Marketing_Concepts_and_the_Aldus_Corp

Marketing Concepts and the Aldus Corporation Market segmentation is an important concept in order to establish a plan to successfully bring a company’s product or service into the hands of their target market. Segmenting the market can be defined as dividing an existing market into sections or segments that may potentially become new niches for a business. There are five main categories to take into consideration when segmenting a market. They are: 1. Demographics 2. Psychographics 3. Lifestyle 4. Belief and Value System 5. Life Stage Examples of factors taken into considering when looking at the demographics of the consumer are age, sex, race, income, and education. Psychographics refers to the consumer’s personality. Examples of differences in this category are “Is the consumer a risk-taker' A risk-avoider' An impulsive buyer'”. By studying a consumer’s lifestyle, the marketing team is focusing on the potential buyer’s hobbies, forms of entertainment and vacation plans. The belief and value system of the consumer focuses on their religious, political, and cultural views and practices. The last category mentioned to help in segmenting a market is the consumer’s life stage. A pre-teenager, a teenager, and an empty-nester all have different interests and needs from a product. Market segmentation is a key strategy used by companies to establish a successful marketing plan by focusing their time and efforts into their company’s niches to bring in the majority of the company’s revenues. After evaluating its target market, Aldus separated its market into 4 segments. The criteria Aldus used to segment their market involved establishing what computer system the consumer was using (Apple Macintosh or IBM PCAT or compatible) and determining whether the consumer as a business person or a creative graphics professional. The first segment was focused on the consumer who was a graphics professional using a Macintosh system. The second segment consisted of the business person who was using a Macintosh system. Business individuals using a PC (MS-DOS) system made up the third segment and Graphic Professionals using a PC (MS-DOS) made up the fourth segment. By dividing the Aldus consumers into these four segments, the company could identify which consumer would be the marketing niche for the company in order to target more of their products to the more profitable sector. Although Aldus did not specifically label their target market, the low cost of a typical desktop publishing system made the products of the company popular to small businesses, large corporations, government agencies, educational institutions, graphic designers and business professionals. Aldus used the market segments to help establish products that would meet the needs of several different types of professional. The Graphic Professionals using Macintosh programs held a large percent (70%) of the market share from the Aldus PageMaker. Aldus Corporation held a large share in the market for all of the segments. Aldus used a lot of good practical marketing strategies throughout their journey into the market. By collaborating with other companies, such as Apple, Aldus used Apple’s marketing to help sell their own product. Aldus kept their marketing/management team small which helped keep the company focused on their original goals. One of the first steps a company needs to take when establishing a strategic plan is to meet to discuss the strategy that would be best for the company to meet the company’s new objectives. Communicating and evaluation of all the factors involved in a new or revised strategy are essential for a successful implementation of the approach a company takes regarding the marketing, distribution and selling of their product or service. Aldus Corporation met in August of 1988 to discuss the possibility of splitting their market segment into two different segments; the Aldus Executive Series and The Aldus Professional Series. The Aldus Corporation used several different strategic planning activities to improve the marketing of their products. One of the techniques the company used was to develop forged strategic alliances with the other venders. The Aldus Corporation developed a relationship with Apple. Apple Macintosh was a leader in the computer world and would be able to assist Aldus Corporation on an organizational and financial level. Another strategy that Aldus used was having an extensive public relations approach. Paul Brainerd felt this was a crucial area for the marketing of Aldus products. After identifying and contacting the top 10 computer press people, Paul used that opportunity to discuss the potential of desktop publishing with them. After hearing about the products, the press became excited and started writing extensively about the Aldus Corporation. There are four stages to the product life cycle. The stages are; The Introduction Stage, the Growth Stage, the Maturity Stage, and the Declining Stage. In regards to the Aldus Corporation, the Introduction Stage refers to the company’s first product, the PageMaker, in February on 1984. During the Introduction Stage, companies tend to keep their product, or products, general in order to meet the needs of a larger target market. Simplicity of a product is a key factor in the Introductory Stage. The Growth Stage occurs after the Introduction Stage. During the Growth Stage, companies tend to expand slightly on their product after they have developed a target market. Company’s often use this time to evaluate their initial product and develop ways to expand on their product to meet more of the needs of their consumer. During the Growth Stage, Aldus Corporation developed 3 new products. They were; Aldus Freehand (a drawing tool), Aldus Snapshot (electronic photography program), and Aldus Persuasion (a desktop presentation software). The Maturity Stage is the third stage in the product life cycle. During the Maturity Stage, a company has been established in the market regarding their product or service. During this stage, it is essential for a company to develop a plan to add products or features to their already existing products in order to keep up with the changing demands of similar products. During this stage, Aldus separated their market into 2 different segments and targeted different products to the different segments in order to meet the consumer’s needs. During this stage, Aldus Corporation established the Professional version of the PageMaker. The last stage of the product life cycle is the Declining stage. During this stage, a company realizes there is a significant decline in the sales of the service or product. Many times, the Decline Stage can be foreseen by a company. During the Decline Stage for the Aldus Corporation, one of the concerning factors as the lack of meeting the needs of either of the two segments. The reason for this concern by the company was a result of the demand for a more sophisticated product, which Aldus did create, in order to meet the needs of the higher end user, which caused the company to loss business from the less sophisticated market. Another area of concern Aldus discovered with the more sophisticated product was regarding the distribution channels. Aldus used retail dealers to disperse its products to the consumers; however the retail dealers did not have the sources to support the higher end user. There are two different types of markets; the consumer market and the organizational market. These markets differ in several different aspects. Organizational markets consist of fewer buyers than consumer markets. Organizational markets also place larger orders than consumer markets. Those people who make organizational buying decision have to answer to someone else, so they need to show that their decisions are good for the organization. Organizational buying also often involves greater interdependence between buyer and seller. Finally, organizational buying tends to involve more people than consumer buying decisions do. All companies need to take into consideration both markets in regards to the positioning strategy. In order for a company to successfully market their product or service, they need to understand whether they are marketing for the consumer or the organization. If you develop a product that you can reduce costs by larger quantities ordered, than you would want to target the organizational market. If your product would be better suited for an individual or small business, then you would want to target your focus on the consumer market. Organizational and Consumer Markets need to be taken into strong consideration in regards to the positioning strategy. Perceived value is another marketing concept that is crucial to understand. Perceived value can be defined as the value that a customer subjectively attaches to a brand or service. It is often the image or personality that differentiates one product from a virtually identical competitor. It is the perceived value of the product that creates the price the product or service will be offered at for the consumer by the seller. If a product is in high demand, the perceived value will be high. If the product is not in high demand, then the price will most likely reflect that as well. If the Aldus Corporation chose to market its products to the organizational buyers verses the consumer buyers they would most likely struggle. The Aldus Corporation focuses on a more intimate business approach. Those employed with the Aldus Corporation pride themselves in the development and use of personal relationships, and therefore could struggle if they choose to market to an organizational buyer. As discussed previously, organizational buyers are often consisting of a group of employees looking out for the best choice for their company, while consumer buyers are often individuals looking for a product or service. Their success would not be based on their personal relationships with the buyer, but their product would have to stand out to an entire department that would be making the decision for the entire company. Having a marketing plan for a company consists of taking into account several different concepts and implementing them into a strategy that best fits the needs and potential success of a company. All of the concepts discussed are critical in developing the best plan for any company wanting to succeed.