Target Market Strategy

Our goal is to appeal to the entire market, but currently our target market is very small.  It consists of those who have a standard for quality and take beer and its elements seriously.  In other words, the beer tasting enthusiasts.  This group of people, we predict, is very limited; but we hope to make it much larger, and ultimately include the entire market.  Obviously that isn't happening any time very soon, so right now, we will be using the niche marketing strategy.  This works by "Instead of going after a small share of a large market, the firm goes after a large share of one or a few smaller segments or niches." (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, ch. 6 pg. 188)  Meaning, instead of offering mediocre products to the mass market, we offer high-grade and special gourmet products to a small niche market.  The customers in this niche market are unable to get their unusual products from retail giants, which is why they come to upscale specialty retailers.  Their special products have higher prices, but equally higher quality, so customers are receiving fair value.  Once the target market grows larger, we'll move towards an undifferentiated, or mass, marketing strategy.  This is one that ignores market segmentation, and sells a product to the market as a whole.  "This mass-marketing strategy focuses on what is common in the needs of consumers rather than on what is different. The company designs a product and a marketing program that will appeal to the largest number of buyers." (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, ch. 6 pg. 187)  This will become an appropriate strategy when the needs of our customers are all common, (when they form an appreciation for beer) thus placing them in one category-the mass market.