Introduction
Acadia Park Equipment Co is an organization that focuses on high-quality ecologically conscious outdoor merchandise. Siblings who wished to serve the public launched the business. They have a strong affinity for the outdoors, but expensive goods have constrained their goals. Despite having high-quality items available, the firm needs help selling its two-person camping tent, which is in high demand. Two-person tent market segmentation will be examined in this research, and distribution options and marketing tactics will be suggested depending on those groups. However, the trends and size of the outdoor market in the area will be examined to get a better sense of the two-person tent’s capacity before examining the client segment and selecting the distribution channel.
Customer Market Analysis
18- to 24-year-old customers, sometimes referred to as Gen Z, make up the first sector. This group prioritizes independence and personal accomplishment, is more likely to purchase products if a friend recommends them, values time over money, and supports environmentally friendly businesses. Technology-savvy and increasingly active in community-focused initiatives, Gen Z is the next generation (Munsch, 2021). They are deeply committed to fostering a greener world. The Gen Z generation enjoys trying new things, and current campers indicate they plan to stay in the camping lifestyle as adults. They tend to avoid making new purchases since they are brand loyal. Along with the urge to mingle, Gen Z consistently pays attention to their health and fitness.
The second age range, which is made up primarily of Millennials, is 25 to 34 years old. 14.2% of all consumers fall under this group. This group enjoys comparing prices to find the most outstanding deal and the convenience they want. Before making any purchases, they will also research social media and the internet. The typical purchases made through internet retailers expect quality (Kurz et al., 2019). Health and wellness are essential and frequently used as tracking or training applications. Customers who fall into this category are willing to spend more money. This group’s motivations are primarily emotional and physical, although their family is also essential. People generally wish to enjoy themselves, be surrounded by loved ones, and improve their health. This group resides in the city and has kids at home. This group spends around 20 hours a week outside. Less than half, though, consider themselves outdoor aficionados. On average, this group spends $530.00 on outerwear annually (Munsch, 2021). In the end, the gang enjoys taking on various new challenges. This group makes up the majority of campers and will do so for the rest of their lives.
The 35+ age group is the following group. Some older millennials are included in this cohort, including Gen X and baby boomers. Gen X, aged 41 to 56, makes up the majority of this generation. The Great Recession of 2007 to 2009 was endured by this organization, although it has since recovered its financial standing. The younger generation uses Internet resources for social networking, banking, shopping, and research, demonstrating their comfort with technology. The group appreciates time spent with loved ones and hard labor. The majority of the group is involved with and raising children. A quarter of the group has worked at the same place of employment for more than 15 years, and 65% are employed full-time. Camping and hiking are popular activities among baby boomers. The group goes on 15 days of hiking and camping each year and typically spends $284 on outdoor gear (Thach et al., 2021). Despite only making up 23% of the market’s current campers, this group will remain a lifetime camper since they find the outdoors fun and thrilling (Koksal, 2019). Typically, they would talk about the events with their kids or grandkids. This group is also concerned with its members’ health and well-being.
Distribution Channel
Gen Z, the first cohort, prefers digital communication to one-on-one interactions. Additionally, they eliminated the majority of the conventional media, and they typically watch web videos for 3.4 hours. You must stand out, be different, and deliver to the 18 to 24 age brackets (Munsch, 2021). In order to show Gen Z the enthusiasm of your firm, you must promote word of mouth. The company will want to focus on becoming distinctive. The gang enjoys watching movies and other media. Gen Z’s leisure time is spent on the internet, social networking sites, and mobile devices, watching, listening to, and researching the industry. Also known as impulsive buyers, Gen Z will make a purchase only when it is not necessary (Djafarova & Bowes, 2021). Due to their hectic lives, they buy things online from places like Amazon, which may be quick and straightforward.
Although a number of the means of distribution used for the group of 18- to 24-year-olds will also apply to the group of 25- to 34-year-olds, there will be a few unique distribution channels that will be more appealing to the section of 25- to 34-year-olds. This group would be the primary target market for the company; hence the main distribution method will be social networking. This organization seeks connections with companies and makes direct connections on social media (Munsch, 2021). You may utilize several social networking sites for marketing, with Facebook being the most popular and being used by roughly 88% of this group. One other distribution method that may be employed for Google or movie streaming applications is mobile advertising. They frequently prefer social media to more conventional means of communication, such as email, and they have little faith in the media. This group considers product reviews and quickness while making decisions (Kurz et al., 2019). This would imply that a website like Amazon or a company specializing in athletic goods would be excellent distribution channels for the product.
