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SEGMENTATION, TARGET MARKETING, AND POSITIONING
Segmentation, Target Marketing, and Positioning at Numi Organic Tea
Rashelle Burros
Kaplan University
Antecedents of Target Marketing
Short Essay: Write a 250 (or more) word discussion using research from your textbook to help substantiate your understanding of segmentation, target marketing, and positioning. Apply APA style referencing in your writing.
1. In the first part of the video, Jen Mullin, the Vice President of Marketing for Numi Organic Tea, clearly describes their typical customer. Using the information on segmentation you learned from reading Chapter 8 in Lamb, et al. (2014), discuss who the customer is and how the Numi marketing team figured that out?
ANSWER:
Numi marketing team, identified females that read a lot and have preference towards green products as their typical consumers. Per Jen Mullin, the Vice President of Marketing for Numi Organic Tea. The company has decided to target such females because they tend to drink a lot during their reading and while having conversations with their people. They take around 2 to 3 packets of their tea and that makes them target market for the company as they buy a lot of their tea at a go. Consumers seem to have a liking for green products. The company has been involving itself in all organic centered events that are preaching environmental conservation of the world. The company also gives out their products as free gifts. They have decided to use this as a marketing plan rather than the traditional means of marketing such as TV advertisements and others alike. They give out free gifts with tea goodies to consumers or just people attending such events. When they take the tea, the end being ‘hooked’ and thus, they actively seek out the product afterwards. The company banks on the fact that the tea tastes really god and customers will actively seek out the product once they taste it. The company believes that their target consumer forms a valid segment per the requirements. This is because such a segment of female learned consumers is well substantiated as they have the necessary purchasing power, identifiable and measurable as most are in colleges, they are accessible to marketers in many ways and places and they respond to market initiatives that are inclined towards an organic world.
2. What is Numi's principle marketing plan? In what way, does Numi's marketing team use what they know about their target demographic to implement their marketing plan?
ANSWER:
Numi's principle marketing plan is based on college female students. The company has thoroughly studied their target consumer. The company’s principal marketing plan is to be involved in all activities that the target consumers like to attend. The company gives the consumers a chance to contribute towards the theme of the event. If the event seeks to help the needy people, the company offers free gifts to the needy people on behalf of the consumer by asking them if they want to participate. If they agree, the company offers free t-shirts and even free tea to them in return. The company targets consumers with enough cash given that their products are premium and cost a lot of money for the average consumer. They do make a lot of money enough to cover this marketing plan. Numi's marketing team uses what they know regarding their target consumer to market their products
Defend Your Answer Challenge: Highlight your multiple choice answer in yellow. Write a 100 (or more) word discussion in defense of your answer to the multiple choice and true/false questions using research from your textbook to help substantiate your understanding of segmentation, target marketing, and positioning. Apply APA style referencing in your writing.
3) Jen Mullin, the vice president of Marketing for Numi Organic Tea, describes their typical customer as a female, college-educated tea lover, possibly an “eco-mom.” What type of market segmentation has she used to identify this customer group?
a. Geographic segmentation
b. Demographic segmentation
c. Ethnic segmentation
d. Psychographic segmentation
ANSWER:
The answer is demographic. Why? The company identified that college-educated females like tea when they are reading or when they are having conversations in their houses. This identification is based on education. Since college-educated female consumers read a lot, they need tea to offer stimulation. Most colleges are in areas that are cold and they therefore need some warm drink like tea and not drinks alcoholic drinks. Family travelers were picked out also based on family size.
4) Another way Numi Organic Tea identifies potential customers is through what they want from the product; they are looking for organic, fair-trade, premium quality tea, per the video. What type of market segmentation is used to identify customers in this way?
a. Geographic segmentation
b. Demographic segmentation
c. Benefit segmentation
d. Usage-rate segmentation
ANSWER:
The type of segmentation that the Numi Organic Tea Company used is the benefit segmentation. This type of segmentation involves segmenting the consumer base based on the benefits they derive from the product. In this situation, the educated, female consumers seek products that are organic and have no adverse health effects. They will enjoy tea from Numi because it is organic and very safe. The company supports green products. Most of the consumers want products that are green as they want the world to be green and that is why most of them will be found in such events.
