Differentiated Marketing

By using a differentiated marketing strategy, a firm decides to target different market segments or niches and designs separate offers for each of them. General Motors tries to manufacture a car for every "purpose, purse and personality." Nike offers athletic shoes for a dozen or more different sports, from fencing, running and aerobics to bicycling and baseball. Offering product and marketing variations, these companies expect for higher sales and a stronger position within each market segment. Developing a stronger position within numerous segments creates more total sales than undifferentiated marketing across all segments. Procter and Gamble obtain more total market share along eight brands of laundry detergent than it could with just one. But differentiated marketing also increases the price of doing business. Usually a firm finds it more expensive to develop and manufacture, say, 10 units of 10 different types of products than 100 units of one product. By developing separate marketing plans for separate segments need extra marketing research, forecasting, promotion planning, sales analysis, and channel management. With different advertising increases promotion costs trying to reach different market segments. Therefore, the company have to weigh increased sales against increased costs when deciding on a differentiated marketing strategy.