Undifferentiated Marketing

5 Key excerpts on "Undifferentiated Marketing"

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  eBook - PDF

  Principles of Marketing

  A Value-Based Approach

  • Ayantunji Gbadamosi, Ian Bathgate, Sonny Nwankwo(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Bloomsbury Academic

    (Publisher)

  Alternatively, the organization may discover some substantial segments and decide to serve all those identified, just a few or only one of the identified segments using different products or a single product. Once segments have been identified, the organization needs to select the approach it is going to use to target them. Common approaches are outlined below. Undifferentiated Marketing strategy Undifferentiated Marketing is also known as mass marketing . In this case, an organiz-ation ignores the differences between market segments and offers one product to the entire market without any form of differentiation. In order words, the organiz-ation does not exploit consumer differences but rather concentrates on what is common to all the consumers. Consequently, the company uses a single marketing mix to cater for the needs of the whole market. By implication, the entire market is treated as a homogeneous mass whose needs are met using mass production, mass advertising and mass distribution to serve as many customers as possible. The Post Offi ce’s services and staple foods (such as salt and sugar) are obvious examples of the use of UMS to target the market as a whole as there is limited variability within the market. An advantage associ-ated with this strategy is that it entails relatively low costs because only a single marketing mix is needed to serve a large market whereas the other strategies require more research and periodic updating. Also, because the company uses one product to serve a potentially large market, economies of scale can be maximized. However, a UMS can only be sustained where demand significantly exceeds supply or in situations of monopoly. When demand decreases or competition is introduced, especially from more focused competitors, such a strategy becomes untenable. Where there is competition, what tends to happen in reality is that some customers will like the product while others will not because it is probably impossible to please everyone.

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  Marketing Management N4 SB

  TVET FIRST

  • CH Esterhuyse R van der Merwe(Author)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  Unit 4.1: Mass marketing (also known as ‘market aggregation’ or ‘Undifferentiated Marketing’) The nature of mass marketing Mass marketing means that producers and manufacturers supply one or at least a few standardised products to all customers in a market, hoping that the products will appeal to as many consumers as possible. The business attempts to reach buyers with one or a few products with one marketing mix (explained later in this module). In South Africa, we have examples such as Coke (Coca-Cola), which has a standardised product that appeals to the total market. mass marketing: marketing to consumers who have identical needs, wants or preferences and one marketing mix is suitable for reaching all such consumers, e.g. the market for sugar standardised products: products with uniform or the same characteristics 112 Figure 4.1: Coke is an example of a standardised product The market is regarded as homogeneous (all consumers have the same needs/wants). Although one marketing mix is sufficient, aggressive marketing plays an important role in convincing consumers to buy the specific product(s). The business can concentrate on a homogeneous product , or a few homogeneous products, to satisfy the needs or wants of consumers. Until 1950, most businesses followed a mass-marketing strategy, for example, Coca-Cola offered only one basic product to the market. Until 1980, local banks offered a limited variety of bank services. Nowadays, businesses offer a wide variety of products and services aimed at specific markets, for instance, younger children, teenagers, students, pensioners, professionals, investors, etc. Mass marketing is still appropriate in instances where the market is fairly homogeneous with regard to customer needs/wants and preferences. But there are some disadvantages of mass marketing: • One offer cannot satisfy the needs of everyone. • It is increasingly difficult to compete with specialised offerings of focused competitors.

