1.

The marketing concept is a philosophy in which achieving organizational goals depends

on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions
better than competitors do (Kotler et al., 2014). As mentioned, limited market research was
carried out by the firm and therefore they lacked the in depth knowledge necessary regarding
customers needs and wants. The firm only had an overview of what their target consumers
wanted. For example, although they knew that women wanted a way to deal with mice minus
the unpleasantness and risk, they did not find out how they would want to dispose of the
mice. This also shows that they only met their customers existing needs but not the latent
needs such as the disposal of the mice after being caught. Moreover, their research did not
show whether or not consumers would choose to reuse the mouse trap or choose to throw it
away. This could explain the low sales caused by insufficient repeated buying. Hence, the
organisational goal is not met.
The other aspect of the marketing concept is to deliver the desired satisfactions better than
competitors do. In this case, the traditional mouse trap is their competitor. For example,
unlike the traditional mouse trap, the Trap-Ease only aids in trapping the mouse but not
necessarily ensuring that the mice dont return. Therefore, it could be said that the firm did
not deliver desired satisfactions better than their competitors.
Besides that, the firm adopted a more product-centered philosophy instead of a more
customer-centered philosophy which is part of the marketing concept. According to Kotler et
al. (2014, p.32), the job is not to find the right customers for your product but to find the right
products for your customers. It is implied that Trap-Ease was developed by focusing on the
various benefits of a risk free and hassle free mouse trap; in other words focusing on creating
the right product. The benefits was then matched to the consumers who would likely desire it
the most. Therefore, instead of finding the right product for their customers, they found the
right customers for their product.

2. The process of dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers who have different needs,
characteristics, or behaviours, and who might require separate products or marketing
programs, is called market segmentation. The market segmentation strategy adopted by the
firm involves both segmenting into consumer markets and business markets. For business
markets, the company segmented the market based on industry. For example, they chose to
distribute the trap to national grocery and hardware stores and sell them directly to these large
retailers. In consumer markets, demographic and psychographic segmentation is applied. It is
shown that Martha, through her research, divided the market by gender and focused on one
distinct group of buyers and that is women. The psychographic variable is taken into account
as Martha considers the lifestyle of women that often stayed at home and took care of
children. Multiple segmentation is used by the company to better define their target groups.
The companys target marketing strategy based on Marthas research implied that women
were the best target market for Trap-Ease. She first evaluated and compared between the two
gender groups of men and women, followed by their lifestyle. For example, Martha analysed
how the target market of women who stayed at home shared the common concern of less
mess and the safety of children this brought her to the conclusion that women would favour
the Trap-Ease over the traditional trap more than men would. The company therefore applied
a concentrated marketing strategy when selecting their target market segment. A company
that adopts a concentration strategy chooses to focus its marketing efforts on only one very
defined and specific market segment according to (Boundless, 2015). As shown, the company
focuses on catering to women who stay at home. Their limited resources such as limited
research and only one product causes them to only focus on one segment.
The companys positioning strategy is based on product differentiation. Martha first identifies
that the product possesses several distinctive competitive advantages. For example, the TrapEase poses no poisoning threat to children or pets and consumers can load it easily with no
risk of catching their fingers. Thus, the company is offering more benefits to justify charging
a higher price.

The perceptual positioning map portrays the consumer perceptions of the Trap-Ease
versus the competing traditional mouse trap on important buying dimensions such as cost,
safety as well as hygiene.

3. In the aspect of segmentation, the firm should work towards making their segment more
measurable and substantial. The firm should be able to measure some form of data to gauge
the size of their market segment. For example, they can use surveys to find out the population
of women who stay at home or the number of women willing and able to continually pay for
a mouse trap at the price when it comes to long term use. This will in turn allow them to be
able to evaluate the overall attractiveness of the segment. This leads the firm to be able to
discover whether or not the segment chosen is substantial. Knowing the size of the segment
will allow them to accurately predict potential for growth in profits. When it comes to target
marketing, the company should analyze whether the company has the resources to come up
with the right mix of product, price, and distribution as mentioned by Pride et al (2014, p.43)
Moreover, the firm could also consider entering other target markets for a wider customer
range to boost sales. In positioning strategy, the company should re-evaluate and choose their
strongest competitive advantage to communicate and deliver to their chosen target market.
For example, the high price of the product could be reconsidered so that the product appears
more affordable. Because the safety and hygiene trait is their competitive advantage, they
should market and emphasize that in their magazines and advertisements. Lastly, the firm
should examine their product using the four Cs which are customer solution, customer cost,
convenience, communication so that they are well equipped to develop customer
relationships and provide true value.

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