Marketing Specifications

Marketing specifications are developed from careful analysis and research of the target market and user need.

Target Markets and Target Audiences

A target market describes the sectors and segments within a population. It is a general term that describes a large group of people that are targeted for advertising, marketing, or a particular product or service. 

A target audience is a narrower definition that describes the specific characteristics of the users within each sector or segment. 

Target markets can be separated in the following ways:

• Segmented: Divided according to shared geographic characteristics (address, location, climate, country, etc.)

• Demographic or Sociographic: gender, age, income, education, stage in the family life cycle

• Psychographic: similar attitudes, values, or lifestyles (eg. religion, political or religious values, environmental activism.)

• Behavioral : the types of behavior consumers display when making a purchasing decision. It is related to their knowledge of, attitude towards, use of, and response to a particular product.

Market analysis and User need

Market analysis refers to an appraisal of the economic viability of the proposed design from a market perspective, taking into account fixed and variable costs and pricing. It is typically a summary about potential users and the market.

The economic viability of a product refers to ability of the product to make a profit. If a product is very expensive to produce, and the potential user group is small and unwilling to pay a high price, then the economic viability of a product is very low. Conversely, if the demand for the product is high despite its high cost, the product can be considered economically viable.

When calculating the cost of a product, costs are divided into fixed and variable costs. Fixed costs refer to costs that do not change regardless of the quantity produced. Rent, insurance,  and salaries are examples of fixed costs. Variables costs are the costs related to the volume of the product being produced. Resources such as the raw materials are examples of variable costs.

Any marketing specification should identify the essential requirements that the product must satisfy in relation to the market and the user need. It is useful for designers to consider how their product meets the different needs of a user.

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Resources

• Topic 7.3: Strategies for User Research

• User Research Strategies

• Topic 9.4: Market Research

Competition

When inquiring into a new design need, a thorough analysis of competing designs is required to establish the market need. The designer needs to understand the market in order to successful place their product. Every product entering the market attempts to distinguish itself by being innovative, using attractive marketing schemes, or selling at a different price point.

Through analyzing the competition, designers can benchmark their design against an existing product in order to identify the minimum features needed to be successful.

Design specifications

A design specification relates to the requirements of a product and details important aspects of the design goal.

The purpose of the design specification is to state what a successful design looks like. 

Specifications can be divided into two categories:

• Constraints: These are elements of the design that cannot be changed. They are limitations or essential requirements for the design. Dimensions (Size), Cost, Material or Process are examples of constraints.

• Considerations: These are elements of the design that must be thought about. The constraints might These often have multiple solutions and it is up to the designer to find the optimum solution.