Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning Assignment

Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning - Assignment Example Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the practice and role of marketing in Cornflower business. In addition to that, the paper will provide an overview of the principal practices and concepts of marketing. Understanding the Concept and Process of Marketing There are two principal marketing concepts. These are such as the application and value of segmentation and product development and design process concept. Segmentation as a concept is vital for Cornflower Company as it aids in categorizing the market into various segments depending on various factors such as gender, age and ethnic backgrounds. However, some physical attributes can also be used including geographical location, hair colour, weight and eyesight (Salaimeh 2008, p.455). Despite the usefulness of the above named segments, it is argued that they are too general. As such, Cornflower Company should narrow down and identify their target market. The effective way for Cornflower to identify its target market is throu gh the utilization of socio-economics as a segmentation strategy. In that case, it should base its focus on income, occupation, and education status of the population in which its stores are located. In addition to socio-economics, it can also apply stages of consumer cycles such as children position and marital status. All these objective strategies can be brought together through a Classification of Residential Neighbourhoods (ACORN) (Salaimeh 2008, p.456). Similarly to objective strategies, Cornflower Company can also apply subjective strategies. Subjective strategies are such as personality inventories. Personality inventories such as lifestyle inventories are effective in grouping consumers with similar traits whilst personal values helps in identifying individuals with fair commercial products (Mintzberg et al 1998, p.405). Product Development Process This is a process that is fairly simplified and it focuses on the product development stages. During this process, the stakehol ders and managers of Cornflower Company evaluates the products evaluation stage where numerous ideas can be rejected. After the initial evaluation, the process moves to the next stage that is more detailed and complex. This stage encompasses engineering process that entails evaluation and design of the process before final production. Evaluation is a continuous process and is applied at various stages of the product to ensure that the product produced is viable commercially and able to increase the company’s profit as well as satisfy the consumers (Kotler, 2003, p. 415). The initial stages are for benchmarking where data collection is done. The data collected helps in identifying the need in the market so that the new product developed can suitable satisfy the need. The data collected lays the foundation for the design and development of the new product where focus is on the product quality levels and characteristics required by the end users (Donna et al. 2010, p.856). Benef its and Costs of Adopting the Above marketing concepts Segmentation has both indirect and direct benefits for Cornflower Company. Through categorizing consumers’ dependant on distinct attributes helps in identifying the purchasing decisions made by consumers. For instance, aromatherapy products and