Product management

• Market segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) model

  A marketing strategy that prioritizes efficient and effective marketing and ensures delivery of relevant, targeted messaging
• STP model


  • Combines three separate marketing approaches: segmentation, targeting, and positioning
• STP marketing meaning is to create market segmentation, target the selected segments, and adjust product or service positions accordingly
• Segmentation


  Divide market into distinct groups of customers based on certain characteristics
• Targeting


  Choose which segments to target with marketing
• Positioning


  Create product positioning and marketing mix most likely to appeal to the targeted segments
• Market segmentation objectives


  Product, price, promotion, place
• Advantages of market segmentation


  • Create stronger marketing messages
  • Find the ideal marketing strategies
  • Design targeted advertising
  • Attract potential customers
  • Differentiate your brand from competition
  • Identify your niche market
  • Focus your efforts
  • Create a customer connection
• Types of market segmentation

  • Demographic
  • Psychographic
  • Geographic
  • Behavioral
• Steps to implement market segmentation

  1. Define your market

  2. Segment your market

  3. Understand your market

  4. Build your customer segment

  5. Test your strategy
• Market targeting


  Deciding which audience segments to focus marketing efforts on
• Importance of market targeting

  • Speak directly to a defined audience
  • Attract and convert high-quality leads
  • Differentiate your brand from competitors
  • Build deeper customer loyalty
  • Improve products and services
  • Stay focused
• Targeting strategies


  • Single segment concentration (niche marketing)
  • Selective specialization
  • Product specialization
  • Market specialization
  • Full market coverage
• Segmentation strategies


  • Selective Specialization
  • Product Specialization
  • Market Specialization
  • Full Market Coverage
• Selective Specialization


  The company selects a number of segments and sells different products to each of the segments
• Selective Specialization


  • Company selects many segments to serve them with many products
  • All such segments are attractive and appropriate with firm's objectives and resources
  • There may be little or no cooperation among the segments
  • Every segment is capable to promise the profits
  • Diversifies the firm's risk
• Product Specialization


  A company makes a specific product, which can be sold to several segments
• Product Specialization


  • Company offers different models and varieties to meet needs of different segments
  • The major benefit is that the company can build a strong reputation in the specific product area
  • The risk is that product may be replaced by an entirely new technology
• Market Specialization


  This strategy consists of serving many needs of a particular segment
• Market Specialization


  • The firm can gain a strong reputation by specializing in serving the specific segment
  • Company provides all new products that the group can feasibly use
  • Reduced size of market, reduced purchase capacity of the segment, or the entry of competitors with superior products range may affect the company's position
• Full Market Coverage


  A company attempts to serve all the customer groups with all the products they need
• Full Market Coverage


  • Only very large firm with overall capacity can undertake a full market coverage strategy
• At this point, you should understand the demographics, psychographics, motivations, and pain points of the segment(s) you've chosen to target, which can provide a place to start when it comes to positioning your product or service
• First, take a step back and examine your product or service through the perspective of your chosen segment. If you were in their shoes, why would you choose your product over a competitor's? What features or benefits are most relevant to you, based on the motivations and pain points you've identified?
• Positioning map


  The visual plotting of specific brands against axes, where each axis represents an attribute that is known to drive brand selection
• Importance of market positioning


  • Makes you different from your competition
  • Helps you make more effective and creative decisions
  • Supports storytelling and spread your brand messages
  • Increases the chance for conversions
• Positioning strategies


  • Product Features
  • Price/Quality
  • Use
  • Product Class Disassociation
  • User
  • Competitor
  • Benefit
• Under-Positioning


  If buyers sense ambiguity about a company's claim or is unable to differentiate the product from competing brands
• Over-Positioning


  If buyers develop a very focused or insular/narrow image toward the brand
• Confused Positioning


  If buyers are found to be confused about the image either due to too many claims made by the seller or frequent changes brought in the positioning of the brand
• Doubtful Positioning


  If buyers are suspicious about the sellers' claims, due to the lack of conformance between the claims and the physical features of the product, price, or the manufacturer's image
• Positioning focuses on buyers' perceptions and preferences about the place a product occupies in a specified market
• A positioning strategy is basically the design of a marketing program consisting of marketing mix decisions
• Product planning


  The process that begins much before the creation of a Customer Requirement Document, with the definition of business objectives by top management, to fulfil those objectives and give the organization a competitive edge
• Product planning process


  1. Top management defines business objectives

  2. Product management team tracks customer requirements, scans competitors' activities, and evolving technologies

  3. Creation of Customer Requirement Document to stay on course and develop the product
• Customer Requirement Document


  A document that assists the Product Manager in developing the product by helping create a roadmap, and allows other functional departments involved in product development to understand how they are interlinked
• Advantages of Customer Requirement Document

  • Allows completely thinking out the product and strategy in advance
  • Ensures groundwork is done before any activity (commitment in terms of time and money) starts
  • Gives everyone involved an idea of the various aspects the Product Manager is working on
• The success of the company is determined by the success of its products
• Effective product plans not only take care of market and customer needs but also support the company's growth strategy
• Creating effective product plans

  1. Product management team and top management work in close coordination

  2. Product management team provides market information to top management

  3. Top management provides clear understanding of company's objectives and direction to product management team

  4. Product management team develops appropriate execution strategy and milestones based on top management's objectives