1. Target Marketing & Segmentation through Research

2. Objectives for Doing Research
To help define positioning and strategy
To provide a basis for making decisions about campaign ideas
To provide a basis for final decisions about the suitability of a campaign to run
To help advertisers understand the impact of advertising after it has run
Objective 1 (positioning and strategy) are based on a better understanding of the consumer and context
Objective 2: recall campaign “concepts” occur in the early stages of creative development. Can be rough, abstractions of the directions the brand team might pursue
Objective 3: Communication testing, done to help advertisers evaluate how well the elements of a message work individually and together
Objective 4: As an evaluation aid, research is done to help us improve on what has occurred at the end OR while the ad is in progress.

3. When To Research?: Planning Stage Research
The objectives at this stage are to identify
At whom should the advertising be aimed?
Helps marketers develop a “richer” target market profile
What makes our product unique?
Important attributes; usage occasion; etc.

4. Distinguishing Target Markets from Market Segments
A market segment is a sub-population of a target market
Members of a market segment share similarities with members within the group
However, they differ on a specific criteria from the larger target market

5. Criteria For Segmentation
Unique
Important distinctions can be made in terms of targeting variables
Sizable
The segment is large enough to be profitable
Reachable
Consumers in the segment can be reached by an appropriate marketing mix

6. When To Research?: Planning Stage Research
What is the product/brand’s intended effect on the target market?
Helps marketers identify benefits to the target market
Helps to develop a brand positioning

7. Facilitated with Consumer Insights
A “nugget” of information that helps the marketer understand the consumer more deeply, simply, or clearly
It has the potential to competitively distinguish one brand from another

8. Where Do They Come From?
Insights originate from a consumer perspective
Opportunities for generating insights may include:
experience
attitudes
values
needs
perceptions
feelings
Others
Examples
Feelings/affects associated with a product or brand
Perceptions about a product or brand in terms of the benefits it provides and how those benefits correspond with the consumer’s needs.
The values associated with brand consumption or a brand’s image.
The reward or punishment associated with brand usage or product consumption.

9. Discovering Brand Positioning Opportunities
Research facilitates discovering of the brand positioning opportunity
That point or place where a the consumer insight connects with the brand insight
An understanding of what the brand offers that the consumer values

10. When To Research?: Planning Stage Research
What is marketing communication’s intended effect on the target audience?
What should be said? (message)
How should it be said? (tone, delivery)
Where/when should it be said (media placement)

11. When To Research?: Campaign Development
During the pre-testing stage, research can facilitate direction in terms of
Creative Ideation
Conceptual development (roughs)
Copy development (communication)
The hope is that individuals are not so entrenched toward one approach that they aren’t flexible enough to change
(See p. 43) At this stage, the utility of research is not in “testing” the ads (ads are conceptual), but rather enriching understanding of the way an ad or ad approach might affect the target consumer.

12. When To Research?: Copy Testing Stage
Do marketing communications address the proposed communication strategy?
Recall: Jenny Craig Example
“Willpower in my pocket”

14. When To Research?: Post-testing
After advertising or marketing communication exposure, results should be tracked against marketing and communication objects to aid in understanding what worked and what didn’t.

15. Caveats for Research
Advertising’s effectiveness can not be evaluated in a vacuum (remember there are intervening variables)
Copy testing is an aid to decisions, it should not be the decision in an of itself.