Chapter 8 - Segmenting and Targeting Markets

               TRESemmé has it's own market that sells products very well. A market refers to people or organizations with needs or wants and the ability and willingness to buy. The idea that influences these people or organizations are TRESemmé's product categories, since TRESemmé owns different types of products in different categories, the market is more likely to buy TRESemmé's products because there are different varieties to choose from. When the market has it's eye on one of TRESemmé's item, it's their job to influence them to buy it. Within a market, a market segment is a subgroup of people or organizations sharing one or more characteristics that cause them to have similar product needs. All people have similiar characteristics and needs, as do all organizations. Another process that TRESemmé's goes through is a market segmentation, which is the process of dividing a market into meaningful, relatively similar, and identifiable segments or groups. All of these definitions make up a market.

                      Since all markets include groups of people or organizations with different product needs and preferences, market segmentation helps marketers define customer needs and wants more precisely. This is why having a market segmentation is important for TRESemmé and any other company out there. Since TRESemmé's products will be more precise with market segmentation, markets can easily find what they exactly want and need. An example of TRESemmé's market segmentation would be one of their shampoos, lets say a customer wanted to buy a smaller bottle of TRESemmé's shampoo? The market segmentation will be able to help this customer because the shampoo will come in different shapes and sizes overall. To have a successful segmentation, companies must have these 4 important things: sustainability (a segment must be large enough to warrant developing and maintaining a special marketing mix), identifiability & measurability (segments must be identifiable and their size measurable), accessibility (the firm must be able to reach members of targeted segments with customized marketing mixes), and responsiveness (markets can be segmented using any criteria that seem logical).

                             Marketers use segmentation bases which divides a total market into segments. There are 5 basic segmentations that marketers follow. Geographic Segmentation refers to markets by region of a country or world, market size, market density, or climate; TRESemmé follows this segmentation because they have their products all around the world for marketers to grab their attention and make more profits out of them. Demographic Segmentation refers to age, gender, income, ethnic background, and family life cycle; TRESemmé's products aim for marketers who were born in the Y generation because they tend to buy their products more other than the X generation and baby boomers. They also make their products cheaper than other brand names that sell similar products. Psychographic Segmentation deals with personality, motives, lifestyles, and geodemographics; this is when TRESemmé gathers information about people and this determines how they should sell their products and what products should they sell. Benefit Segmentation is the process of grouping customers into market segments according to the benefits they seek from the product; TRESemmé will examine what their customers like and WANT in a product and what they should fix about their products. Once they get the hang of this, their product would sell real good. Usage-Rate Segmentation divides a market by the amount of product bought or consumed; TRESemmé keeps track on which one of their products are having the most sales because this allows them to notice the special idea in that specific product that they can add into their other not-so-well-selling products.

                         TRESemmé's business market consists of 4 broad segments: producers, resellers, government, and institutions. TRESemmé's company characteristics is reasonable since they are located in drugstores geographically and many buyers prefer to purchase from local suppliers since distant suppliers may have difficulty competing in terms of price and service. TRESemmé's buying processes segments customers and prospective costumers on the basis of how they buy. This allows them to become better sellers for their markets.

                          After the whole segmentation process, the next task is to choose one or more target markets. TRESemmé is the type of company who deals with one specific target market because this way they can attract customers with a single marketing mix. There are different ways on how TRESemmé targets their marketers. TRESemmé's way of targeting is the concentrated targeting method. They select a market niche for targeting its marketing efforts. The developing of any marketing mix depends on positioning, this influences potential customers's overall perception of a brand, product line, or organization in general. TRESemmé needs to know where they should position their products so they can catch the consumer's eyes. They have all their products in one section of a store as a product line going from shampoos, conditioners, gels, hairsprays, hair styling products, etc. 

Chapter 11 - Developing and Managing Products

                New Products is something that is new to the world, the market, the producer, the seller, or some combination of these. The important of new products is that they sustain growth, increase revenues and profits, and replace obsolete items. TRESemmé is involved with this definition because they have their own sets of new-product strategies. They have their own product lines in which they have their own shampoos, conditioners, hairsprays, gels, etc. This gives their customers a variety of choices in what they would like to buy from their products, if they were limited to one choice such as shampoo only, then TRESemmé's customers would be disappointed since there are no variety of choices to make because what if the customer doesn't want the shampoo but wants a different type of product that does the same thing? It will turn down the customer immediately and they will go ahead and look for something else from a different company that sells more than just shampoos. Sometimes, TRESemmé may include something new such as a new ingredient in their shampoos. This is one example: 

It basically says that it has new and advanced technology than it had before. This type of method is know as improvements or revisions of existing products. TRESemmé's products are also known as lower-priced products because they are cheaper than other brand-selling shampoos out there in the hair product market.

