The following three strategies are generally used to select the target market.
1, undifferentiated market strategy
Undifferentiated market strategy, that is, the enterprise to the entire market as their target market, only consider the market demand ****, without regard to its differences, the use of a product, a price, a sales promotion methods, to attract may be more consumers. The United States Coca-Cola Company since its inception in 1886, has been the use of non-discriminatory market strategy, the production of a flavor, a formula, a packaging products to meet the needs of the world's 156 countries and regions, known as "the world's cool drinks", assets of 7.4 billion U.S. dollars. Due to the competition of Pepsi and other beverages, in April 1985, the Coca-Cola Company announced the decision to change the formula, unexpectedly in the U.S. market set off an uproar, many phone calls to the company to change the formula of Coca-Cola dissatisfaction and opposition to the company had to continue to mass-produce the traditional formula of Coca-Cola. It can be seen that the use of undifferentiated market strategy, the product must have a unique style in terms of internal quality and external form, in order to be recognized by the majority of consumers, so as to maintain relative stability. The advantage of this strategy is that the product is single, easy to ensure the quality, and can be mass-produced to reduce production and marketing costs. However, if similar enterprises also use this strategy, it is bound to form a fierce competition. The world-famous Kentucky Fried Chicken, more than 800 branches around the world, are the same cooking methods, the same production procedures, the same quality indicators, the same level of service, to take the strategy of non-differentiation, the production is very hot. 1992, KFC opened in Shanghai shortly after the opening of the Shanghai Ronghua Chicken fast-food restaurant opened, and the branch to the opposite side of the KFC, the formation of the "cockfighting" scene. The "chicken fight" scene. Because Ronghua chicken fast food to the original foreigners with bread as the main food to egg fried rice as the main food, Western-style copy pulled potatoes into hot and sour dishes, zucchini strips, more pleasing to Chinese consumers. Therefore, in the face of competitive powerhouses, undifferentiated strategy also has its limitations.
2, differential market strategy
Differential market strategy is to subdivide the entire market into a number of sub-markets, for different sub-markets, design different products, develop different marketing strategies to meet different consumer needs. For example, some clothing companies in the United States, according to the lifestyle of women into three types: fashionable, manly type, simple type. Fashionable women like to dress up their own flashy and colorful, eye-catching; manly women like to dress up extraordinary, outstanding; simple women to buy clothes seek affordable, affordable. The company according to different types of women's different preferences, targeted design of different styles of clothing, so that the product is more attractive to all types of consumers. Another example is a bicycle enterprise, according to geographic location, age, gender subdivided into several sub-markets: the rural market, due to the frequent transportation of goods, requires strong and durable, large load capacity; urban young men, requires fast, good style; urban young women, requires lightweight, beautiful, gate spirit. For the characteristics of each sub-market, different marketing mix strategies are developed. The advantage of this strategy is that it can meet the different requirements of different consumers, which is conducive to expanding sales, occupying the market and improving the reputation of the enterprise. The disadvantage is that due to the differentiation of products and promotion methods, it increases the difficulty of management and raises the production and sales costs. At present, only big companies with strong strength adopt this strategy. For example, Qingdao Double Star Group Company produces many varieties, styles and models of shoes to meet the multiple needs of domestic and foreign markets.
3, centralized market strategy
Centralized market strategy is in the market after segmentation, choose two or a few segments as the target market, the implementation of specialized production and sales. In a few individual markets to play advantage, increase market share. Enterprises adopting this strategy have a deeper understanding of the target market, which is a strategy that most small and medium-sized enterprises should adopt. Japan Nixic started as a small factory producing a variety of rubber products such as raincoats, diapers, swimming caps, sanitary belts, etc. It faced bankruptcy due to insufficient orders. General Manager Tachikawa Hiroshi in a chance, from a census table found that Japan is born every year about 25O million babies, if each baby with two diapers, a year need 5 million. So they decided to abandon products other than diapers and specialize in diaper production. After a hit, and continue to develop new materials, develop new varieties, not only monopolized the diaper market in Japan, but also exported to more than 70 countries and regions around the world, and became world-famous "diaper king". Adopting the centralized market strategy can concentrate the advantageous force, which is conducive to the marketability of the products, reduce the cost, and increase the popularity of the enterprise and the products. But there is a greater business risk, because of its small target market range, a single species. If the consumer demand and hobby in the target market changes, the enterprise may be in trouble due to untimely response. At the same time, when strong competitors enter the target market, the enterprise has to be seriously affected. Therefore, many small and medium-sized enterprises in order to diversify the risk, should still choose a certain number of market segments for their target market.
Each of the three target market strategies has its own advantages and disadvantages. When choosing a target market, it is important to consider the various factors and conditions faced by the enterprise, such as the size of the enterprise and the supply of raw materials, product similarity, market similarity, product life cycle, competition in the target market. Selecting a target market strategy that is suitable for the enterprise is a complex and changeable task. The internal conditions of the enterprise and the external environment in the continuous development and change, the operator should constantly through market research and forecasting, grasp and analyze the market trends and competitors' conditions, to build on their strengths and avoid shortcomings, to give full play to their strengths, seize the opportunity to take a flexible adaptation to the market dynamics of the strategy to strive for greater benefits.