Target Marketing

Principles of Marketing 2

Principles of Marketing; Unit Three

Jennifer Mains

Columbia Southern University

Abstract

Target Marketing Essay

Choose a business-to-consumer (B2C) or business-to-business (B2B) company that uses target marketing. Then, you will need to complete the following list:

· Briefly introduce the company you have chosen.

· Gather examples of its activities and products that support its business model. Remember to properly cite and reference the sources of information you find. You should have at least two references from business-related or news websites.

· Explain each of the four bases for segmenting consumer markets or each of the five bases for segmenting business markets.

· In the company you chose, describe which of these bases for segmenting markets is used, and describe how the selected segmenting options are achieved.

· Examine how these factors influence the promotional strategies of your chosen company.

Principles of Marketing; Unit Four

The company I chose for this project is JetBlue Airlines. I personally like to fly with JetBlue, because I have always had an excellent experience with them. I also chose this industry for this assignment because there are so many people that need to travel, whether it be for work or pleasure. And in this kind of industry where there are so many other choices for the consumer to choose from, each of the airlines really need to focus in on what and who their main target market should be.

A little about JetBlue Airline, is there are a company that started back in August of 1998 as a passenger company for transportation. Of course, when they first started as a company, they were not flying all over the world, they were more focused on the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America. I think that this was a smart choice for JetBlue, because they were researching where most people travel to, and they knew that they needed to offer these flights as well to be in the running with the other competitors. As of 2019, JetBlue is still flying to these targeted locations, but they have added some new destinations, and JetBlue now has over one hundred destinations. (www.reuters.com)

The first target marketing that JetBlue has been doing, is that they are targeting on customers that want a “better experience”, such as what they call the branded fares; Blue, Blue Plus and Blue Flex.

· Blue- One carryon bag, 3 base TrueBlue points, 3 bonus TrueBlue points for booking online, internet, DirecTV, and $50.00 for same day changes

· Blue Plus- one free checked bag, one carryon bag, 3 base TrueBlue points, 4 bonus TrueBlue points for booking online, internet, DirecTV, and $50 dollars for same day changes.

· Blue Flex- 2 free checked in bags, one carryon bag, 3 base TrueBlue points, 5 Bonus TrueBlue points for booking online, internet, DirecTV, free same day changes, expedited security checks.

Of course, all of JetBlue offers free snack and refreshment on flights, and they are offering more leg room throughout the plane as well so that you aren’t so cramped. And this in itself can be a big selling point for many customers, especially since some flights are long and you want to be able to relax and stretch out if needed. ( www.skift.com )

JetBlue prides themselves on how customer-friendly their airline is, and they strive to make sure they keep up this reputation, not only in the corporate world but also with customers and consumers. Their business model is “no-nonsense and cost- sensitive business model.” JetBlue’s goal is to strs personal services without the cost that another airlines charge. They offer excellent leg space, free inflight snacks along with other free services that other airlines do not offer. ( www.investopedia .)

When JetBlue decided to put their main hub at JFK Airport in New York, they were constantly undercutting their larger competitors, specifically Southwest airlines. But JetBlue has really stuck more to the East Coast Airports. At times JetBlue has to make some hard decisions, such as if they are going to please customers and keep them happy, or if they are going to do what corporate and their shareholders demand of them.

David Neeleman is the man behind JetBlue, and when JetBlue first came about, the customer service agents were working out of their homes in Salt Lake City Utah, but the airlines corporate headquarters was located between LaGuardia Airport and John F Kennedy International.

Really, this was very smart marketing on their part! David had numerous vehicles that were used by employees that would drive around the country, which in return would show potential customers and consumers their brand. From there customers would look into what JetBlue was, and they would see the perks they are offering and how their customer service reviews are. A move like this really helped increase the sales for JetBlue. ( www.cnbc.com )

By 2017, JetBlue was now the fifth-largest US airline company, according to the data from Department of Transportation.

When we start talking about segmentation for JetBlue, there are so many different avenues this could go, where there are categories with topics listed underneath that help with the marketing aspect of JetBlue.

Let’s talk about the Geographic category for JetBlue. Geographic segmentation is when a company like JetBlue is selecting a potential market to where they want to be located as company. Things that should be considered in this part of the segmentation is; climate, population, and terrain. You want to make sure that your company will be successful in the location that they are choosing to be. Another thing that needs to be taken into consideration at this point, is where you competitors are located, because you want to make sure that you can offer what your competitors are offering as well as some new incentives for potential customers to fly with your airline opposed to your competitors.

Next, is the demographics of segmentation, this is where you want to look at the physical and factual data on the demographics. This is the category that includes; age, gender, occupation, martial status, race, income and nationality. When companies sit down and take time to look in the demographics of a location they will be able to sometimes determine if this is something that will work for their company and they should know if it will survive and become a lucrative business because this is an easy thing to measure.

When we start looking at the “age” topic, research has stated that younger employees are traveling for business purposes and their spending habits are completely different from other generations. Research has also stated that the younger generation, such as the millennials are booking their airline travel based on the services the airline offers and the customer services, as opposed to booking under a loyalty program. It was also stated that the younger generation would rather spend their disposable income on things such as travel, instead of focusing on settling down and starting a family.

From there we go to psychographic segmentation, this involves the values, traits, and really the lifestyle of the population of a location that needs to be assessed. Having a great diverse of consumers in one location will make the marketing a little tedious, because it will be harder to focus on one group of people. If one location has more upper-class businesspeople who normally travel, they are going to be used to the high standards of what the other airlines offer, because they are used to that type of lifestyle. If your company can’t offer what the other airlines are offering their first-class people, it will be harder for that company to succeed in that location. This is where social status is really looked at.

Lastly, is the behavior aspect of the segmenting consumers. This involves looking at the spending habits of the consumers. Such as do they buy things in bulk, look for discounts, are they frequently shopping? These are people that may be interested in a perks program and would be willing to buy into your program of frequent flyers or sign up for the credit card so that they can start earning miles for flights.

JetBlue has been well known for their customer service, and they are constantly growing. Yes, things are changing because their shareholders are putting their foot down and demanding certain changes in order to stay in the competition with their other competitors. The main goal is to keep their customers happy, but at the same time they have to be successful and not lose money.

References

· JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU.O) Company Profile. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/company-profile/JBLU.O

· Lesliejosephs. (2019, January 24). JetBlue's challenge: How to avoid becoming 'like any other airline'. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/24/jet-blue-goes-from-startup-airline-to-the-big-leagues-as-its-third-decade-approaches.html

· Ross, S. (2019, March 12). Business Models: Southwest, Virgin, JetBlue. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/112315/southwest-vs-virgin-vs-jetblue-comparing-business-models.asp

· Sumers, B., Schaal, D., Skift, & Expedia Group Media Solutions. (2015, July 01). Interview: JetBlue on Its New Bag Fee and the Passenger Experience. Retrieved from https://skift.com/2015/06/30/interview-jetblue-official-on-new-bag-fee-and-the-passenger-experience/