer. Marketers
should activity consider the social-symbolic meanings that potential customers may attach to a product.
As a result intangibles such as brand name and style affect the consumer’s status, and possibly even
membership in a particular social class.

ምርት ለተጠቃሚዎች ፍላጎትን-እርካታን የሚሰጥ ተጨባጭ እና የማይዳሰሱ ባህሪዎች ጥምረት። አንድ ምርት ፍላጎትን ወይም ፍላጎትን ሊያሟላ ለሚችል ትኩረት
፣ ማግኛ ፣ አጠቃቀም ወይም ፍጆታ ለገበያ ሊቀርብ የሚችል ማንኛውም ነገር ተብሎ ሊገለፅ ይችላል

የምርቱ የማይዳሰሱ ባህሪዎች በተጠቃሚው አእምሮ ውስጥ ብዙ ጊዜ የበለጠ ወሳኝ ሊሆኑ ይችላሉ። ገበያተኞች ሊሆኑ የሚችሉ ደንበኞች ከአንድ ምርት ጋር
ሊያያይዙት የሚችሏቸውን ማኅበራዊ-ምሳሌያዊ ትርጉሞች ግምት ውስጥ ማስገባት አለባቸው። በውጤቱም እንደ የምርት ስም እና ዘይቤ ያሉ የማይታዩ ነገሮች
በተጠቃሚው ሁኔታ እና ምናልባትም በአንድ በተወሰነ ማህበራዊ ክፍል ውስጥ አባልነት ላይ ተጽዕኖ ያሳድራሉ።

Different Levels of a Product: A particular product has different levels, usually five.

Core benefit:

The fundamental need or want that consumers satisfy by consuming the product or service. For
example, the need to process digital images.

Generic product:

A version of the product containing only those attributes or characteristics absolutely necessary for it to
function. For example, the need to process digital images could be satisfied by a generic, low-end,
personal computer using free image processing software or a processing laboratory.

Expected product:

The set of attributes or characteristics that buyers normally expect and agree to when they purchase a
product. For example, the computer is specified to deliver fast image processing and has a high-
resolution, accurate colour screen.
Augmented product:

The inclusion of additional features, benefits, attributes or related services that serve to differentiate the
product from its competitors. For example, the computer comes pre-loaded with a high-end image
processing software for no extra cost or at a deeply discounted, incremental cost.

ምርቱን ከተወዳዳሪዎቹ ለመለየት የሚያገለግሉ ተጨማሪ ባህሪያትን ፣ ጥቅሞችን ፣ ባህሪያትን ወይም ተዛማጅ አገልግሎቶችን ማካተት። ለምሳሌ ፣ ኮምፒዩተሩ ያለ
ተጨማሪ ወጪ ወይም በጥልቅ ቅናሽ ፣ ጭማሪ ዋጋ በከፍተኛ ደረጃ የምስል ማቀናበሪያ ሶፍትዌር ቀድሞ ተጭኖ ይመጣል።

Potential product:

This includes all the augmentations and transformations a product might undergo in the future. To
ensure future customer loyalty, a business must aim to surprise and delight customers in the future by
continuing to augment products. For example, the customer receives ongoing image processing
software upgrades with new and useful features.

ይህ አንድ ምርት ወደፊት ሊደርስባቸው የሚችለውን ሁሉንም ጭማሪዎች እና ለውጦችን ያጠቃልላል። የወደፊቱን የደንበኛ ታማኝነት ለማረጋገጥ አንድ ንግድ
ምርቶችን በመጨመር ወደፊት ደንበኞችን ለማስደነቅ እና ለማስደሰት ማነጣጠር አለበት። ለምሳሌ ፣ ደንበኛው ከአዲስ እና ጠቃሚ ባህሪዎች ጋር ቀጣይ የምስል
ማቀናበሪያ ሶፍትዌር ማሻሻያዎችን ይቀበላል።

Product life cycle

The Product Life Cycle is a management tool that makes it possible to analyze how a product behaves
from its development to its withdrawal from the market, also considering its launch, growth, and sales
maturity.

A product life cycle is the amount of time a product goes from being introduced into the market until it's
taken off the shelves.

The concept of product life cycle helps inform business decision-making, from pricing and promotion to
expansion or cost-cutting.

Newer, more successful products push older ones out of the market.

Stage 1. Market Development

This is when a new product is first brought to market, before there is a proved demand for it, and often
before it has been fully proved out technically in all respects. Sales are low and creep along slowly.

Stage 2. Market Growth

Demand begins to accelerate and the size of the total market expands rapidly. It might also be called the
“Takeoff Stage.”

Stage 3. Market Maturity

Demand levels off and grows, for the most part, only at the replacement and new family-formation rate.

