Identifying Market Segments & The Best Marketing Strategies For Them
This blog post will discuss how to identify different types of market segments, finding the best marketing strategies for reaching them, and identifying a new market segment I have noticed recently.
To get a better understanding of identifying a market segment and finding the best strategies to make it successful, we will look at the case study Under Armour’s Willful Digital Moves from the University of Virgin.
This study discussed how Kevin Plank, founder of Under Armour, identified and successfully marketed to a whole new market segment. He made the decision that his company “was ready to expand into the female market segment” in 2013 and that is when the “I Will What I Want” campaign was launched. This campaign used numerous strategies to target female customers and did it in such a way that made the campaign extremely successful.
The campaign debuted in July 2014 which features Misty Copeland, a American Ballet Theatre ballerina soloist who was rejected from a top ballet academy at the age of 13 for having the “wrong body for ballet.” (Shultz, 2014). This ad proved to be extremely successful and had over 4 million views within the first week. The company continued to work on the campaign and found a huge success rate which was largely driven by their collaboration with “unorthodox athletes” who helped to build the image for the campaign.
Under Armour found success in this campaign due to being able to choose a market segment and use a very methodical approach with their marketing. This case proves to be a great example of how a brand can target a market segment and use various marketing strategies to bring in more sales and recognition.
Key points For Implementing Segmentation Strategies
When it comes down to implementing segmentation strategies there are a few key points to keep in mind. For starters, you must understand WHO belongs to your market segment. Sure you can be broad and decide your market segment is females, but if you can go deeper into understanding who these females are, what their lifestyle is, and so on, you are able to successfully identify the best marketing strategies for that segment. If you take a look at the image above, you will see how Topshop is further investigating the female market segment. This gives them a better understanding of their target customer and are now able to identify the best marketing strategies.
As I touched on with the point above, another important point is to be detailed with your market segment. Being too broad can make marketing fail when it comes to some consumers within your market segment. If you are able to create sub-divisions within your market segment and create marketing materials catered to those sub-divisions, you’ll have a much higher rate of success.
As a student studying fashion and passionate consumer, I often notice shifts in the industry as a result of changing trends or pop culture. One of the newest market segments I have seen in the last few years is marketing to millennials and generation Z consumers belonging to various sub-market segments. Some of these sub-market segments include the LGBTQ+ community, Black Lives Matter supporters, and environmentally conscious consumers.
I would consider myself a millennial in the environmentally conscious sub-category so I think it would be really interesting to understand and explore from a fashion perspective. To reach this new segment I would use strategies that work for me! Some of these would include: packaging which lets you know what materials are used, transparency with where goods are coming from (Ie: factory & country information such as the brand Everlane does), and supporting a cause / giving back to the environment.
These strategies are very effective for targeting this environmentally conscious market and I find them to be very fun for not just a brand to implement, but for a consumer to respond to.
In summary, understanding market segments and how to best market to them is incredibly important and will lead to a brand success if done correctly.
