The first step in developing a marketing strategy involves segmenting, targeting and positioning(STP).

Segmentation is breaking down the market into homogenous groups; targeting is selecting the consumer groups on which you will focus your marketing efforts. The appropriate segmentation variable is dependent on the needs and wants of the consumers. These decisions require extensive marketing research on the consumers and are directly tied to your value proposition. Once the segmentation variables are determined and the target markets selected, you need to develop a positioning strategy. Positioning refers to the image of the product that you want the consumer to have relative to the competition.

Describe the market research you would conduct to analyze and segment the market for the new vacuum cleaner. Explain how you would select a target market or markets for the product offering. These can be domestic markets, international markets, or both. In addition, explain the process of positioning the new Dyson vacuum cleaner relative to the competition.

Milestone 3: Your research results should be presented in a three-page paper (excluding cover page, reference list, tables, graphs, and/or exhibits). Be sure to support your work with the required readings, scholarly sources, and reliable nonscholarly sources (such as Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, Money, Forbes, Fortune, and Harvard Business Review) using UMUC's library search engine. You will combine the work you have completed in this milestone with the other milestones and submit all work together in the final step.