Chapter 7
Sharpening the Focus:
Target Marketing Strategies and Customer Relationship Management
Marketing ADventure Exercises
Below are exercises to accompany the advertisements posted at
The category is noted for each question, followed by the advertisement name and exercise.
- Category: AutoAd: Audi
Identify demographic variables that the target customer of this ad would have.
Answer:
The ad has a clear target in mind in terms of age, gender, income, and family life cycle.
- Category: Student Choice
The chapter describes the baby boomers and Generation X. Find an ad aimed at each of these groups and explain why it is appropriate for that particular group.
Answer:
Baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964 and were followed by Generation X, those born between 1965 and 1976. For marketers, a key attribute of baby boomers is that they never age. Marketers are also aware that while many Generation Xers have a cynical attitude toward marketing, entrepreneurship is important to them.
- Category: ApparelAds: Student Choice
Your text states that marketers are interested in the distribution of wealth of consumers. Find two ads in the apparel category, one aimed at those who are wealthier and those who are not.
Answer:
Answers can vary, but correct answers explicitly state or merely imply the wealth of the target customer. The ad for Levi’s New Collection with diamonds is aimed at wealthy consumers, while the Hush Puppies shoe ad is aimed at those with less money.
- Category: AutoAd: Mercedes
Define geodemographics and identify geodemographic variables in the selected ad.
Answer:
Geodemographics is a segmentation technique that combines geography and demographics. In the Mercedes C Class ad, the geographic variable is the urban environment, while the demographic variable is the age and income level of the target market.
- Category: Travel & TourismAd: Student Choice
When discussing VALS, your text states, “12% of American adults are Experiencers.” What is VALS and who are the experiencers? Which ad in the Travel & Tourism category would be aimed at this group?
Answer:
VALS is a psychographic system that divides the U.S. population into segments based on psychological traits. Experiencers are thrill seekers and would be attracted to either of the Wild Drift ads.
- Category: Household ProductsAd: Kiwi
Explain how behavior segmentation is related to this ad.
Answer:
Behavior segmentation divides consumers into segments based on how they act toward, feel about, or use a product. This includes usage rates, usage occasions, or as a user/nonuser. In the selected ad, we see the risk in being a nonuser.
- Category: Food & BeverageAds: Cool, Ecusa
Compare the two ads for water. Which of the selected ads is using a differentiated strategy, and which has an undifferentiated strategy for targeting customers?
Answer:
The undifferentiated targeting strategy is designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of people and was used in the Cool ad. The Ecusa ad uses a differentiated strategy, whereby products are aimed at specific and distinct customer groups.
- Category: AutoAd: Cadillac
Define positioning and describe the positioning strategy for the product in the selected ad.
Answer:
Positioning is developing a marketing strategy aimed at influencing how a particular market segment perceives a product when compared to the competition. In the selected ad, the Escalade SUV is the “most powerful SUV in the world.”
- Category: ApparelAd: Student Choice
Your text suggests that we often think of products as people. Review the ads in the Apparel category and select one ad. If the product in your ad came to life, how would it look?
Answer:
There are several ads in this category where the products could easily have people characteristics. Consider how different the Lycra, Polartec, and Timberland products are and how people representing those products would differ.
- Category: FinancialAd: Cimb
What is customer relationship management? How does it apply to this ad?
Answer:
Today’s emphasis on customer relationship management is a philosophy that sees marketing as the process of building long-term relationships with customers to keep them satisfied and coming back. The ad states that clients are a core value to the organization.