Unit 9: Market Analysis

Introduction
Marketing is an important part of the business. Without this sector a business cannot think of a
way to sell its products at a price level which will satisfy the need of the consumers and bring
profit to the organization. Marketing is a vast sector including the market segmentation, pricing,
promotion, market entry and growth etc. By following the processes and implementing them in a
perfect manner one can strive for the utmost profit from his or her business.
9.1.

Target Market Segment

Market segment is referred to a marketing strategy which involves dividing a broad target market
into subsets of consumers, businesses or countries that have common needs, interests and
priorities and then designing and implementing strategies to target them. Business has a chance
to develop product differentiation strategies, or an undifferentiated approach, involving specific
products or product lines depending on the specific demand and attributes of the target segment.
There are many types of market segmentation. Some are1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.2.

geographic segmentation
demographic segmentation
behavioral segmentation
psychographic segmentation
occasional segmentation
segmentation by benefits
cultural segmentation
multi-variable account segmentation
Pricing

Pricing is basically a process that business follows to set the price of its products at which it will
sell its products and services, and maybe part of the businesss marketing plan. The business will
set the price in such a manner in which it could acquire the goods, the manufacturing cost, the
market place, competition, market condition, brand, and quality of product. Pricing is also
considered to be a key variable in microeconomic price allocation theory. It is also said to be a
fundamental aspect of financial modeling and one of the four Ps of the marketing mix. Pricing
can be both a manual or automatic process to purchase and sales orders, based on factors such as:

a fixed amount, quality break, promotion or sales campaign, specific vendor quote, price
prevailing on entry, shipment or invoice date and many others. Pricing is the most important
concept in the field of marketing, it is also used as a tactical decision response to comparing
market situation.
9.3.

Promotion

Promotion is one of the important elements of marketing mix and is frequently used in the field
of marketing. It basically refers to raising a customers awareness of a product or brand,
generating sales, and creating brand loyalty. The basic objectives of promotion includes1. increasing the demand
2. presenting information to consumers and others
3. differentiating a product
The purpose of promotion has a wide range. It may include- sales increase, new product
acceptance, creation of brand equity, positioning competitive retaliations, or creation of a
corporate image.
9.4.

Innovation speed and time to Market

Time to market is considered to be the length of time it takes from a product being conceived
until its being available for sale. TTM is very important in industries where products are
outmoded quickly. TTM is said to matter most for the first-of-a-kind product. But the leader is
said to often having the luxury of time, while the clock is clearly running for the followers.
There are some types of TTM. They are1.
2.
3.
4.
9.5.

pure speed
more predicable schedules
minimizing resources
flexibility to make changes
Entry and growth

Companies use different plans to grow their business and increase sales and profits. There are
certain methods that the company should use to implement a growth strategy. The method that
the company would use largely depends on the financial situation of the company. Some
common business strategies include

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
9.6.

market penetration
market expansion
diversification
product expansion
acquisition
Networks, partnerships and alliances

Network advantages refers to the explanation of why and how one can seize the benefit from his
or her businesss network of alliances with customers, suppliers and competitors. There are three
key advantages1. superior information
2. better cooperation
3. increased power

Quiz
1. Market segmentation is a
a. market strategy
b. financial strategy
c. human resource strategy
d. none of the above
2. Market segmentation means diving a broad market into subsets of
a. consumers
b. businesses
c. countries
d. all of the above
3. Which of the following is a type of market segmentation?
a. Geographic segmentation
b. Psychographic segmentation
c. Behavioral segmentation
d. All of the above
4. Cultural segmentation is a part ofa. Pricing
b. Promotion
c. Market segmentation
d. All of the above
5. Pure speed is a type ofa. Pricing
b. TTM
c. Promotion
d. None of the above
6. TTM mostly matters to the
a. First-of-a-kind product
b. Secondary product
c. Both a & b
d. None of the above
7. Which of the following are the advantages of networka. Superior information
b. Better cooperation
c. Increased power
d. All of the above
8. Acquisition is a __________ strategy
a. Growth
b. Entry
c. Pricing
d. All of the above
9. TTM is most important for industries where products are __________ quickly
a. Outmoded
b. Sold
c. Both a & b

d. None of the above

10. better cooperation is an advantage of
a. Pricing
b. Network
c. Promotion
d. All of the above
11. Which of the following process is used to set the pricea. Promotion
b. Market segmentation
c. Pricing
d. None of the above
12. Pricing is considered a key variable in
a. Microeconomic price allocation theory
b. Macroeconomic price allocation theory
c. Price theory
d. All of the above
13. More predictable schedules is a type ofa. TTM
b. Pricing
c. Promotion
d. None of the above
14. Occasional segmentation is a type of
a. Pricing
b. Promotion
c. Market segmentation
d. All of the above
15. Increasing the demand is the objective ofa. Pricing
b. Promotion
c. TTM
d. None of the above
16. Market penetration is a strategy of
a. TTM
b. Pricing
c. Promotion
d. None of the above

17. Differentiating a product is an objective of

a. Promotion
b. Pricing
c. TTM

d. None of the above

18. Which of the following is used as a decision tactical responsea. Pricing

b. Promotion
c. TTM
d. None of the above
19. Pricing can be
a. Manual process
b. Automatic process
c. Both a & b
d. None of the above
20. The purpose of promotion has a ______ range
a. Wide
b. Narrow
c. Quite wide
d. None of the above
Answers: 1.a, 2.d, 3.d, 4.c, 5.b, 6.a, 7.d, 8.a, 9.a, 10.b, 11.c, 12.d, 13.a, 14.c, 15.b, 16.d, 17.a,
18.a, 19.c, 20.a