Target Market – Consideration only needs to be given to market sectors and segments.
Market Sector describes a part of the economy which is a set of businesses that are buying and selling similar goods and services that they are in direct competition with each other. Markets are often split into sectors using GICS, such as industrials, consumer discretionary, consumer staples etc. There are other global sector standards that you could consider such as North America, etc.
Market segmentation (our website) is the process of dividing the market in to groups of consumers who respond in a similar way to a given set of marketing stimuli (e.g. price, product features) or, alternatively, groups of consumers/customers with homogeneous needs or preferences. This may be on the basis of demographics, e.g. age, gender; geographics, e.g. by country, rural/urban areas; psychographics, e.g. lifestyle; or behavioural factors, e.g. brand loyalty. Market segmentation is the process of dividing the market in to groups of consumers who respond in a similar way to a given set of marketing stimuli (e.g. price, product features) or, alternatively, groups of consumers/customers with homogeneous needs or preferences. This may be on the basis of demographics, e.g. age, gender; geographics, e.g. by country, rural/urban areas; psychographics, e.g. lifestyle; or behavioural factors, e.g. brand loyalty. (Open University)
When addressing target market, audience and user needs, it is vital that you engage with these groups to find out if your product is possibly suitable. This can be done through a survey or interview (i.e. user research) with clients.
Potential customer base
Who will buy this product?
Why will they buy this product?
Have you listed all potential classes (segments) of customers? Can we tap into a new segment of the market? How?
Target Audience – Differentiate between the target market and the target audience.
Characteristics of the users should be established.
budget conscious, business orientated, pleasure orientated, age group (teenagers, the elderly etc), gender, marital status, lifestyle (outdoor orientated), etc
Other groups, although not the main focus, may also be interested.
It is a specific group of people within a target market for whom the product is aimed,
e.g. diet programs for men with heart disease but could be their concerned partners who wish to help (including other groups although not the main focus) or …
A divorced father of two residing in Alaska, on a farm, with a net worth of several million dollars
Forbes on target audience
Market Analysis – A summary is required of the important information gathered
about potential users and the market.
An appraisal of economic viability of the proposed design from a market perspective is important taking into account fixed and variable costs and pricing.
The specifications developed through market analysis can be addressed by evaluating where within the existing market the new product may fit.
Does the product enrich the market?
Does the product continue trends within the market or lead it with a new development?
Is there a gap in the market for the intended proposal?
Where would the product be sold?
Whose shelf would the product sit on for sale?
Market constraints on product.
Who is buying this type product? (customer base) What is currently selling?
What is currently not selling?
Target product price OEM
MSRP
Target production volume and market share.
Is there a market for this product? How do you know?
Is the potential market sufficiently large to justify investment in a new product?
Is the new product sufficiently better than the competition?
Consider economies of scale
reduce the production costs to compete
For example, if you were redesigning a lamp, and the market analysis demonstrates a shift towards using LED rather than incandescent, does your product follow the market using LEDs, does it continue that trend. Or does it push the trend further using OLEDs
Expert appraisal – pitch the product to an ‘expert’ and gather feedback from them.
User need – Specifications should identify the essential requirements that the product must satisfy in relation to market and user need.
User need can be addressed through a survey or interview with a client. This maybe expressed qualitatively or quantifiably.
The user need maybe that the drying rack needs to dry wet clothes quickly – The competition (through research) have a brand that dries clothes in under 5 minutes – so the design specification would state dry clothes in 4 minutes.
So on evaluation of the marketing and design specifications – we find that when we carry out a performance test that it dries in 4:40 min. The drying rack my not dry clothes under 4 minutes (failed design specification) but still meets the marketing spfication
Whether the solution meets the User needs could be evaluated through user observation or by performance testing (i.e. allow the user to perform the task that the product is designed to resolve).
Competition – A thorough analysis of competing designs is required to establish the market need.
The marketing specification must be developed from the design brief and research
With regards to competition:
How does the new product reflect the competition?
Was a gap in the market identified and does the product fill that gap? What about the price point?
How does the product compare to what is already available?
How does the target market and audience position the product against the competition?
What would they pay for it?
Would they prefer to buy this product rather than any other?
What gives the product an advantage over others in the same area?
What are the strengths of each competing product? Can we incorporate them?
What are the weaknesses of each competing product? Can we improve? What are the market shares of competing products?
Expert appraisal – pitch the product to an ‘expert’ and gather feedback from them.
Evaluating the marketing (along with the design) specifications
Expert appraisal – pitch the product to an ‘expert’ and gather feedback from them.
There are many opportunities to ‘double-up’ with the testing; some types of testing can help the student evaluate aspects of both the design and marketing specification. That way, you can survey once, but address many aspects with the results.
When we state evidence of testing, this doesn’t mean that you need to include all details of testing – you could use one page to outline the results of tests that you carried out against both specifications, then include a detailed evaluation across the remaining pages. Advise students to avoid including a blank list of questions that they use in a survey, or a full transcript of an interview. The marker only needs to see the useful, informative sections and the student can include quotes and graphs or analysis of results to evidence that the testing took place. They may also include some images from user trials/observations to illustrate an success or failure that was found through this – for example, if a product was designed to integrate or be used in a particular surrounding, it would be advisable to illustrate this with a small, but clear photograph.
Whether the solution meets the User needs could be evaluated through user observation or by performance testing (i.e. allow the user to perform the task that the product is designed to resolve).