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  eBook - ePub

  Business to Business Marketing Management

  A Global Perspective

  • Alan Zimmerman, Jim Blythe(Authors)
  • 2021(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  focusing on commonalities among all segments but in essence attempting to serve the entire market with only one marketing mix. This is found most often in the earliest stages of a product lifecycle, when undifferentiated product will be accepted by customers because there is no other choice. For example, early personal computers were heavy, slow, expensive, and had limited software capabilities. Yet firms bought large numbers of these machines because the productivity increases of their employees outweighed the difficulties of finding specific computers which satisfied their corporate needs. Undifferentiated Marketing usually only lasts as long as competition is limited. When a firm decides to use differentiated marketing, it designs specific marketing mixes to serve each segment. Obviously, differentiated marketing costs more than Undifferentiated Marketing, and can be justified only when the results outweigh the cost. The easiest way to picture differentiated marketing is to conceive of the marketing machine as shown in Figure 6.4. In this machine, each lever represents one of the “seven Ps.” In using differentiated marketing, these levers would be set to best satisfy a particular segment. For the next segment, the levers would be set differently. However, it is important to remember that not all levers have to be changed to serve each segment. In many cases, the same product, price, and promotion, etc., may serve two different segments where the only variation required is distribution or service (included under place). For firms with very limited resources, the only choice may be concentrated marketing. In this case, a firm concentrates on one or very few segments. The idea is to build a dominant position in that segment. For example, a firm manufacturing highly sensitive, low-light level television cameras focuses its efforts on industrial applications such as unauthorized entry or pilferage

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  N4 Principles of Marketing

  • B van der Westhuyzen, J van der Merwe, B van der Westhuyzen, J van der Merwe(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Future Managers

    (Publisher)

  Final decisions concerning the product, packaging and trade name, distribution channels, price and the nature of marketing communication should now be taken. The marketing strategy, as well as the positioning of the product (if environmental variables make it necessary), should constantly be reconsidered. If new competitive products or market factors arise, it is best to adapt the marketing strategy. Step 7: Analyse the competitive advantage. Step 8: Position the product. Step 9: Finalise the marketing strategy. Step 10: Monitor the marketing strategy. 2.4 Different approaches to market segmentation Mass marketing strategy Whole market is regarded as homogenous Single marketing mix for the total market X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Multiple segment strategy Two or more segments of total market are targeted A separate marketing mix is developed for each segment Single segment concentration strategy One segment of total market is targeted One marketing mix for the segment X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω Ω 98 Module 4 • Segmentation 2.4.1 Market aggregation (Undifferentiated Marketing) Market aggregation is also known as the total market concept and mass market strategy . With a market aggregation strategy, it is assumed that consumers are more or less homogeneous, with identical demands and preferences for a market offering. Salt is used by all families, rich or poor, young or old, serious or fun-loving, north and south. All buy salt for the same reason – to give flavour to their food. Salt is thus sold to the mass market in an undifferentiated manner. One specific market presentation is suitable for all consumers of the product; in other words, the total market is treated as a single unit.

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  Business-to-Business Marketing

  A Strategic Approach

  • Michael H. Morris, Leyland F. Pitt, Earl Dwight Honeycutt, Jr.(Authors)
  • 2001(Publication Date)
  • SAGE Publications, Inc

    (Publisher)

  With Undifferentiated Marketing, the Segmentation and Targeting of Business Markets | 131 company is reaching many organizations that are not really viable prospects in terms of their willingness and ability to buy. Undifferentiated Marketing can also lead the firm to spread its limited resources too thinly. Some refer to this issue in terms of a shotgun versus a rifle approach. Failure to segment and target is like firing a shotgun, with the shot sprayed far and wide and much of it wasted. Well-targeted marketing is like firing a rifle, where (as-suming the target is hit) the intended customer group is hit cleanly and efficiently. In addition to efficiency, market segmentation enables the marketer to be more effective. The firm is able to reap the benefits of specialization. Target marketing al-lows the firm to specialize by matching its skills or capabilities to the unique needs, wants, and problems of the market segments selected. Granted, specialization re-quires extra investment and will often result in higher unit costs; however, the result is a marketing program that is more customized and therefore one to which custom-ers are likely to be more responsive. The application of market segmentation also helps pinpoint specific customer prospects. This benefit is particularly relevant to the industrial market arena in which a market segment may, in fact, comprise only one or a very small number of potential buyers. Market segmentation in this case would help to reveal those prospects who reside in specific segments. The firm's marketing intelligence system can then begin to create a database on these particular prospects, and insights can be gained by ex-amining data files of other customers that are in the same market segment. Finally, the adoption of market segmentation helps the company identify and ex-ploit the weaknesses of its relevant competitors.

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