Stage 4. Market Decline

Product mix and product line

The product begins to lose consumer appeal and sales drift downward, such as when buggy whips lost
out with the advent of automobiles and when silk lost out to nylon.

Product line – Product Line refers to a group of products that function in a similar manner, sold to the
same customer groups via same distribution channels and fall within the same price range.

Product Mix – Product mix is the entire collection or assortment of products or product lines offered by
an organization.

Product Mix vs Product Line

A product mix is a group of everything a company sells.

However, the product line is a subset of the product mix. A product line refers to a unique product
category or product brand a company offers.

For example, Patanjali deals in different categories of products which include shampoo, flour,
toothpaste, etc. Shampoo, here, forms a different product line, flour forms a different product line as
well, and so does toothpaste. However, when they all are grouped together, they form the product mix
of Patanjali.

Product Mix depends on many factors like

Company Age

Financial Standing

Area of Operation

Brand identity, etc.

Many new companies start with limited width, length, depth, and high consistency of the product mix,
while companies with good financial standing have wide, long, deep, and less consistency of the product
mix. The area of operation and brand identity also affects its product mix.
PRODUCT IDENTIFICATION

Producer wants to capture a large share of market through product differentiation created by
several means of packaging, branding and grading. By branding, labelling and grading, a distinct image
about the product is created into the minds of buyers who are induced to buy that particular brand of
goods. nd surprises the customers. This technique of making a commodity popular in the market is also
known as 'product identification' which in quantitative terminology, means a certain standard with a
definite quality or degree of excellence over the other. Packaging and labelling, branding and grading
are the vital marketing tools which are used to secure the desired market share in a competitive market.

BRANDING

A brand is a name, symbol or design or a combination of them which is intended to identify the
goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.
Branding strategy indicates as to how the firm chooses to use branding as an Integral part of its overall
marketing strategy. Branding is useful to both the producer and the consumer.

It is a means of identification of the product as well as a means for differentiating the branded
product from its rivals. It gives necessary advertising and promotional support in order to make the
product recognisable and to create consumer patronage. Branding, labelling and packaging are
complementary to each other. The sole purpose of branding is to distinguish the branded product from
those of the competitors

Brands are most powerful instruments of sales promotion due to the following reasons.

1. They create growing competitiveness among the producers and the sellers.

2. They make the advertisement policy effective and successful and

3. The manufacturers, the middlemen and retailers are assisted in the

process of creating stimulating, strengthing or maintaining demand for the products.

The following is the classification of branding generally found in various fields of marketing:

1) Brand based on ownership

 2) Based on market

3) Based on the number of products

4) Based on the number of products

GRADING

Grading is another important stage for making a product more popular in the field of
marketing. Grading means giving a rank, class or value to products of the same type but with varying
degrees in quality and purity. When the milk and milk products are sold with varying degrees of purity,
they are given different classes of grades to be distinguished for affixing the prices by the manufacturer
and for valuing by the buyers.they are given different classes of grades to be distinguished for affixing
the prices by the manufacturer and for valuing by the buyers one major step taken by the manufacturers
for identifying their products on the basis of the quality of their goods. This is essential, in the modem
marketing techniques to make one's product more popular and competitive.

በግብይት መስክ አንድን ምርት የበለጠ ተወዳጅ ለማድረግ ደረጃ አሰጣጥ ሌላው አስፈላጊ ደረጃ ነው። ደረጃ አሰጣጥ ማለት ለተመሳሳይ ምርቶች ደረጃ ፣ ደረጃ
ወይም እሴት መስጠት ግን በተለያዩ ደረጃዎች በጥራት እና በንፅህና። የወተት እና የወተት ተዋጽኦዎች በተለያዩ የንፅህና ደረጃዎች ሲሸጡ በአምራቹ ዋጋዎች
በማጣበቅ እና በገዢዎች ዋጋ በመለየት የሚለዩ የተለያዩ የክፍል ደረጃዎች ይሰጣቸዋል። ዋጋዎቹ በአምራቹ እና በገቢያዎች ለመገምገም በአምራቾቹ
ምርቶቻቸውን በምርታቸው ጥራት መሠረት ለመለየት የወሰዱትን አንድ ትልቅ እርምጃ። የአንድን ምርት የበለጠ ተወዳጅ እና ተወዳዳሪ ለማድረግ በሞደም
የግብይት ቴክኒኮች ውስጥ ይህ አስፈላጊ ነው።

Grading is widely dependent on the local requirements or demands of the trade. Categorically
speaking, the grading of milk and milk products in dairy industry owes its significance to the time
immemorial, when the use of the milk and its product was known to the man and to the community

