Business Glossary

marketing strategy whereby marketers devote 100% of their efforts toward a small segment of a market instead of the whole market. Niche marketing generally appeals to smaller companies with limited resources. Typically, the small market segment, or niche, has been overlooked or only casually served by other larger competitors but is still large enough to be profitable. There are several different niche marketing strategies: end user strategy, serving only one type of end user customer; vertical level strategy, specializing in one level of the production-distribution cycle; customer size strategy, selling products designed for only one size customer, such as petite or extra large clothes; service strategy, offering a service not available from any other company; and geographic strategy, selling only in one geographic area.

also called multisegment marketing. market coverage strategy whereby a company attempts to appeal to two or more clearly defined market segments with a specific product and unique marketing strategy tailored to each separate segment. Typically differentiated marketing creates more total sales than undifferentiated marketing, but it also increases the costs of doing business.

market coverage strategy whereby a company ignores differences within a market and attempts to appeal to the whole market with a single basic product line and marketing strategy. Undifferentiated marketing relies on mass distribution and mass advertising, aiming to give the product a superior image in the minds of consumers. It is cost effective because there is only one product line to be produced, inventoried, distributed, and advertised. Also the absence of segmented market research lowers the costs of consumer research and product management.