Active learning ideas
Targeting is about focus. This topic teaches students how to divide a broad market into manageable segments based on demographics, psychographics, geographics, and product use. In Ontario, this involves a deep dive into the diverse makeup of the Canadian population, including age cohorts like Gen Z and Boomers, as well as the unique needs of different cultural and regional groups.
Activity 01
Groups create life-sized 'posters' of a target consumer for a specific product, including their hobbies, values, income, and daily routine. Students rotate to critique whether the 4 Ps of the product actually align with the persona created.
How do marketers create accurate consumer profiles?
Activity 02
Students are given a product (e.g., winter tires or surfboards) and must identify three specific regions in Canada where the marketing would be vastly different. They share their reasoning with a partner, focusing on climate and lifestyle differences.
Why is market segmentation critical to a campaign's success?
Activity 03
The class is divided into 'Marketing Agencies.' Each agency is given the same product but a different target segment (e.g., retirees vs. university students). They must pitch a unique promotional strategy that speaks directly to their assigned segment's psychographics.
What are the key demographic variables?
A few notes on teaching this unit
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Our target market is 'everyone.'
Students often think a broad target means more sales. Through 'mock trials' of failed broad campaigns, students learn that 'marketing to everyone is marketing to no one' because the message becomes too diluted to resonate with anyone specifically.
Demographics are the only thing that matters.
Students often focus on age and income but ignore psychographics (values and lifestyle). Using 'persona building' activities helps them see that two people with the same demographics might have completely different buying habits based on their interests.
Methods used in this brief
Primary and Secondary Market Research
An introduction to the methods used to collect original data and the use of existing data to inform marketing decisions.
8 methodologies
Competitive Analysis
An exploration of direct and indirect competition, and how businesses position themselves to gain a competitive advantage.
8 methodologies