MARKET: Customer Segments

1) Describe your segments. You need to come up with at least 3 segments. Be creative and insightful in describing the existing the existing segments. Note that potential customers need to be classified by relatively homogeneous groups having common identifiable characteristics (they must be homogeneous in terms of needs or buying behavior). 

The primary target segment (The Man) for my magazine is businesses with a need to reach minorities with their advertisements. Within the business segment I will focus initially on government agencies with a need to reach minorities. Under certain circumstances these organizations are under great pressure to make sure they are not only reaching minorities with their services, but they also need to use media channels owned and operated by minorities. One of the first customer’s that we plan to approach is the City of Gainesville because I know that they were a part of an NAACP study on spending and minorities and they did not fair very well, so they are actively seeking a media outlet to advertise with. A government agency is a marketing budget in excess of $100,000 would be prime customer for The Radar Magazine.

The second target audience (Bourgeoisie) for the magazine is minorities within a five mile radius of the Alachua County area including African Americans, Asians and Hispanics, who are college educated and aged 25 to 65 with an income of more than $50,000.

The total population of Alachua County is about 256,000; of which about 36 percent are minorities. Forty percent of the total population are 25+ and have at least a bachelor’s degree and about 70 percent are between the ages of 18 to 65. Using these numbers that are readily available, considering that the education number is high for my target audience, I estimate that my primary target audience may be about 20,000. Of this 20,000, a little more than half are female; although females are not my primary target – they may have more of a propensity to actually pick up the FREE magazine. The median household income of the Gainesville area is about $46,000, we set our target income at $50,000 although not considered an affluent in most markets - this is a good level of income for minorities in the area.

The third market segment is (Lifestyle Disrupters) non-government-agency advertiser. These should be local companies with an interest in demonstrating their concern and connection with the local community. As one of the media-buyers mentioned during our interview – they are looking to create a relationship with the community to establish a long term relationship that demonstrates that trust.

2) Include a table summarizing the various segments. In this table list characteristics that define your target customers (demographics, psychographics, benefits sought, information sources utilized, product usage rates, etc.).

3) Indicate which segments (no more than two) you will be prioritizing. Which segments represent the greatest sales potential and why.

Segments 1 and 3 will be my priority because these are the businesses which are buying the ads. Without the funds they are providing – the magazine could not pay any bills.