Segmenting-targeting-positioning

In marketing, segmenting, targeting and positioning (STP) is a framework that implements market segmentation. Market segmentation is a process, in which groups of buyers within a market are divided and profiled according to a range of variables, which determine the market characteristics and tendencies. The S-T-P framework implements market segmentation in three steps: Segmenting means identifying and classifying consumers into categories called segments. Targeting identifies the most attractive segments, usually the ones most profitable for the business. Positioning proposes distinctive competitive advantages for each segment. Whereas market segmentation is the act of dividing the market into distinct and meaningful groups of buyers who might merit separate products or marketing mixes, segmentation, in the S-T-P framework, means classifying consumers into categories. Therefore, segmentation has two meanings: it denotes both the overall process (market segmentation) and the first step of the S-T-P framework, the identification of consumer segments. This section refers to the first step of the S-T-P model. Segmenting can be referred to as a process of segregating the market on the basis of different variables. However, segmenting a market has widely been debated over the years as researchers have argued over what variables to consider when dividing the market. Approaches through social, economic and individual factors, such as brand loyalty, have been considered along with the more widely recognized geographic, psychographics, demographic and behavioral variables proposed by Philip Kotler. Since a single product offered by a firm cannot satisfy the needs of all of the consumers, segmenting a market therefore, is a process of organising the market into groups that a business can gain a competitive advantage in and satisfy its needs. They must, however, avoid over-fragmenting the market as the diversity can make it difficult to profitably serve the smaller markets.