Final Customer Purchasing from an Intermediary of the Product

Use Steps: Use steps include all the Final customer's activities to find the appropriate product category at the Intermediary, to choose among the alternatives to the product and to take delivery of the product.

C.
Experience: Enhance the experience the customer has with the product

2.
Associate the company or the product with an image to increase customer pleasure in using the product

C. Project an image of the values of the firm

Interested in a particular age group

No.	Year	SIC	Note
1	2001	5621	The little-known but fast-growing retailer cultivates women of a certain age, avoirdupois and asset level with stylish private-label clothing that comes in just a few nonjudgmental sizes: zero, one and three. A few other specialty retailers, such as Talbots Inc., have successfully homed in on the baby-boomer woman. The Chico's look, built mostly around wash-and-wear fabrics, is loose and colorful. Prices are moderate, ranging from $20 to $150. While there is a marketing emphasis on new items, the basics are meant to be mixed and matched season after season.
2	2001	5699	Abercrombie and Fitch is trying to drive away teenage customers in order to protect their young adult market base, who tend to avoid products that are popular with younger crowds. The company has developed a new chain, "Hollister", to fill the 14-18 year old market base.
3	2003	5699	Pacific Sun's big rival, Gap, shares its sales with its other companies like Old Navy and Banana Republic. Pacific Sun doesn't follow that route as its PacSun and d.e.m.o. stores have distinctly different clothing. The PacSun stores target older teens.
4	2003	5699	Unlike Hot Topic's teen clothing competitors, its merchandise is selling fast. Its sales were $115.7 million in the 2nd quarter of 2003, which was up 25% from the year before. Same-store sales rose 5.2% and transactions per store were also up.
5	2003	5699	Hot Topic's growing reputation as the go-to source for everything teen propelled its very fast growth. It launched a new chain, Torrid, which caters to plus-size teenage girls.
6	2003	5699	Aeropostale, a teen clothing store, sells more conservative-type clothing. "The company's focus–T-shirts, flip flops, shorts and polos–has a broad appeal. The company sounds proud to say it's a fashion follower rather than a leader."
7	2003	5699	For the past 14 years, Hot Topic has followed the alternative teen demographic more closely than any other teen company. It has taken the anti-establishment vibe and put it in a suburban mall.
8	2000	6141	Even if Blue's smart card functions are largely symbolic, the chip is part of a high tech aura that redefines American Express's image. Blue customers represent an important growth area for American Express: an affluent, independent-minded, and technologically sophisticated demographic. Essentially the PalmPilot generation, these technology haves and want-to-haves are ambitious and self-reliant. Amex is only too happy to oblige them on its Web site. There, Blue users can apply for a card, pay bills, and access financial planning calculators.

<< Return to Use Steps