Segmentation Essay Example for Free

Segmentation Essay Market segmentation is where marketers split the market into groups with similarities that would make it easy to target their product to the consumers, if they do not do this then they could waste money and time on targeting the wrong people. The company would be trying to maximise their sales so that they can gain as much money as possible. Using market segmentation could mean a business could gain a commercial advantage as they would be advertising to a specific audience, they would be matching target audience and the product effectively. Demographics are where the companies target market would be to a group because of their Gender, age, race/nationality, family size, occupation and education. For example McDonalds advertise happy meals to children because they would keep bugging their parents to take them to get them it. Geographic’s are where the companies target market would be to a group because of where they live, for example an expensive store wouldn’t come to Burnley because most of the residents are working class and don’t have a lot of money. Psychographics are where the companies target market would be to a group because of personality, lifestyle and interests. For example subway would advertise to people with a healthy lifestyle. These segmentation methods are used to split up the market so business can find the perfect target market, if companies didn’t use these methods then the companies wouldn’t have a good understanding of the people they are trying to advertise to. ACORN or A Classification of Residential Neighbourhoods, is used to segment the market into different classifications, the classifications are split up into 5 categories, which are: †¢ Wealthy Achievers – wealthy people who already have good, well-paid jobs, †¢ Urban Prosperity – wealthy people who are aspiring to have good, well-paid jobs, †¢ Comfortably Off – people aren’t particularly wealthy but have a decent sized house etc. †¢ Hard Pressed lower classed people, who are live in high rise flats etc. Moderate Means – working class people, live in terraces. Another method of segmentation the public are is a system created by Experian called Mosaic, this assigns people to groups based on their post code, neighbourhood etc. and it makes assumptions about peoples likes, dislikes and lifestyles based on their postcode area. †¢ A Career professionals living in sought after locations †¢ B Younger families living in newer h omes †¢ C Older families living in suburbia D Close-knit, inner city and manufacturing town communities †¢ E Educated, young, single people living in areas of transient populations †¢ F People living in social housing with uncertain employment in deprived areas †¢ G Low income families living in estate based social housing †¢ H Upwardly mobile families living in homes bought from social landlords †¢ I Older people living in social housing with high care needs †¢ J Independent older people with relatively active lifestyles †¢ K People living in rural areas far from urbanisation McDonalds target markets are happy meals, saver menu, portion sizes, fillet o’Fish, breakfast and hot drinks; the happy meal is targeted towards children as they will use pester power to make their parents take them to McDonalds. They sell small portions that contain a healthy snack and you get a free toy in them, the toy is themed towards a children’s cartoon film, they normally advertise on nickelodeon, cartoon network and Disney channel because that’s what most children watch. They advertise after 3 o’clock because that’s when most children get home from school as if they advertised before 3 o’clock then not a lot of children would see it; the happy meal would also suit the elderly as they won’t be able to eat a big meal. The saver menu would suit students and people who don’t have a lot of money; it would suit students as they won’t have to spend a lot of money on the larger meals and they can spend it more important things or going out at the weekend. It would suit people who don’t have a lot of money as they are relatively small portions and it is only 99p for a burger so it is a cheap. The portion sizes would be good for when people who aren’t particularly hungry or they are really hungry, as if they aren’t hungry they can get a medium meal, If they are really hungry they can get the large meals. This is good as it creates more of a target market for McDonalds to attract. The Fillet o’Fish as people who don’t like eating meat can get this instead of just getting chips, this is good as well as it McDonalds look like they are family orientated and they don’t miss anyone out. The McDonalds breakfast suits people who have to get up early as they do normal breakfast meals instead of a burger they could get sausage or something else. The hot drinks are good for when it is winter as people won’t want cold drinks as they would want warm drinks like coffee or hot chocolate etc. McDonalds will have a variety of different targets for their products and services. 4 examples can look at: Families: Families are targets as when families go out, they normally go to places that the kids will enjoy as if the kids aren’t happy, then parents will not be happy as they will be seeing their children unsatisfied with where they are. McDonalds will advertise all they can to make it look more appealing to all generations of families, These services aim towards providing friendly environments for the customers to have fun at and enjoy meals at affordable prices. They will be close families, as they will be visiting places with the idea of where is best suitable for the kids and themselves to enjoy themselves. The gender is not again specific as families could be of mixed gender. The age range will be from 1+ as a nice little outing to McDonald’s with the family is always nice. Parents with Children: parents with children will take their child to McDonald’s to give their children a treat. This is a product that McDonalds has produced to attract children between the ages of 1-10, as it has a free toy with the meal it is aiming to attract children and not only will the food be a treat but they will also get a free toy to play with. The target markets for happy meals is the parents buying their children food will be identified as young children ranging from ages of 1-10 as the toys that come with the happy meals look suitable for children of that age. Teenagers: Teenagers usually have limits to how much they can spend on food, As they may have limited pocket money or more important ideas of something they may want to purchase so cannot afford to spend their money on fast food. This is why they are attracted to the saver menu, the saver menu is where you can buy food for a reasonably price. Also teenagers are known to be the main users of social networking sites and users of the internet, so the idea of free WIFI access available in their restaurants is also another way to attract people to their restaurants. So, the target market for the saver menu will be identified as someone who wants to enjoy McDonald’s at an affordable price and the target market for the free wifi will be mainly teenagers as a stop at a restaurant for a quick check of their social networking sites will tempt them to buy something quick to enjoy whilst they are in the store. The age range for both the saver menu and WI-FI will be from 16+ as people from the age of 16 + are identified to be the age range of social networking sites and the saver menu is for everyone. Local Workers: Whilst on their breaks; local workers may pop in to the closest McDonalds, they have nearest to them to have a hot meal as it’s usually served very quickly and this makes it very efficient for the workers as they may have a short break. The lifestyle of these regular workers will be busy as they are working and may not have enough time in mornings to prepare dinner before they leave so they visit cafe/restaurants that are close by to eat in at and then head back to work. Also, they will need reasonable prices as they may have budgets for their dinner/meals. Gender of local workers will also not be specific in this case as you can be of any gender to have a job. The age range will be that of 18+ to about 65, as 18 is the age you most people start working and usually people retire at 65 and are not likely to be regular customers, as fast food places as due to being older than maybe teenagers, they have to be more careful with their diets as they can be more affected easily health wise with regular takeaway consuming. A Business Person: a business person will visit McDonalds during the morning, maybe for a brew or the breakfast, Also their food can be eaten in a vehicle without it affecting a busy work schedule, as they can use the drive thru, McDonalds have many drive thru’s which is a service that makes it efficient for people that may not have enough time to eat in to enjoy their products in their vehicles. The target market for a drive thru will be busy people that do not have enough time to eat in. The gender for business customers will be both male and female as in the modern world. The age range of established and busy business people is most likely to be about 30+.