                          In order for TRESemmé to maintain a New-Product Development Process, they must make long-term commitment needed to support innovation, use company-specific approach, capitalize on experience to achiever and maintain competitive advantage, and establish an environment for support. The New-Product Strategy is basically a list of things TRESemmé needs to do to achieve this goal. TRESemmé must have an Idea Generation which is the thinking of what product to create to influence customers. This idea comes from many sources, including customers (wants and needs), employees (analyze and involved), distributors (well-trained sales), competitors (comparison), vendors (partnerships), research and development (product development and modification), and consultants (examine business and recommended product ideas). Idea Screening is used after TRESemmé's new ideas have been generated and need to pass through the first filter in the product development process. It determines if the product idea is good enough to be passed on. Business Analysis is when TRESemmé's product idea gets calculated on demand, cost, sales, and profitability. Depending on the nature of the product and the TRESemmé, this process may be simple or complex. Development occurs when TRESemmé starts sketching a marketing strategy. The marketing department of TRESemmé should decide on the product's packaging, branding, labeling, and so forth. Test Marketing is when TRESemmé's product goes through a limited introduction to determine the reactions of potential customers in a market situation. The final stage is Commercialization, this determines the decision to actually market TRESemmé's product for sure. TRESemmé is part of globalization, therefore their global issues in new-product development allows them to have more sales marketable worldwide.

                             Managers have a better chance of successfully marketing products if they understand how consumers learn about and adopt products. This is how TRESemmé's products can spread throughout the world by just having an innovation. The product life cycle is one of the most familiar concepts in marketing. A product category is where TRESemmé's product is determined to satisfy a particular type of need. In order for TRESemmé's product to be in a good product life cycle, they must follow the introductory stage (full-scale launch of new product into marketplace), growth stage (sales typically grow at an increasing rate and many competitors enter the market), maturity stage (a period which sales increase at a decreasing rate), and last but not least, the decline stage (a long-run drop in sales). When dealing with selling new products, TRESemmé must know how to be smart and be able to sell their items for a reasonable price to their consumers. This will help the company grow more fast worldwide as it will be passed on.

Chapter 18 - Social Media and Marketing

                        Social Media is basically the use of online technology to promote brands. It has changed the way that marketers can communicate with their brands from a mob of messages to affectionate conversations. TRESemmé uses social media for advertising their products online and on television. An example of TRESemmé using social media for advertising is this 30 second commercial: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=423X8wbmg8E

This commercial shows us that TRESemmé's new shampoo product can repair damaged hair from 2 years. This influences people and makes them think, "Wow! Can my hair really look like that after using this product? I should give it a try." If someone is unsure if this product works or not, they can look up for customer reviews online for further info about this product. This is a source of interaction that the consumer can get with other customers before they actually buy this product. TRESemmé also has their products as advertisements online if someone searches up "shampoo" their product can pop up and that is a source of advertisement that the company payed for to place online.

                 In order for a company to have an enormous impact on their brand in the social media world, they must follow the right steps. TRESemmé has their own owned media because their organization creates blogs and websites introducing their products so that people can become more aware of them around the world. This actually develops deeper relationships with customers. TRESemmé listens to their customers on what they want and what they are interested in, this is known as the "listening system". They must also listen to what others are saying about their brand, the industry, and the competition so they can do better through time. If there is a flaw, TRESemmé will fix it as soon as possible because depending on how big the flaw is, it can effect the company in a bad way which can cause less sales of their products. After that, TRESemmé deals with social media objectives. This has to do with building trust online with their customers. TRESemmé has all of these objectives which are listening and learning, building relationships, promoting products and services, managing reputation, and improving their customer service. Without these objectives in a company, they may not be able to sell their products wisely.

             Once TRESemmé determines their objectives and their measurement tools have been implemented, it's important for them to identify their consumers. They need to identify the social behavior of cosumers. TRESemmé needs to see what type of social media do their consumers often use? Does the specific social media attract younger users? They need to go for the creators, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators, and inactives. TRESemmé will need to make their blogs look for attractive to influence the minds of these individuals. It can make a big difference in their product-selling. TRESemmé goes in the category of corporate blogs if they are willing to sell their products more. 

