Market Targeting and Niche Marketing Strategizing
1.This case study identifies the children, adolescents as well as the young adults as the most potential market segments. As highlighted in the problem statement of the case study, the issue of increasing rate of skin cancer is a grave social problem that Australia has been facing. Again, childhood and adolescence has been recognized as the most vulnerable time in the life of Australians when they are likely to be exposed to skin cancer risks. However, the organization is supposed to foster their product sales capitulating on this social issue only.
It has been justified that the adolescents and the young adults are in most need of sun protection. Again, most of them portray positive intensions towards protecting them from the sun’s direct rays. However, there are some social and psychological barriers that hinder them to take proper self care with their pro tan attitude. Such issues, as this case study highlights, might be unpreparedness, forgetfulness or at large laziness. Again other social norms like perceived benefits of a tanned skin that helps to foster the peer group attitude and lastly, the uncool image related to wearing the sun protective clothing, ultimately accounts to their sleuth attitude towards taking protection against the sun. That is why, the current project chose to work with the designated segment of customers comprising of adolescent population aged between 14 to 29 years. Special emphasis is on the customers of age between 14 to 16 years. This group of customers is no aware of the definitive benefits of using the sunscreen. Hence they do not apply sunscreen on a regular basis.
Among the four kinds of targeting strategies, as informed by Armstrong et al. (2015), namely, mass market strategizing, differentiated market strategizing, niche strategizing and micro-market strategizing, the market targeting information in this case study shows the trends towards acceptance of the niche marketing strategizing. In the marketing campaign discussed in the case study, a subset of market has been selected, as advocated in the Niche market targeting model also (Dibb and Simkin 2016). Again, since the targeting revolve around single product that is sun screen, the related organization also only focuses on satisfying some specific consumer needs only. The product quality as well as price range of the products are modified in order to suit the specific target customers. There are other specific characteristic features of the Niche market targeting strategy that have been religiously followed here. As highlighted by Carlstrom, Fuerst and Paustian (2017), the first priority in this regard is studying the target customer base, in and out. A significant part of the case study have been dedicated towards analysis of the pro tan attitude of the adolescents and the young adults who comprise the specific target community of consumers. The case study also analyses the basic challenges that hinders the target consumers from regular usage of sun screen. Based on the understanding of the problem, the marketing intervention has been planned. As informed by Nijssen (2017), another prospect of the Niche targeting model is that the products or service of the organization are projected as a one stop solution for major issues that the target customer community might have been facing. As evident, in this case, regular usage of the sunscreen by the adolescent, teenagers and the young adults might save them from the harmful sun burns and thus reduce the risk of skin cancer which is a grave problem among the young aged Australians.
2.The Social Cognitive Theory can be used for addressing the personal, environmental as well as behavioral factors, through schematization of triadic reciprocal causation. Reciprocation of observed behavior (developing regularity in habit of using sun screen), as suggested by The Social Cognitive Theory, depends up on the interaction of three essential determinants. These are:
Personal Factors Hindering Sunscreen Usage among Adolescents
2.1 Personal
The primary personal factor in addressing this problem is adolescents still engage in to lesser sun protective strategies compared to the adults. This is a grave issue since; the risk of skin cancer is most, in the adolescent age. The empirical data highlighted in this case study identifies a market survey conducted among 14 focus groups comprising of students aged between 9 and 10 years revealed that the Pro tan attitude among the Australians of this age group is the most important personal factor that calls for social marketing interventions for addressing sun protection among the adolescents and the young adults of Australia. The personal factors among the adolescent that hinders them from repetitive usage of sunscreen are self efficacy issues like forgetfulness, laziness or unpreparedness. People of a slightly higher age group are trapped by the personal habits of prioritizing the perceived benefits of developing a tanned skin and the positive attitude of their peer group against that.
2.2 Behavioral
The current project was aimed to launch a sun protection offering to the target consumer section, and thereby positioning sun protection as beneficial. Behavioral change is very important in this context, because most of the young people grow a bit of tan deliberately. They are also aware of the harmful cancerous impacts of direct harmful UV exposure. However, they perceive this risk to be long way off and are not concerned with the damage that they are doing to their skin already. Influnecd from the findings of Font, Garay and Jones (2016), and after analyzing the case study, it is evident that some external motivating factor is necessary to drive the target population towards behavioral change.
