Micro-markets

or, why targeting is so much fun

The same product is used by different people in the same company in many different ways. Since it satisfies many different needs by its many features, some really interesting thoughts emerge.
- most products are over-designed for the ultimate use to which they are put.
- every product-application can be potentially a "micro-market" and a product's market is a sum of all the micromarkets.
As an example, your laptop is used for your spreadsheet, e-mail, typing letters, making presentations, watching DVD, surfing the net... all these are usages to which you put the machine. You may use one feature or you may use several. All these usages are micromarkets. Some micromarkets are viable(big enough or profitable enough) to be targeted standalone. Some require to be clubbed together and marketed as a "suite".
Video watching micromarket is a very interesting case. It resides in the DVD player, laptop, iPOD and the cellphone. In case of the DVD player, it is the mainstay of the product you are selling; in case of your cellphone, it is a small adjunct.
If your product is a laptop, you are positioning it in several micromarkets. Some work together in the customers' mind but some do not.
Knowing all possible usages of your product is useful so that you can cultivate those micromarkets and deliver messages that resonate with them. And, aligning the message sharply to the market is the acid test of marketing.