Page 259 - Marketing Management

236 PART 3 CONNECTING WITH CUSTOMERS

Another area of concern is the millions of kids under the age of 17 who are online. Marketers
have jumped online with them, offering freebies in exchange for personal information. Many have
come under fire for this practice and for not clearly differentiating ads from games or entertainment.
Establishing ethical and legal boundaries in marketing to children online and offline continues to be
a hot topic as consumer advocates decry the commercialism they believe such marketing engenders.
Not all attempts to target children, minorities, or other special segments draw criticism. Colgate-
Palmolive’s Colgate Junior toothpaste has special features designed to get children to brush longer
and more often. Other companies are responding to the special needs of minority segments. Black-
owned ICE theaters noticed that although moviegoing by blacks has surged, there were few inner-
city theaters. Starting in Chicago, ICE partnered with the black communities in which it operates
theaters, using local radio stations to promote films and featuring favorite food items at concession
64
stands. Thus, the issue is not who is targeted, but how and for what. Socially responsible marketing
calls for targeting that serves not only the company’s interests, but also the interests of those targeted.
This is the case many companies make in marketing to the nation’s preschoolers. With nearly
4 million youngsters attending some kind of organized child care, the potential market—including
kids and parents—is too great to pass up. So in addition to standards such as art easels, gerbil cages,
and blocks, the nation’s preschools are likely to have Care Bear worksheets, Pizza Hut reading pro-
grams, and Nickelodeon magazines.
Teachers and parents are divided about the ethics of this increasing preschool marketing push.
Some side with groups such as Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children, whose members feel
preschoolers are incredibly susceptible to advertising and that schools’ endorsements of products
make children believe the product is good for them—no matter what it is.Yet many preschools and
day care centers operating on tight budgets welcome the free resources. 65

Summary

1. Target marketing includes three activities: market seg- 5. We can target markets at four main levels: mass, multi-
mentation, market targeting, and market positioning. ple segments, single (or niche) segment, and individuals.
Market segments are large, identifiable groups within 6. A mass market targeting approach is adopted only by
a market. the biggest companies. Many companies target multiple
2. Two bases for segmenting consumer markets are segments defined in various ways such as various de-
consumer characteristics and consumer responses. mographic groups who seek the same product benefit.
The major segmentation variables for consumer 7. A niche is a more narrowly defined group. Globalization
markets are geographic, demographic, psycho- and the Internet have made niche marketing more
graphic, and behavioral. Marketers use them singly feasible to many.
or in combination.
8. More companies now practice individual and mass
3. Business marketers use all these variables along with customization. The future is likely to see more individ-
operating variables, purchasing approaches, and situa- ual consumers take the initiative in designing products
tional factors. and brands.
4. To be useful, market segments must be measurable, 9. Marketers must choose target markets in a socially
substantial, accessible, differentiable, and actionable. responsible manner at all times.