Comparison Of Eclipse With Other Brands example essay topic

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 1. Segment Marketing - Isolating broad segments that make up a market and adapting the marketing to match the needs of one or more of the segments. 2. Target Market - a set of buyers sharing common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve. 3. Product Position - the way the product is defined by consumers on important attributes - the place the product occupies in consumers' minds relative to competing products.

PROBLEM STATEMENT How to develop RJR company's marketing strategy in terms of segmentation, targeting and positioning in order to gain market share for Eclipse? LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY. Timeline considered is before Japan Tobacco acquired RJR's international operations PREMIER vs. ECLIPSE COMPARISON PREMIER ECLIPSE Developments - smokers felt like outcasts; 2nd hand smoke became a bigger issue; more places banned smoking Target market Sophisticated, upscale, urban, educated, older; over 25 years old; hooked on smoking, but looking for alternatives to quit Adult smokers over 35; slight skew toward women; people who enjoy smoking but don't want to smell like a smoker; don't want to expose relatives and friends to 2nd hand smoke Price 25-30 cents more for pack (25%) than other name-brand cigarettes 1st - 10 cents per pack above premium brands 2nd - Priced comparable to premium brands Ad campaign "The Cleaner Smoke" Steaming teakettle - "Imagine a cigarette that smells like this" "The smoke that disappears. Your girlfriend doesn't."Enjoy smoking without smelling like smoke."Smoke on your couch. Not on your porch."Smell like your cologne, not your cigarette". Others Promos - Offered 2 or more packs for the price of 1 Research - Favorable response from smokers and non smokers' families and friends Testing - (1) free carton - gave video, asked to attend discovery group (2) Dropped videos; more written instruction to packs What Consumers Said Smelled like burning lettuce and smoldering tennis shoes Some liked the flavor, some did not Difficult to light the cigarette Liked that it didn't leave tobacco smell in house and cars Was a novelty for a while; but the new has worn off RJR's FINAL STEP.

RJR tested the cigarette internationally. Japan Tobacco (JT) acquired RJR's international operations. Culturally, Japan stresses being polite and considerate of other people SMOKER SEGMENTATION Defined in terms of USAGE - 1. ALL THE TIME.

Chain / Heavy smokers. Very loyal to a brand. Can seldom be expected to be considerate of non-smokers 2. SOCIAL SMOKERS. Smoke during social occasions. Smoke because they like it or because of peer pressure.

May prefer a brand or go with brands of friends 3. STRESSFUL SITUATIONS. Stressed smokers. Smoke more frequently at work especially when they are tense. Cigarette consumption is proportional to level of stress being experienced. May prefer a brand 4.

"WHEN THEY CAN" SITUATIONS. Enjoy smoking but can practice delay gratification (i.e. non-smoking areas, being around non-smokers). More considerate - don't smoke when there are non-smokers. Smoking is not necessarily tied to specific occasions, but rather to the urge to smoke 5. NON-USERS / TRIAL SMOKERS.

People who smoked before but have stopped smoking because of own reasons... For the trial smokers, brand preference is still weak or non-existent... For those smokers who stopped, brand preference could still be existent. ALTERNATIVE COURSES OF ACTION 1. Do mass marketing. Target all smokers.

Position Eclipse as a substitute cigarette Advantages: . Biggest customer base since all smokers will be targeted... Easier promotion since it is geared towards all prospective smokers eliminating / lessening the need for target advertising or promotions. Disadvantages: .

A few large companies dominate the market... Competition is fierce... Mass marketing is already a thing of the past and the chances of it working in today's environment are low... Failure of Premiere brand when this strategy was used... Comparison of Eclipse with other brands might highlight Eclipse's inferiority compared to these brands in terms of flavor and convenience of use. 2.

Do segment marketing. Target a smaller segment of the market... Position Eclipse as a "different smoking experience". Could still be further divided into niches of smokers who stopped, non-users who plan to try, and non-users who have no intention of even trying. Advantages: . Promotions will be geared towards a smaller group of people giving the company the ability to focus its resources on this segment.

Disadvantages: . Brand preference may still be strong with this segment... Brand comparison between their preferred brands and Eclipse may highlight the inferiority of Eclipse in terms of flavor and convenience. 3.

Do niche marketing. Position as a "different smoking experience". Segment will be further divided into smaller niche. Advantages: .

Resources in manufacturing and promotions will be more focused as compared with mass marketing and segmentation marketing... Inferiority of Eclipse with preferred brands in terms of flavor and convenience can be non-existent. Disadvantages: . Smaller market in terms of prospective customer number. RECOMMENDATION Our group chooses Alternative 3 as the best option because of the following considerations: . The company will be able to gear its promotions in a certain direction that will be able to deliver the message the company wants to emphasize to targeted smokers with an impact at a lesser cost...

The company will have an easier time in convincing their targeted customers in trying their product. The targeted customers for Eclipse will be those people who belong to the non-user segment who have the intention to try different brands because brand preference is still non-existing. The targeted customer is still looking for the type of cigarette that will best fit his / her taste. With the initial use of these potential smokers, the chances of other smokers and non-smokers of noticing the advantages of Eclipse in terms of the superiority of the product will be increased. When this people start to appreciate these advantages, the company could then start thinking of expanding the targeted customers to long-time smokers. 4 P's OF MARKETING.

Product - (ECLIPSE) lesser second hand smoke as compared to conventional and existing brands. Although Eclipse has advantages with other brands, it will be positioned as the cigarette that gives a "different experience". We will not be positioning it as a better alternative to established brands... Place - Eclipse will be made available in stores that also sell other brands of cigarettes... Price - Eclipse will be priced at par with premium brands... Promotions - although Eclipse will only go for a niche of the market, the company would still need to employ massive promotion with the use of tri-media.

The difference that it will have is that these promotions will be all directed to non-users 25 years and below who are planning to smoke or try to smoke..