GLOBAL TARGET MARKETING STRATEGIES
Target marketing strategies play an important role in the success of the marketing efforts of an enterprise.
Keeping in view the different characteristics of buyers, it becomes necessary for a global marketing manager to determine his marketing strategies according to the needs and characteristics of his buyers, so that all physical and human resources of the enterprise may be achieved. (MCom 2nd Year Global Target Marketing Strategies Study Material Notes)
The three global target marketing strategies are:
1. Undifferentiated Marketing Strategy or Marketing Aggregation. Undifferentiated Marketing Strategy concentrates upon marketing efforts in the total market. Under this strategy, a single product is offered to the entire market. In other words, all the customers are considered as one group and no change is made to the product. Exactly identical products are offered to each segment of the market. (MCom 2nd Year Global Target Marketing Strategies Study Material Notes)
The single marketing programme, identical advertisement, single brand, similar look and uniform price are the main characteristics of this marketing strategy, is that the enterprise adopting this strategy do not believe in multiple demand curve for the firm. Efforts are made to develop a single product which may meet the requirements of all the customers and to prepare a single marketing programme which may attract all the customers. There are some examples of market aggregation, such as soft drinks, milk, certain automobiles and resort services. (MCom 2nd Year Global Target Marketing Strategies Study Material Notes)
Advantages of Undifferentiated Marketing Strategy. A firm adopting this marketing strategy gets the following advantages:
(i) Market aggregation enables a firm to produce at a large scale. Large-scale production offers various economies.
(ii) It enables the enterprise to adopt the theories of standardisation, specialisation, and division of work.
(iii) There is no need of preparing different marketing programmes and policies.
(iv) It enables the firm to make the maximum possible utilisation of its resources.
Disadvantages of Undifferentiated Marketing Strategy. The drawbacks of undifferentiated marketing strategies are as follows:
(i) It is not a consumer-oriented strategy. It concentrates only upon the product.
(ii) The effectiveness of this strategy in modern consumer-oriented markets is very doubtful because all the consumers can never be of the same tastes and attitudes. (MCom 2nd Year Global Target Marketing Strategies Study Material Notes)
(iii) This strategy may be successful in the short term but in the long-term it8 success is always doubtful.
2. Differentiated Marketing Strategy Or Market Segregation. Market segmentation, as already discussed, means the division of marketing into several homogenous groups based on common characteristics of consumers. Under a differentiated marketing strategy, the total market of the enterprise is divided into several segments and different products are offered in different segments.
For this reason, this strategy is known as ‘market segregation’. Under this strategy different programmes are prepared, different advertising campaigns are launched, different methods of sales promotion are adopted and different policies
Regarding prices, packing, etc., are adopted, for example, a shoe market can be divided into several groups, such as shoes for businessmen, executives professors, students, etc., or on the basis of sex, such as, shoes for ladies, gents and children and so on the importance of this strategy is that offers different products in different manners to different consumers, so that maximum sales may be made, maximum profits may be earned, and maximum satisfaction may be provided to the consumers.
Advantages of differentiated marketing Strategy. Differentiates marketing strategy offers the following advantages to the enterprise:
- It is a consumer-oriented strategy.
- It attracts a maximum number of consumers from all corners.
- It maximises the profits of the enterprise.
- It provides maximum satisfaction to the consumers.
Disadvantages of differentiated Marketing Strategy. Disadvantages of this strategy are:
- Different products are to be produced for different segments of a market
- It requires intensive marketing research.
- Different marketing programmes and strategies have to be prepared for different segments.
- It increases the cost of marketing research, product planning, product development, physical distribution advertisement, sales promotion management and administration substantially. This strategy is useful only for firms producing at a large scale.
Concentrated Marketing Strategy. A concentrated marketing strategy is quite a different strategy. It does not concentrate upon marketing efforts in the total market. It concentrates upon some selected segments of the market under this strategy, the efforts are made to discover the market segments in which the products of the enterprise can be sold and all the efforts of the enterprise are diverted and devoted to these segments. (MCom 2nd Year Global Target Marketing Strategies Study Material Notes)
It is believed that whole-hearted concentration upon some selected segments of the market may produce better results than half-hearted efforts in the total market. (MCom 2nd Year Global Target Marketing Strategies Study Material Notes)
In the words of Philip Kotler, “Instead of going after a small share of a large market, the firm goes after a large of one or a few special markets. Put another way, instead of spreading itself thin in many parts of the market, it concentrates its forces to gain a good market position in few areas.” A concentrated marketing strategy is widely used in India, particularly by publishers. A publisher generally concentrates upon publishing the books either in some selected subjects or for a selected standard.
Advantages of Concentrated Marketing Strategy. Advantages of a concentrated marketing strategy may be described as follows:
(i) It makes the maximum exploitation of the resources of the enterprise.
(ii) It makes it possible to earn the maximum profits with limited resources of the enterprise.
(iii) It decreases the cost of production, management and administration substantially.
Disadvantages of Concentrated Marketing Strategy. Disadvantages of concentrated marketing strategy may be described as follows:
(i) It increases the possibilities of competition.
(ii) This marketing strategy is very risky because if the wrong segment is. selected, the existence of the firm itself is endangered. Alternative marketing strategies may be explained with the help of the diagrams given above.
MEANING OF CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION
A distribution channel may be defined as “the path traced in the direct or indirect transfer of title to a product as it moves from a producer to ultimate consumer or industrial users.” A distribution channel, in other words, is “the set of firms and individuals that take the title, or assist in transferring title, to the particular good or service as it moves from the producer to the consumers.”
“Each member of a channel is a link in a distribution network of an organisation that extends from the produces to the end users of products or services. Although – some firms perform all channel functions typically several organisations are linked together in a distribution channel to carry out various activities of storage, transportation, sales contracts, service sorting and repackaging.”
“Marketing Channels are the distribution network through which producers flow to the market.”
“A channel of distribution for a product is the route taken by the title to the goods as they move from the producer to the ultimate consumer, or industrial user.” (MCom 2nd Year Global Target Marketing Strategies Study Material Notes)