5) Because Numi Organic Tea has identified more than one target market, for example, “eco-moms,” college students, and family travelers, they should be particularly aware of the ____________________, which helps explain how consumption patterns differ at different stages determined by a combination of age, marital status, and the presence or absence of children.
a. Family life cycle
b. 80/20 principle
c. Undifferentiated targeting strategy
d. Concentrated targeting strategy
ANSWER:
The answer is family life cycle (FLC). This cycle explains how consumption patterns differ at different stages determined by a combination of marital status, age, and the absence or presence of children. It starts at unattached adults (with no children), newly married adults (new responsibilities), childbearing adults (more responsibilities), pre-school age children, school age children, teenage child, launching center, middle aged adults and retired adults. These stages change the consumption patterns drastically in each phase. The cycle needs to be well considered as it is very significant. Failure to consider this cycle may lead to serious shortages in regards to demand for the product.
6) The demographic variable that Numi Tea marketers were examining when they recognized that people who had discovered their product at a high-end spa or fine restaurant often shopped for groceries at Costco was _________________________.
a. Age
b. Income
c. Ethnicity
d. Gender
ANSWER:
The answer is gender. The company discovered that female consumers discovered their product at a high-end spa or fine restaurant often shopped for groceries at Costco. They were shocked to see that the product was also on sale in such places and were even more surprised at the quality taste that the tea was. The company decided to sell their product in most places that female educated consumers go in search of many things including groceries and relaxation. This marketing plan is bound to be successful as it is based on just the technical marketing knowledge but also firsthand experiences of the behaviors of the consumers.
7) Numi Tea uses premium ingredients to create a premium tea at an affordable price, according to Jen Mullin. This is a form of ______________________ that the company uses to distinguish their products from those of competitors.
a. Perceptual mapping
b. One-to-one marketing
c. Product differentiation
d. Market segmentation
ANSWER:
The answer is product differentiation. It involves making the products to be unique and distinguishable from those of their competition. This meant to ensure that their customers are aware of their product from other products and can tell them apart. In this regard, Numi Company has used premium ingredients to make premium tea. The consumers can tell their products from others through the great taste that the product has. They become loyal consumers and some switch from other products also. The company has used quality as a differentiation strategy. This has worked perfectly for them as many customers identify and relate their tea with quality
8) Which of the following is the least likely targeting strategy that Numi Tea would select to market their products?
a. Undifferentiated targeting
b. Concentrated targeting
c. Multisegment targeting
d. Niche targeting
ANSWER:
The answer is undifferentiated targeting. This involves sending the same message of promoting the product to all consumers. This is one strategy that Numi Company cannot use because their consumers are widely positioned and have different views on issues. The promotional message should be modified for each segmented group of consumers. The company targets family travelers and college-educated female consumers. The message should be differentiated based on these two segments of consumers. The promotional message should be informed by the different likes and dislikes of each segment. It should be made in such a way that it does not repel any of the segments by having disrespectful or opinions that are contrary to those of the segmented groups.
9) When Jen Mullin explains that her company’s tea is sought after as a product to include in gift bags and other promotional giveaways by companies and other organizations, she is recognizing the companies who ask Numi to provide tea samples as optimizers.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER:
True because it is through such companies that the company gains goodwill and a good reputation. When their products are given out as products and gifts, the targets for the gifts are much more likely to actively seek out the product after the gift package ends. This optimizes the company’s marketing efforts for their product. Their sales are bound to increase because it acts as a form of publicity. That is why Jen recognizes companies with such enthusiasm. When the products are given away as promotional giveaways, their brand name gets distributed to wherever such people reside and through the word of mouth, the company’s products are marketed.
10) To graphically map the “channel conflict” between marketing Numi Tea to premium spas, hotels, and restaurants and selling the same brand at mass market stores such as Target, the company could employ perceptual mapping.
a. True
b. False
ANSWER:
True. Perceptual mapping is important in such a situation as it will help in avoiding the channel conflict” between marketing Numi Tea to premium spas, hotels, and restaurants and selling the same brand at mass market stores such as Target. The product will be sold through visual display that will also include information about the product and its competition. The marketers will have no difficulty in explaining the product to consumers in the different places. The visual aids will complement their promotional efforts. Through perceptual mapping the company will be able to position the product in such a way that will differentiate the product from those from their competition.
References
Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F., & McDaniel, C. (2012). MKTG5. Mason, OH: South-Western, Cengage.
