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Welcome to MKTG410 Advertising and Public Relations SUMA10-Sec B Assignment Week #2 – Case Study Instructor: Mark Preising Date: 7/18/2010 Case Study: 1. The three strategies are: 1. Introducing a new product 2. Refining or repositioning an existing product 3. Extending a product line The new Beetle is an entirely different product from the earlier version. Although it looks like its predecessor it has been upgraded to compete in today’s market. They have kept up with trends and took a recognized brand and brought it into a crowded field and has gained market share.
With a segment of the market willing to be innovators and early adapters, those willing to take a chance and get out front of a trend. I have a friend with a Beetle and they were able to choose a color that was completely different than anything on the road. We nicknamed it Skittle since it was close to one of the candy colors in a Skittle bag. My MC Messages would go as follows: Be different, be creative and be in front of the crowd. Don’t be afraid to be unusual let everyone else be normal. The original Beetle was a trend, this Beetle is a lifestyle.
I bet you can find your car in the lot, be different have fun 2. I have seen the Beetle cross a large age demographic anywhere from 18 to 60 so I would focus on a segment that thinks of itself as hip. My plan would also include those who have a nostalgic link to the Beetle and those who are looking to attach to the past. I would focus on the segment that has a personality type looking to be different and have fun. The Beetle has been marketed as a unique, fashionable, classic and economical car.
These are optimists; these are people who have a glass half full view of life. This segment is trendy, colorful and enjoyable their median income is $86,000. They had a wonderful marketing idea by attaching the Beetle to the Geek Squad http://www. geeksquad. com/ the cars they use to go on location calls in the VW Beetle. You see them parked in BestBuy lots all over the country. This could help in only segment that the Beetle has failed to attract in mass, males. 3. About. com defines A niche market is a focused targetable portion of the market.
This is a product or service that meets a unique need. For example Stubhub is a ticket broker for sports and entertainment http://www. stubhub. com/ they have a very specific service that they offer to a narrow market They want to reach their high end target segment and differentiate themselves from others in the market. Slazenger needed to survive by becoming a boutique product focusing on a specific client. Performance was the most important issue for the high end golfer. Slazenger used golf club professionals to become the sole retail outlet for their clubs.
By having the club professionals recommend using the clubs on the course with professional teaching and fitting. They are not as focused on volume or price but on quality and club pro’s involvement in selling the product as a value to the customer. With the manufacturing in place they can get the clubs to the customer within five working days which is a great time frame for custom clubs. 4. Differentiating their offerings and to better meet the needs of specific market segments. I believe they were considering the needs of a specific market.
They identified a segment of those looking for the convenience in hauling people and things. An interest of going anywhere without concern for the weather added to the growth of the SUV segment. By adding the luxury to these models they attracted these consumers to consider SUV’s as an alternative to luxury autos. Behavioral segmentation is dividing consumers based on brand loyalty, how much they use and how loyal they are. Benefit segmentation is when a consumer is looking for something that benefits the consumer whether it’s an incentive, coupon or service.
They already had a segment loyal to GM so they decided to expand a product and offer it to their existing customer base. They have a relationship with the dealer so they may find the atmosphere more trusting as compared to going to a completely different store. Now all they have to do is offer enough incentives to draw them in and consider a SUV over a car. These could be increased trade in value, loyalty points for being a long time GM customer to extended warrantees. REFERENCES(3):