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Part One Introduction to Integrated Marketing Communications
Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
I. Introduction to Integrated
Marketing
Communications
take the time and effort required to understand the
diversity of this market, or will they simply attempt to
reach Hispanics through the appeals and media they
employ for other ethnic groups. One thing is sure: If
they pursue the latter strategy, they won’t be in the
Hispanic market for very long.
Exhibit 2-5 Big Red
markets to a specific
geographic region
2. The Role of IMC in the
Marketing Process
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
Sources: John Kerrigan “Playing to Hispanics garners rewards,”
Marketing News, July 22, 2002, p. 20; Jennifer Gonzalez
McPherson, “Targeting Teens,” Hispanic Magazine, September
2001, pp. 33–36; Marci McDonald, “Madison Avenue’s New Latin
Beat,” U.S. News & World Report, June 4, 2001, p. 42; Greg Johnson,
“Gaining Insight into the Latino Middle Class,” Los Angeles Times,
June 11, 2001, p. C–1.
Bases for Segmentation As shown in Figure 2-4, several
methods are available for segmenting markets. Marketers may use one
of the segmentation variables or a combination of approaches. Consider
the market segmentation strategy that might be employed to market
snow skis. The consumer’s lifestyle—active, fun-loving, enjoys outdoor
sports—is certainly important. But so are other factors, such as age
(participation in downhill skiing drops off significantly at about age 30)
and income (Have you seen the price of a lift ticket lately?), as well as
marital status. Let us review the bases for segmentation and examine
some promotional strategies employed in each.
Geographic Segmentation In the geographic segmentation
approach, markets are divided into different geographic units. These
units may include nations, states, counties, or even neighborhoods. Consumers
often have different buying habits depending on where they
reside. For example, General Motors, among other car manufacturers,
considers California a very different market from the rest of the United
States and has developed specific marketing programs targeted to the
consumers in that state. Other companies have developed programs targeted
at specific regions. Exhibit 2-5 shows an ad for Big Red, just one
of the regional soft-drink “cult” brands—along with Cheerwine (the
Carolinas), Vernors (Michigan), and Moxie (New England)—that have found success
by marketing in regional areas (in this case, Texas). One company—Olde Brooklyn
Beverage Company—has even gone so far as to promote a brand based on a specific
section of New York City, differentiating it from bigger brands by promoting the product’s
“Brooklyn Attitude.”
Demographic Segmentation Dividing the market on the basis of demographic
variables such as age, sex, family size, education, income, and social class is called
demographic segmentation. Secret deodorant and the Lady Schick shaver are products
that have met with a great deal of success by using the demographic variable of
sex as a basis for segmentation. iVillage, a website targeting women, may be one of
the most successful websites on the Internet (Exhibit 2-6).
Although market segmentation on the basis of demographics may seem obvious,
companies sometimes discover that they need to focus more attention on a specific
demographic group. For example, Kodak and Procter & Gamble, among others, have
had to redo their images for younger markets. Abercrombie changed its image to reach
the “echo-boomer” (18- to 22-year-old) segment (Exhibit 2-7). Magazines like Modern
Maturity are targeted to the estimated 76 million people in the “Be Generation,”
who are now in their fifties or older or are from the baby-boomer generation, the
cohort born between 1946 and 1964, and Segunda Juventud to the 50+ Hispanic market
(Exhibit 2-8).
Other products that have successfully employed demographic segmentation include
Virginia Slims cigarettes (sex), Doan’s Pills (age), JCPenney Co. (race), Mercedes-
Benz and BMW cars (income), and prepackaged dinners (family size).
While demographics may still be the most common method of segmenting markets,
it is important to recognize that other factors may be the underlying basis for homogeneity
and/or consumer behavior. The astute marketer will identify additional bases
for segmenting and will recognize the limitations of demographics.