Carly was a 20-to-40 year old who could be found almost daily in a local coffee bar. She often had her laptop or tablet with her. For her, the coffee bar served different roles. Some days she would start her day there with her morning java and a light breakfast. Other days she would stop at the coffee bar on her lunch break. And some days she used the coffee bar as a mini lounge, taking advantage of the free wifi to check messages, catch up on personal and professional news, and so on. Coffee was important to her, and she felt at home in the coffee bar. She had her favorite beverages, and though she didn't make a lot of money compared to some, her visit to the coffee bar was a daily indulgence, and she would sacrifice in other spending areas if needed to keep it in the budget. She didn't always purchase a bar when she visited the coffee bar, but often did. She only bought bars when she was at the coffee bar and never more than one at a time. She liked to experiment, though for her, the primary purpose of experimenting was not to find the best bar, but rather to find out which ones she did not like so she could exclude them from future purchase. She liked bars with interesting names and quality ingredients, especially if it was something unique. She actively supported a couple of social causes, and even volunteered for one of the local charities once a month.

Grab-and-Go Gabe

Gabe is a person on the go, who doesn't have time for sit down meals during the day. He is busy with work and activities and often finds himself without a specific meal plan for the day. Gabe can be anywhere from 20 to 55, and is used to spending money on eating out. Gabe has a decent income and can afford to eat out, but is always surprised by how much money he spends. He does not track his spending, and doesn't really pay that much attention to how much he spends when he buys a snack, since for him the snack might be substituting for a meal at breakfast or lunchtime. He buys his snack bars at the coffee shop, the convenience store, the snack counter, and pretty much anywhere he can get them if he is hungry. He has even bought bars at the home improvement center and the grocery store while waiting to check out when he realized he hadn't eaten yet and wanted something quick. He is most concerned with availability and doesn't worry too much about either the brand or the specific flavors. He buys one at a time and usually picks the first one that gets his attention once he decides he needs a snack. Gabe does not give much thought to social causes as he is typically too busy to worry about what is happening outside his daily life.

Application Exercise

This chapter outlines the segmentation, targeting, and positioning steps in developing a marketing strategy. As we discussed in the text, it is critical to develop a marketing strategy for a specific group of customers so that it fits the group. Strategy developed for the specific group stands a better chance of increasing the perceived value for that group and increases the likelihood of an exchange with the target. Let's get some practice developing a marketing strategy for a specific group. Choose two of the customers described and do the following:

a. Do some online research to determine the potential for that segment. How many people are in that group? Where are they? Where do they shop? How much do they spend on snacks? Summarize your findings.

b. For each of the two customers, write an positioning statement that communicates what TBSL will offer to each specific customer relative to competitors.