Strategic Marketing Analysis Guide: From PESTEL to Segmentation
Strategic Analysis
D. Image & Current Positioning
1. Desired Customer Image (Corporate Values)
What image do you want to create in the customer’s mind regarding your corporate values?
2. Market Positioning Based on Values
How is your company positioned in the market based on its values?
3. Positioning Map
A positioning map helps understand your current position to adapt your marketing strategy.
4. Steps to Create a Positioning Map
- Likert Scale: Focuses on agreement with statements (5 or 7 point scale) (e.g., strongly agree/disagree).
- Osgood Scale: Captures emotional response with bipolar adjectives (e.g., mark between good or bad).
5. Functional Areas
- Commercial strategy
- Quality certificates
- Finance & accounting (availability of resources)
- Human resources & organizational structure (e.g., hiring needs)
- Production (e.g., need for new products)
6. Loyalty
- Do you have a loyalty program?
- How is customer categorization and what advantages/benefits are offered (e.g., Sephora)?
SWOT Analysis
Always use information from the previous analysis (new information will never be generated). Identify the different points (W1, T1, S1). It’s advisable to identify points using the PESTEL analysis. This should allow us to guide subsequent strategies. It’s advisable to identify points in order.
In opportunities, we talk about external factors that are positive for us.
- Weaknesses: Identify and correct internal weaknesses.
- Threats: Adapt/adjust to external threats.
- Strengths: Maintain and leverage internal strengths.
- Opportunities: Exploit external opportunities.
3) Current Marketing Mix
A. Product
- Product tangibility
- Product life cycle phase
- Role of the product in the company portfolio
- Tangibility scale (pure tangible – pure intangible)
Kotler’s Model
- Core Benefit: The basic need the product fulfills (e.g., transportation, hunger – pasta). At this level, products can be identical.
- Actual Product: The tangible aspects, design, packaging, quality, and brand name, where differentiation can start (e.g., quality package pasta).
- Augmented Product: Additional services, warranty, funding, after-sales service & delivery, offering further opportunities for differentiation (e.g., healthiest pasta).
B. Price
- Pricing strategy
- Pricing adjustments (special offers, gifts)
C. Communication
- Type of message
- Tools & channels
- Usual budget
Steps
Strangers – Attract (communication, blog, social media) – Visitors – Convert (call to actions, forms) – Leads – Close (CRM, email marketing, lead scoring) – Clients – Love (social media, email marketing) – Promotes
Corporate Image
- Visual Identity (Signs):
- Isologo (e.g., HP)
- Imagotype (e.g., letter and tick)
- Logotype (e.g., text only)
- Isotype (e.g., Apple)
Characters should be clear, attractive, easy to remember, distinctive, and homogeneous.
- Corporate Identity
External Analysis
Marketing Environment
1) Micro-environment
Stakeholders directly impacting a business (suppliers, marketing intermediaries, competitors & customers).
2) Macro-environment
Broader social forces that influence the micro-environment (demographic, economic, natural, technological, political & cultural factors).
Macro-environment (PESTEL)
- Political Factors: Government decisions impacting business (e.g., job creation policies, possible changes in regulations).
- Economic Factors: Consumer spending patterns, income changes, GDP, unemployment rates, taxes.
- Social Factors (Demographic): Family structures, migration, education levels, and population diversity.
- Social Factors (Cultural): Trends like eco-friendliness, health consciousness, sustainability (e.g., zero waste).
- Technological Factors: Impact of technological advances on consumer behavior (e-commerce, social media) and production processes.
- Ecological/Environmental Factors: Resource scarcity, pollution, global warming, government regulations on recycling and waste management.
- Legal Factors: Sector-specific laws (e.g., data privacy, employment, tax laws, licensing).
The Strategic Environment Profile
An analysis tool that allows us to identify the degree of impact of the macro-environment on our company.
- VN (Very Negative)
- N (Negative)
- B (Balanced)
- P (Positive)
- VP (Very Positive)
Micro-environment (Essential Parts)
1) Market
Market composition, consumption data, consumption habits, trends… PAST / PRESENT / FUTURE (potential buyers of the product, people that can buy the product).
2) Sector
Information on the industry – present, current and trends – PAST / PRESENT / FUTURE (made by competitors, suppliers, us).
3) Competition
Benchmarking.
4) Suppliers
5) Porter’s Five Forces
- New entrants
- Supplier power
- Buyer power
- Substitutes
- Competitive rivalry
Competitors
- Direct Competitors: Target the same audience and fulfill the same needs.
- Indirect Competitors: Anything capable of replacing our product or brand.
Strategic Analysis (Segmentation)
Step 1: Identify the Segmentation Criteria
Determine factors used to divide the market into distinct groups. These can include demographics (age, gender), psychographics (lifestyle, values), geography, & behavior (purchase habits, usage rate).
Step 2: Define Market Segments
Based on the criteria, group customers into specific segments with similar characteristics and needs. Each segment should be distinct, measurable, and accessible.
Step 3: Quantify the Market
Estimate the size & value of each segment by analyzing the number of customers & their purchasing power. This helps assess the revenue opportunity in each segment (e.g., 20% of the market > 2 million units).
Step 4: Market Potential Analysis
Evaluate the attractiveness of each segment by analyzing its growth potential, competition, profitability, and barriers to entry. Decide which segments to target depending on the effort required.
Step 5: Develop Marketing Strategies for Each Segment
Tailor marketing strategies to address the specific needs & preferences of each segment. This includes product positioning, pricing, promotions, and distribution.