                A company having a Social Media and Mobile Technology is very wise. This allows the customers to browse through TRESemmé's "mobile" website where they can easily access their products and see what's new on their updates since they have a smartphone in their hand. This is a source of marketing tool that companies should take advantage of. TRESemmé also have their own mobile ads and smartphone aps. As time goes on, social media is finding more ways to advertise products online.

Chapter 10 - Product Concepts

                         What is a product? A product can be everything, both favorable and unfavorable, that a person receives in an exchange; it is a starting point in creating a marketing mix. TRESemmé sells a lot of products that have to do with hair care. People exchange money to get these products. For example, TRESemmé's shampoos are usually around 5 dollars, so the customer will have to pay 5 dollars to get the product that they want. In order for TRESemmé's selling for these products to keep going, they will need to have a good seller image, manufacturer reputation, and a good way for consumers to believe others will view the product that TRESemmé is trying to sell. It is all about the marketing process.

                   There are different types of Consumer Products. Products can be classified in different ways, such as business (industrial) or consumer products, depending on the buyer's intentions. TRESemmé  belongs in the "consumer products" group since their products are bought and used to only satisfy an individual's PERSONAL wants. TRESemmé cannot be put into the category of selling business products because their products are not used for business offices, etc. TRESemmé's products are marketed to different target markets and tend to use different distribution, promotion, and pricing strategies. TRESemmé's products can be known as a Convenience Product because their hair products are inexpensive and merits little shopping effort. It is also easy to buy because they are usually in drug stores and supermarkets such as Duane Reade, CVS, Rite Aid, Pathmark, etc. and are right on the counters.

                   Companies rarely sell a single product, they usually have a variety of products to choose from so the customer will decide on other items to buy from them if they are not interested in a specific one. An example of a product item are TRESemmé's shampoos, it is designated as a distinct offering among the company's products. An example of a product line are TRESemmé's different sizes and shapes of hair products. An example of a product mix are all of TRESemmé's hair products small size, big size, different bottle, etc. all in one. TRESemmé has a product mix width that are a number of product lines it offers, and they also have a product line depth which are the number of product items in a product line that TRESemmé sells. 

                       A brand is a name, term, symbol, design, or combination thereof that identifies a seller's products and differentiates them from competitors' products. TRESemmé has their own brand name which is "professional affordable". The main purposes of branding is product identification, repeat sales, and new-product sales. TRESemmé is their own brand and people know this brand specifically for hair products, this is why branding is very important so people will be able to differentiate on products they are willing to buy. Brand equity is the value of a company of brand name, TRESemmé is well-known brand for hair products being cheap and affordable and is know for that purpose, but TRESemmé is not really known as a high brand equity. Global Brand is a brand that obtains at least a third of its earnings from outside of its home country and is recognizable outside its home case of customers, TRESemmé is a well-known brand in different countries because they are used in salons located in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Asia. Since TRESemmé is a well-known brand and works very well for its consumers, they have a great brand loyalty since many people choose TRESemmé over other shampoo brands because of how cheap it is and it works great.

                    Packaging is an important aspect in marketing. It holds contents together and protects goods as they move through the distribution channel. The three most important functions of packaging are to contain and protect products, promote products, and facilitate the storage, use, and convenience or products. The fourth function os packaging that is becoming increasingly important is to facilitate recycling and reduce environmental damage. TRESemmé packages their products really good, depending on what is it in. A way that TRESemmé promotes their products are by adding color, designs, and words to their packaging. Having a package that is easy to open is close is a must! TRESemmé is starting to make their shampoo and conditioner bottles with less plastic to help the environment, which attracts consumers to buy their shampoos and conditioners because they feel as if they are helping the environment in a way. Having a persuasive label on the packaging is important because it attracts the customer, TRESemmé has the label of "Used by professionals" and "Professional affordable". 

                     There are certain global issues in branding and packaging when a company tries to sell their products in different countries. TRESemmé must make sure that first they have their brand name everywhere in different countries so people will be more familiar with the brand. They must also make sure that the words that they use to advertise their products like shampoos, conditioners, etc. have a language that other countries would be able to understand. They then must have different brand names in different markets.