When doing an STP plan, a question comes up when it moves from segmenting step to targeting—–which segment should a company choose to pressure on? My understanding is simple: choose the segment on which the company already has some advantage factors.

Given an example of Apple.  Apple is known by its electronic products like smartphone, laptop, tablet pc, etc. Obviously, Apple gets technical and marketable advantages in this field. Imagine now Apple tends to enter the TV market. What kind of television Apple would sell and what kind of customers Apple tends to sell to? By segmenting the potential market, it would be best for Apple to develop a high-technique TV that could attract its current customers, such as young people and technique-likers. The product could be able to connect with current Apple devices like iPhone, iMac and acoustics. Apple could gain competitive advantages at the beginning. However, if Apple targeting the segment that required competing with those traditional TV producers like Sony, feature by feature (i.e. large-size high definition display, which Sony and other big TV producers have been developing for years), Apple would likely lost its advantage and therefore, such targeting were unsuccessful.

In other industries like supermarket, customers would not expect to buy luxury products like expensive watch in a supermarket. So as the markers of a supermarket should be smart to target low cost but various products available for customer in order to have some sense of competitive advantage. I mention this because of my own experience. I used to see expensive watches selling for 300 dollars at Costco. I think that was an bed example of targeting because the potential buyers of luxury watches are not identifiable and reachable for Costco.