Week 4 Discussion

Watch the Pinkberry case study in the LEARN section this week.  Then determine the target market for Pinkberry using ALL the bases of segmentation to describe the customer profile. Here is an easy way to get started.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that a target audience can be everyone! One of the best ways to overcome this trap is to think of your target audience as individual people rather than a group of people. Here is a very simple buyer persona exercise that you will find helpful. And this is a great chance to be creative.

• Visualize the person that you think is the Pinkberry target customer. In terms of our bases of segmentation, where does this person live? Where else could they live beyond just West Hollywood, CA? Are they in an urban environment, the suburbs, or way out in the country?
• Now describe that person in terms of their demographic characteristics. How old are they? What gender are they? Where are they in their family life cycle? What is their education level? What do they do for a living, etc?
• Move on to the psychological, or psychographic, the profile of the person that you are visualizing. What are their hobbies, lifestyle, values, and attitudes? What do they hold important to them? One of the areas to look at might be the VALS research. This may help you identify more about this specific person from the inside out.
• Finally, with this same person in your head, how can you describe them behaviorally? Do they eat frozen yogurt? Do they eat frozen yogurt from a competitor? Have they never eaten frozen yogurt before?
• Once you go through this mental exercise of visualizing your specific customer, it will be easier to use the bases of segmentation to define your target person.  After all, you talk to a person with your communication.
• Finally, describe the one level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that best describes this person and you got this!