Principles of Marketing Segmentation

1. Group Project

Continue making progress on your semester-long group project. As always, I am available to answer any questions you may have. By now, you should be close to completing Part 2 of the project, and should start working on Part 3.

II. Individual tasks:

Answer Question 1, and any one more question. You will thus answer two questions total. Max one single-spaced page per answer.

Question 1

Native Americans are a diverse and heterogeneous group comprising of thousands of tribes that are as distinct from each other as the English are from the French. The Kwakwaka'wakw are an indigenous tribe who live in Canada. The tribe has several bands, some of which are the Ttatlasikwala, Kwikwasutinuxw, Ma'amtagila, Kwagu'f, Mamalilikala, Dzawada'enuxw, 'Namgis, Lawitsis, Arwaletfala, Wiwekam, Da'naxda'xw, Gwa'sala, Gwawa'enuxw, 'Nak'waxda'xw, Gwat'sinuxw, Gusgimukwand Wiweqajti. Their approximate population is about 5,500. You can read more about this tribe at http://www.umista.org/kwakwakawakw/index.php and http://www.umista.org/kwakwakawakw/tribles.php.

The Kwakwaka'wakw language is a dying language. Now spoken by less than 5% of their population, the language consists of four dialects of what is commonly referred to as Kwak'wala. These dialects are Kwakwala, 'Nakwala, GuCala and Tfatfasikwala. Because language is the most important and most valuable part of American Indian culture, the Kwakwaka'wakw would like their language to be spoken by people in Canada, the US, and indeed, elsewhere around the world, to ensure survival of their language.

Some of the tribal members dispute that their language is spoken by 5% of the population.

1 Identify and describe the segments that would bemust receptive to learning this trible language.

2. What difficulties is a market researcher likely to encounter in estimating the percentage of population like that speaks the Kwakwaka'wakw language?

Question 2

The obesity rate among children in the United States is 17 percent of triple what it was 30 years ago. Who's to blame? One study reported that 76 percent of parents thought food advertising is a major contributor childhood obesity but also found that over 80 percent blamed parents, not marketers. Yet, the federal government is homing its sights marketers. Reminiscent of the 1970s when the FTC proposed banning advertising to children, a provision in the American Recovery and Reinvention Act of 2009 created an Interagency Working Group (IWG) on Food Marketing to Children. Although most regulations regarding marketing to children are limited to children ages 12 and younger, the current IWG guidelines include children up to 17 years old and propose restrictions on food marketing targeted to children. With $1.6 billion spent on food marketing and promotions targeted to children-$745 million of that on television-more than just marketers will be affected by marketing restrictions to this market segment.

1. Are marketers to blame for increasing obesity rates among children? Should the government ban the advertising of food products to children ages 17 and younger? Discuss the consequences of imposing such a ban.

2. Identify a food products company that markets to the children-under-17 segment, Talk to someone in that company, or, if that is too difficult to accomplish, rely on published information and answer: What actions has the company taken to stem the threat of a ban on marketing to children?

Question 3

Portland-based Vanilla Bicycles sells hand-built bikes with price tags ranging from $4,000 to $12,000. But last year, after only nine years in business, owner Sacha White stopped taking orders-not because business had dried up but because he had a five-year waiting list. White and his crew of three make only 40 to 50 bikes each year. Frames are made from exotic metals, are welded with silver alloy, and weigh as little as 30 ounces. No two Vanilla bikes are the same. Each is custom fitted to the client and features intricate metal carvings and an artisan paint job. Amazingly, almost all of these high_ end bicycles are sold to middle-class customers. Still, orders did not ebb during the recent economic downturn. In fact, Vanilla could have ramped up production significantly during the heart of the recession and still sold everything it made. However, White claims that ramping up would compromise the special nature of what customers considers work of art. Vanilla bikes are so special that when Portland bike couriers describe something as cool, they routinely say, "That's sooooo Vanilla."

1. Identify the basis on which Vanilla Bikes appears to be segmenting market. Also construct a profile for Vanilla Bicycle's probable the target market.

2. Given that most luxury products suffer in an economic downturn, analyze why Vanilla has still succeeded.

Question 4

When you think of hybrid or electric automobiles, you probably don't think of a sports car. But the Fisker Karma set out to shatter that stereotype in 2010. It was called the hybrid with oomph, and is often compared to a Mercedes-Benz Roadster. In the increasingly crowded field of new-generation electric vehicles, Fisker Automotive wanted to carve out a niche as a high-performance eco-car with lots of style. The Fisker Karma goes from 0 to 60 miles per hour in six seconds, can go up to 125 miles per hour, and can travel 50 miles on electric power and 300 miles on combined electric and gasoline power. All this performance and style did not come cheap; prices ranged from $87,900 to $106,000. Before bringing it to market, however, the company had to conduct segmentation, and identify its target market.

1. What combination of demographic, psychographic, and behavioral variables should the company employ in segmenting the market for Fisker Karma?

2. Describe an appropriate target market for this product.