In order to drive change, the campaigners sought the help of an advertising agency to spread the message to the target group of customers to change their immediate appearance concerns. Portraying the faces of young male and females, the advertisements showed how the faces of people with tan on face look when shot with a regular and a UV camera. This social intervention (advertisement) can be perceived as an attempt to influence the anticipated outcomes of the young people for sun protection and the value placed by the target customers’ group on such outcomes (Lowry, Zhang and Wu 2017). The campaigners attempted to drive this behavioral change by portrayal of visual images of the UV photographed models. This campaign has been a visual enforcement of the harmful effect of the UV rays that is normally unforeseen for the young Australians.
Community Intervention and External Motivating Factors
2.3 Environmental
It is essential to develop a positive setting that would help the targeted consumers to successfully change their behavioral outcomes (Davis et al. (2015). This implies that it is necessary to develop a setting where they can realize the flaws in their behavior and attitudes towards defending them from sun-tan. An obvious step towards changing the setting was to offer the real product that is highly effective in mitigating the problem of sun-tan and thereby save them from risks of developing skin cancer. Other than that, augmented products like image and efficacy were also offered to make the environment favorable for the consumers to accept the behavioral change. Image refers to eradication of the stigmatization allured to using sun screen and making the concept of using sun screen seem “cool” to the society. Efficacy development incorporated advertisement campaigns reflecting how sunscreens have made sun protection easier. The last aspect of augmented product offering is resolving the issue of forgetfulness, which prevented the user to apply sunscreen regularly. Products like sunscreen sample sachets, UV wristbands as well as bookmarks and laptop stickers have been offered to customers. These products have nothing to do with sun protection. However, they would remind the users that they need to use sunscreen whenever they would recall the source of these products.
Another step of community intervention included distribution of UV photographs to young people in the local community joints (Happé, Cook and Bird 2017). This made the people aware of the harms of sun-tan and also reminded them that in order to develop their UV image, they needed to apply sunscreen.
Representation of the Social Cognitive Framework
(Source: Developed by the Researcher)
3.In this case, the campaign marketers were not fighting with market competition. Rather, they needed to change the behavioral aspects so that the target customers used their product more regularly. The communications program is very significant in spreading the awareness against risks of skin cancer as an outcome of not using sunscreen regularly (Andrews and Shimp 2017). In order to evaluate the marketing communication program that has been launched in the campaign, the reference of the Advertising Exposure Model can be taken.
This model proposes that the target of an advertisement campaign is to create awareness. Awareness will lead the customers to perceive the promotional message in a better way (Hoban and Bucklin 2015). Secondly, the model proposes that the marketing communication plan is supposed to vest the product/brand with certain feelings. In this case the feeling is to be “cool” with using sunscreen and feel safe from the risks of skin cancer by using sunscreen regularly from the adolescence age. The communication program also successfully fulfilled all the criteria of the LAVIDGE AND STEINER MODEL. This model professes development of consumer relation as the most influential customer communication channel. This model further conveys that communication with the customers should be aimed at developing their knowledge and thereby creates awareness about using the product.
Augmented Product Offerings to Drive Behavioral Change
Stages of the Lavidge and Steiner Model
(Source: Kumar 2018)
Liking and preference towards the product should also be fostered through the communication program. These aspects are fulfilled by the two components of the Community Intervention program. The last stage of the model is development of conviction among the users to buy the product of a particular brand (Kumar 2018). Since there is no brand preference attached with this campaign, the factor of conviction is redundant here. The marketing communication chose the print and electronic media to spread their word. This is justified as print and electronic media can communicate with big mass of people easily in the shortest possible span of time.
Reference List
Andrews, J.C. and Shimp, T.A., 2017. Advertising, promotion, and other aspects of integrated marketing communications. Nelson Education. Available at: https://allisbmbook.com/advertising-promotion-and-other-aspects-of-integrated-marketing-communications-j-craig-andrews-free-and-legally-digital-books.pdf [Accessed on: 19th March 2019]
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Buchwitz, L.A., Trifts, V. and Gaudet, D., 2015. Marketing: an introduction. Available at: https://131.193.209.39:8003/view_syllabi/static/view_syllabi/syllabus/MKTG%20360%20CRN%2038150%20Trampas%20Spring%202018.pdf [Accessed on: 19th March 2019]
Batra, R. and Keller, K.L., 2016. Integrating marketing communications: New findings, new lessons, and new ideas. Journal of Marketing, 80(6), pp.122-145. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rajeev_Batra/publication/305079910_Integrating_Marketing_Communications_New_Findings_New_Lessons_and_New_Ideas/links/58499b8108ae686033a768be.pdf [Accessed on: 19th March 2019]
Carlstrom, C.T., Fuerst, T.S. and Paustian, M., 2017. Targeting long rates in a model with segmented markets. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 9(1), pp.205-42. Available at: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2018004pap.pdf [Accessed on: 19th March 2019]
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