Due to the diversity of the 35+ group, reaching this group will be the most challenging. We will need to consider multiple more channels for the older section of this group in addition to a range of various channels, some of which will be repeated from the prior groups (Koksal, 2019). Reading reviews to investigate items is one of this group’s more popular methods, and pricing is a crucial factor. Since 94% of the elder component of the age group prefers email for communication, using email marketing as a channel will benefit the oldest section of this group. For this group, the conventional media relations route would be most beneficial. The generation that uses social media the most, Gen X, is also more inclined to purchase online, where correspondence is written and supported by email. This group values bargains and customer service while remaining devoted to its brand (Thach et al., 2021). Even if their use of social media is somewhat convoluted, Baby Boomers are still on it. The group prefers to make purchases before the occasion and avoids impulsive purchases (Koksal, 2019). The most excellent channel would be one that focuses on athletic goods because they would mainly purchase at stores.
Conclusion
I would offer some suggestions on developing effective messaging for each group, along with advice on which distribution channels to utilize and how to gauge success after looking at each group’s interests and activities related to outdoor items.
I would utilize social media, such as Facebook or Instagram, in my message to the 18 to 24 age range to demonstrate how the product would save time and how the business appreciates individual liberties and successes (Djafarova & Bowes, 2021). The product is ecologically friendly in order to increase market share. An image of a group of young campers enjoying a book in the tent while displaying the Acadia emblem was shared on social media. I would track the engagement of the postings to see how many likes, stars, or hearts are left as a response to evaluate these marketing platforms. Consider reviewing shares, comments, and client feedback uploaded to the websites (Djafarova & Bowes, 2021). By monitoring engagement KPIs, you can make whatever modifications you believe are necessary to change course.
The marketing distribution methods used to reach the 25–34 age group would be similar to those used to reach the first group, but the emphasis of the message will be more on health and well-being. This would also be a social media image of a family camping together, with the kids’ heads poking out of the tents while they sit around a fire. The grownups are having a fantastic time in their tent while joking together (Kurz et al., 2019). There is an Acadia logo in the advertisement. I would track the article using engagement KPIs utilizing the measurement method of shares or likes to gauge the effectiveness of marketing to this demographic. In order to make any necessary changes to the plan and guarantee that the right message is being sent, I may also analyze the feedback on where the customer heard about the product. You can make whatever modifications you believe are necessary to change course, if necessary, by monitoring engagement KPIs.
Marketing to the 35+ demographic would be more challenging because it would need conventional methods. This is because three generations are represented in this group, and their purchasing habits vary. Online advertisements communicate the marketing message (Thach et al., 2021). The experts in this category will find this to be the most appealing. Family and family time will be highlighted in the marketing message. Two elderly folks, two younger adults, and two kids would be included in the advertisement. This would represent several generations of a family, and they would all gather to enjoy the outdoors. Grandpa recounts a story while everyone is huddled together in their tents. Everyone is captivated by this tale. The tents used in the advertisement bear the Acadia emblem. In order to gauge performance, the retailer can ask customers how they learned about the product at the register and send them a survey through email if they make a purchase. I will be able to determine how frequently internet advertising has resulted in a sale through analysis of the surveys. This will demonstrate whether or not the target audience is being reached. The measurement would be hits or views on a website and use NPS survey scores. These are known as reach KPIs.
Final Thoughts
Because each generation makes additional purchases, it is clear from the 2-person tent’s conclusion that the product must be made available through various channels. The purchases range from impulsive purchases to purchases for upcoming occasions. The family structures among the generations range from only a couple to parents of children and grandkids. They differ in their preferences for purchasing online for speed and convenience vs. wanting to touch the thing in person. To target the audience of the present campers, many stations must run various advertisements.
References
Djafarova, E., & Bowes, T. (2021). ‘Instagram made Me buy it’: Generation Z impulse purchases in the fashion industry. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 59, 102345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102345
Koksal, M. H. (2019). Differences among baby boomers, Generation X, millennials, and Generation Z wine consumers in Lebanon: Some perspectives. International Journal of Wine Business Research, 31(3), 456-472. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWBR-09-2018-0047
Kurz, C. J., Li, G., & Vine, D. J. (2019). Are millennials different? In Handbook of US consumer economics (pp. 193-232). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-813524-2.00008-1
Munsch, A. (2021). Millennial and Generation Z digital marketing communication and advertising effectiveness: A qualitative exploration. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 31(1), 10-29. https://doi.org/10.1080/21639159.2020.1808812
Thach, L., Riewe, S., & Camillo, A. (2021). Generational cohort theory and wine: analyzing how gen Z differs from other American wine consuming generations. International Journal of Wine Business Research, 33(1), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWBR-12-2019-0061
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