The Process of Communication
Target Market
TAG Heuer is a popular brand concerning wristwatches. The organization needs to know exactly the target market. The company has to know the characteristics of most likely individuals to purchase the watches. Additionally, the company has to know brands that some of the people like and reasons why they like them. Thus, it is necessary to know which part of the market prefers to buy TAG Heuer Grand Carrera and which part prefers to buy Aquaracer.
Thus, the different brands that are manufactured target a given segment of the market. The market has to be divided into sections to meet the needs of the various target groups. To enable easy marketing, the target market for TAG Heuer is divided based on age, gender, or ethnicity. The division of the market for TAG Heuer is similar to marketing strategies that many organizations have adopted. The division is critical since the preferences that people have are always different.
TAG Heuer has targeted different groups with different designs of products. Some of the watches targeted golf players and fans. The designs were made using titanium cases and thus were appealing to this section of the market.
On the other hand, Grand Carrera is designed to capture sports enthusiasts (Daveau 2010, p. 23). It appeals to youths and to individuals who would like to have expensive watches and be associated with leading designs. Additionally, TAG Heuer also targets female clients. The other target market is Japan in which some brands of watches are available and are designed in a way that they appeal to the Japanese market. It is vital to note that it does not segment the market based on ethnicity. This is a critical provision.
Consumer Behavior
TAG Heuer has to design effective marketing strategies to enable it to capture the targeted markets. To achieve this, it has to understand consumer behavior and the impact of its advertising strategies. Advertising strategies influence in shaping the decisions and perceptions of consumers of a product (Wright 2006, p. 123). They have to be attractive, informative, and appealing to the eyes. TAG Heuer has used magazine adverts to achieve this. Magazines are read by many people and are therefore an effective method of popularizing watches. Adverts should be able to give critical information to clients. The clients need to know information about prices, maintenance, where to find the product, and benefits. These can easily be given through advertisement by magazines.
TAG Heuer is a classy brand and is taken to be a symbol of status. Some people buy expensive products or those that are unique to get respect from others and to be admired. A person who uses TAG Heuer brands is not likely to buy cheaper or local brands since they may be considered to be of a lower class.
The advert must thus be classy to be able to take these consumers. This is the reason why the magazine adverts of TAG Heuer have pictures of well-known personalities in the sports and entertainment industries. Additionally, adverts of TAG Heuer watches do not lean towards any religious orientation (Haines 2010, p.113). This is crucial as it enables the company to attract a wider market.
The magazine adverts are also straightforward and not loaded with much text. This ensures that only relevant information is contained in the advert and consumers can get specific information. The adverts by TAG Heuer thus can shape consumers’ perception through the processes of selective attention, distortion, and retention of information. These are features consistent with persuasive advertising theories (DuPlessis 2000, p. 112).
Communication Strategy
The creation of awareness about the existence of a product is paramount in achieving success. TAG Heuer uses different media to create awareness about the various brands of watches it has, and this has enabled it to succeed. It spends millions of dollars annually on advertising watches. The adverts are either on television, billboards, magazines, and newspapers among others. Notably, it puts adverts in extravagance and industry magazines such as Robb Report and Watch Time respectively (Smith, Berry & Pulford 2002, p. 34). These enable it to capture high-end consumers in the business, entertainment, and sports industries.
In these magazines, pictures of well-known personalities are used in the adverts. These are usually TAG Heuer brand ambassadors and some of them are Leonardo Di Capro, John Travolta, and Tiger Woods (TAG Heuer 2007, p. 30). TAG Heuer tries to portray itself positively and does not want to be associated with any scandal. TAG Heuer adverts on full pages in magazines are also made to make them catchy. The adverts are not mixed on the same page with adverts of other watch companies, and this helps in avoiding confusion. Other strategies have been adopted by the company, for example, using Facebook and Twitter.
Creative Strategy
The magazine advert by TAG Heuer is creatively, and this attracts customers. The use of Leonardo DiCaprio’s picture in the advert makes customers feel that the product is of high quality and highly esteemed individuals. TAG Heuer uses known people, especially celebrities, in their adverts so that the adverts catch maximum attention. These are brand ambassadors, and they introduce the products to the general public.
Also, the watch is made visible to enable customers to see it clearly in the advert. The advert is also made on a full page in the magazine to enable it to be highly visible to all readers. The placing of the advert on a full page also ensures that the targeted market does not get confused. The other creative strategy is that TAG Heuer involves customers in their marketing strategy. This is done by creating a relationship with the clients. The idea is to ensure that customers have experience of being associated with TAG Heuer even after they buy a watch.
Appropriate Competitor Response
Any competitor of TAG Heuer has to devise ways to effectively challenge the methods it uses to market watches. A competitor has to scan TAG Heuer adverts to know the targeted market. Scanning adverts also reveals the thoughts of TAG Heuer about the market. A competitor can monitor changes in the methods of advertisement by TAG Heuer. These can assist them to know whether TAG Heuer is introducing a new product, or their method of market segmentation is changing.
The competitor will also be able to know TAG Heuer‘s pricing methods. The competitor can then design its marketing and advertising strategies based on the information that it has collected. However, the competitor has to ensure that it has enough capital outlay to effectively respond to TAG Heuer’s advertising strategies. This is mainly because TAG Heuer usually has a large budget for promotional activities. The appropriate response could be to put magazine adverts too. The advert has to be strategically placed in the magazine so that consumers can easily see it. The competitor can also use television and social sites to respond to magazine adverts by TAG Heuer.
The competitor has to ensure that its brand is strong enough to be able to respond effectively. Brands that are well known can mount enough response. This is because they have the capital and their distribution networks are large. Also, the competitor has to make the challenge be known. The competitor can also react to the magazine advert of TAG Heuer by intensifying its price promotion. This can attract consumers to its watches instead of the watches produced by TAG Heuer.
Additionally, the competitor can segment the market and design watches that target the various segments. It can make watches targeting the youths, women, and different types for men. It can also make watches with different features for different regions. Some can be made to target the Asian market, while others target the Africa market and so on. Finally, the competitor can decide to produce low-cost watches. It can decide to focus on massive distribution by producing watches that many people can afford. TAG Heuer is a brand that mainly targets wealthy people and people who are flashy and like to be associated with the high class. The market is thus small, and the watches are expensive.
List of References
Daveau, V 2010, Celebrity watches, Voyageur Press, Minneapolis, MN.
DuPlessis, D 2000, Introduction to public relations and advertising, Juta Press, Lansdowne.
Haines, R, 2010, Vintage watches, Krause Publ., Iola.
Smith, P., Berry, C., & Pulford, A 2002, Strategic marketing communications: new ways to build and integrate communications, K. Page, London.
TAG Heuer (MARIN) 2007, TAG Heuer 360, TAG Heuer, La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Wright, R 2006, Consumer behavior, Thompson Learning, London.