Marketing Communications - marketing strategies of C&C's Bulmers & Essay

Marketing Communications - marketing strategies of C&C's Bulmers & Magners Brand Cider - Essay Example Figure 1 below illustrates the Blumer/Magner market in relation to the larger business domain of beverages. Having identified the operating space for the product, some companies choose to target and serve a single segment out of the market by practicing niche marketing strategies while others choose several segments out of the market and offer differentiated offers. Some companies on the other hand do not segment the market but target the whole market with a single offering. Figure 2 below illustrates the different targeting strategies available for a company. Segmentation, which is the first step of targeting, divides the market in to distinct groups of buyers with different needs, characteristics or behavior. Next step of targeting involves evaluation of each market segment’s attractiveness and selecting one or more of the market segments to enter (Wisner 1996). In the case of Magners & Bulmers a niche marketing strategy is being adopted. Although segmenting can be based on factors such as demographics or geographic segregation or on economic classifications, the more sophisticated segmenting tools combine above factors with â€Å"Key Benefits Sought† (KBS) Analysis. These KBS are dependent on the alcohol content, taste and texture of the cider as well as the image factors. Table 1 below provides the segmentation of the cider market, which can be targeted by Magners/Blumer, based on â€Å"Key Benefits Sought† and further qualified by demographic, and Psychographics factors. From the above three target markets, the Magner is focusing on the Social Drink segment. In this category the product can effectively compete with mild and mid strength beers as well as wines provided the product image is developed to high standards. The Magner image has to change further to appeal to the sophisticated UK premium drinker category. The packaging still falls behind