Monday, November 21, 2016

Is targeting based on age is no longer valid?


Segmentation and targeting a group of people based on their age is a very frequent practice. Almost all companies create boxes and fit themselves inside. Market segmentation provides marketers with an identifiable group of submarkets to target. Based on age, for instance, A target group might be the mature market, aged 50 years old and above. Others companies might focus their efforts on the age group 10 to 19 years old and it goes on and on.
What became obvious today to many leading companies is that people who reached 50 years old do not want to be categorized in this group, some of them want to look as young as possible and in the group 10 to 19, some of them try to imitate their older idols, a sister, a parent or a famous person and to look much mature. Besides, Nowadays the percentage of people who reached 50 and above represents the largest category in many countries, especially in the developed one. Thus, it might be a great mistake and missing opportunities to target a certain group based on age. Some people belong to certain age categories but behave like being part of another and ignoring this would result in achieving a growth that is smaller than the organization's potential.




attitude might be more relevant than targeting based on age

We all remember the marketing fundamentals, namely segmentation, targeting, and positioning. Their importance in marketing has always been recognized by the leading organizations as well as by professors, researchers, and practitioners. Generally speaking, market segmentation is dividing a large market into a number of subcategories, consumers that are sharing mutual needs and wants as well as priorities. This allows marketers to tailor their offering to match as much as possible the needs of these buyers and attracts other customers that share similar characteristics. For instance, the clothing industry has grown to reach its actual size due to the fact that designers and manufacturers worked jointly to categorize and understand the different segments

The market segmentation might be segmented based on the consumer's geography such as region, language, postal codes ... and so on, Demographic, such as age, sex, social grade, etc and behavioral for example knowledge of the product, the usage rate and so forth. Based on segmentation, it is possible to target the ideal group of consumers, discovering the most profitable opportunities within a group or a number of groups depending on the organization's activity and place the necessary resources to squeeze profit from them. Finally, proceed with the positioning to attain the objectives set.

It is still definitely important to use the traditional marketing segmentation, but it might be important to revise it or at least considerate altering it depending on the company's activity. Let's take the cosmetic industry, The brands that used to target the older audience cannot keep targeting based on the age. Many ladies think they are not that old and a percentage of the category reject those companies as a result.

In various industries, the consumer is ageless and Speaking to the mature market for is instance can be tricky nowadays. This category in many countries counts for the greatest percentage of the general population, even larger than the youngest group. They are most of the time more comfortable financially and can be much more loyal. Also, the young population got better knowledge and access to information much more than ever before and their behavior towards the brand, the product or the service offered might be different to what was predicted. Thus, it is important to consider interviewing the sales people who are continuously in contact with the consumer as well as the existing and potential buyers in addition to making extensive research to find out if targeting based on age is relevant or it is better to consider the attitude.  

No comments:

Post a Comment

Popular Posts