ደረጃ አሰጣጥ በሰፊው የሚመረኮዘው በአካባቢው መስፈርቶች ወይም በንግዱ ፍላጎቶች ላይ ነው። በምድብ ደረጃ የወተት እና የወተት ተዋጽኦዎች በወተት
ኢንዱስትሪ ውስጥ መመደብ ከጥንት ጀምሮ ፣ ወተቱን እና ምርቱን መጠቀሙ በሰውየው እና በማህበረሰቡ ዘንድ የታወቀበት ጊዜ ነው።

PACKAGING

Packaging is an art of malting one's goods more attractive among competitors. It also give
security and safety to the commodity while transporting from one place to another. A good package is
the representation of the artistic combination of the designer's creative skills and the marketing policies
of the company. It is the sum total of the talents of the designers, the researchers, the technicians, the
advertising man, the marketing expert and the top management. Packaging is, therefore, a science and
an art concerned with the development and use of materials, methods and equipment for putting a
product into a container to protect the product till it reaches the customer.

ማሸግ በተወዳዳሪ ተወዳዳሪዎች ዘንድ ይበልጥ ማራኪ የሆነን ንዲሁም ከአንድ ቦታ ወደ ሌላ ቦታ በማጓጓዝ ለሸቀጦች ደህንነት እና ደህንነት ይሰጣል። ጥሩ ጥቅል
የዲዛይነር የፈጠራ ችሎታዎች እና የኩባንያው የግብይት ፖሊሲዎች የጥበብ ጥምረት ውክልና ነው። እሱ የዲዛይነሮች ፣ ተመራማሪዎች ፣ ቴክኒሻኖች ፣
የማስታወቂያ ሰው ፣ የግብይት ባለሙያ እና ከፍተኛ አመራሮች አጠቃላይ ድምር ነው። ስለዚህ ማሸግ ምርቱ ደንበኛው እስኪደርስ ድረስ ምርቱን ለመጠበቅ በእቃ
መያዥያ ውስጥ ማስገባት የቁሳቁሶች ፣ ዘዴዎች እና መሣሪያዎች ልማት እና አጠቃቀም የሚመለከት ሳይንስ እና ጥበብ ነው።

Packaging may be of several types but broadly it may be classified into five

(1) Transit packaging,

 (2) Consumer packaging,

(3) Product line packaging or family packaging,

(4) Multiple packaging, and,

(5) Reuse packaging.

LABELLING

When the goods are packed, it needs labelling which is equally important. The label is the part
of the product which carries verbal information about the product or the seller (manufacturer or
middleman). A label may be a part of package, or it may be a tag attached directly to the product. A
label is informative in character and hence attached to a product, after the product is packed or even
before its packaging.

እቃዎቹ በሚታሸጉበት ጊዜ ፣ እኩል የሆነ አስፈላጊ መሰየምን ይፈልጋል። መለያው ስለ ምርቱ ወይም ስለ ሻጩ
(አምራች ወይም መካከለኛ) የቃል መረጃን የሚይዝ የምርት ክፍል ነው። መለያው የጥቅሉ አካል ሊሆን ይችላል ፣ ወይም
በቀጥታ ከምርቱ ጋር የተያያዘ መለያ ሊሆን ይችላል። መለያው በባህሪያዊ መረጃ ሰጭ ነው ስለሆነም ምርቱ ከታሸገ
በኋላ ወይም ከማሸጉ በፊት እንኳን ከአንድ ምርት ጋር ተያይ attached ል።

The label may be in the form of a sheet, a wrapper or a seal attached to a product or producer's
package, Label gives information about the product, its quality, quantity, license number, production
batch number, the name of producer together with his address and other necessary information. The
purpose of labelling is to give the consumer information about the product he is buying and what it will
and will not do for him. There is a very close relationship between labelling and packaging and labelling
and branding or grading.

መለያው በአንድ ምርት ወይም አምራች ጥቅል ላይ በተጣበቀ ሉህ ፣ መጠቅለያ ወይም ማኅተም መልክ ሊሆን ይችላል ፣ መለያው ስለ ምርቱ ፣ ጥራቱ ፣ ብዛቱ ፣
የፍቃድ ቁጥሩ ፣ የምርት ምድብ ቁጥር ፣ የአምራቹ ስም ከእሱ ጋር አብሮ ይሰጣል አድራሻ እና ሌሎች አስፈላጊ መረጃዎች። የመሰየሚያ ዓላማው ስለሚገዛው
ምርት እና ለእሱ ምን እና ምን እንደሚያደርግ ለሸማቹ መረጃ መስጠት ነው። በመለያ እና በማሸግ እና በመለያ እና በብራንዲንግ ወይም በደረጃ አሰጣጥ መካከል
በጣም የጠበቀ ግንኙነት አለ።