Marketing Strategy for Hair Extensions and Beauty Products Research Paper

Marketing Strategy for Hair Extensions and Beauty Products - Research Paper Example Behavioral segmentation involves observing how customers use products and media, purchasing behavior and ownership. Psychological segmentation involves using the lifestyles of customers, the types of benefits sought by customers and customers’ attitudes and perceptions. We shall use all different attributes from each of the three segmentation bases to help us identify possible target markets. Our approach for doing this will be the breakdown approach which considers the market as consisting of customers that are essentially the same, thus our job would be to identify groups sharing particular differences. Our core products are hair extensions and beauty products. The hair extension products shall be targeted at women whereas the beauty products shall have products targeting both men and women. Targeting both men and women in our beauty products will enable us to use complementarity of our products between the sexes to create a market positioning. The economic environment for o ur targeted customer, in North America and Europe, is still in recovery mode, thus many consumers have low discretionary income. The level of discretionary income affects our products because they do not fall under the essential products category. For this reason we shall target midlife independents (35–54 year olds who are not married and do not live with relations) and unconstrained couples (35–54 year olds who are married but do not live with son/daughter). These two life-stage groups are likely to have a job (in the current low jobs market) and have higher discretionary income because of fewer life-obligations such as not living with relatives, living single or married with two sources of income. Lastly, we cannot ignore the importance of geographic variables on our products. People in different continents tend to have different skin care concerns based on their skin pigmentation and climatic conditions. For example, women leaving in coastal regions will need skin care products with lower moisture content in comparison to their counterparts living in dry, inland areas. Competitors Two of direct competitors are NIVEA by Beiersdorf AG for beauty products and SHE by SO.CAP for hair extensions. NIVEA has a broad and deep product range for both men and women beauty products. It is also a strong and global brand. NIVEA’s product positioning strategy is a mix of both functional and expressive positioning. In its functional positioning strategy NIVEA focuses on use, for example, its sun care range highlights different products that match different needs such as sensitive skin or after the sun. In its expressive positioning strategy NIVEA speaks of its heritage as a symbol of knowledge and experience e.g. on its UK website it says â€Å"NIVEA: 100 years feeling closer†(NIVEA, 2012). NIVEA’s current positioning is delivering a heritage in beauty products in an extensive range of products. SHE by SO.CAP USA, on the other hand, is a subsidiary of the 40 year old Italian Company, SO.CAP. s.r.l (SO.CAP, 2012). SHE is a functionally positioned brand that focuses on the features. For example, it emphasizes the fact that their hair extensions are hand selected and 100% European-type human hair that is pre-bonded with 100% Keratin (SO.CAP, 2012). However, it is not as globally-recognized brand as NIVEA. It promises to deliver to the customer the largest selection of hair types and hair color. According to a research conducted by

Performance Management at Lincoln Electric Company and Southwest Case Study

Performance Management at Lincoln Electric Company and Southwest - Case Study Example A common denominator that has been linked to their success is their concern for employees that trumps their concern for their shareholders (Schuler, 2012, p.572). These companies assert that if employees are well taken care of, they will do their jobs better, and doing so benefits customers and shareholders. Lincoln Electric is the top company that designs, develops, and makes arc-welding products, robotic arc-welding equipments, and plasma and oxyfuel cutting tools. It also leads in the brazing and soldering alloys industries. Lincoln owns 40% of the U.S. market share. Moreover, it provides its employees with a well-known Lincoln Incentive Management Plan, which results to above-industry-average productivity (Schuler, 2012, p.559). In 1995, the company attained $1 billion revenues, while at present, sales reached $2 billion (Schuler, 2012, p.559). Employee morale and productivity are good; while turnover is almost zero (Schuler, 2012, p.559). A similar company with strong employee f ocus is Southwest Airlines. It has led the low-cost airline industry by focusing on being the cheapest and most efficient operator in domestic regional markets (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2012, p.578). Despite being a low-cost airliner, Southwest is known for on-time travels, excellent customer service, and safety (Jackson et al., 2012, p.578). In 2012, the company bought AirTran Airways for $1.4 billion. The acquisition is believed to increase revenue and capacity by almost 25%, although its direct impact on Southwest’s success remains to be seen (Schuler, 2012, p.580). Like Lincoln Electric, employee morale and productivity are high in Southwest through the joint efforts of its employee-based committees. This paper compares, contrasts, and evaluates the human resource management practices of Lincoln Electric and Southwest. Recruiting and Selection Recruitment and selection are attuned to the organizational needs and cultures of Southwest and Lincoln Electric. Recruitment i s restricted to internal recruitment for most jobs in Lincoln Electric. Only entry-level positions are open to external recruitment (Schuler, 2012, p.561). Selection is performed by HR, which also happens in Southwest. In Southwest, however, selection is more refined due to specific employee attitudes that it looks for. This can be explained by the fact that Southwest operates in a service industry, while Lincoln Electric works in the manufacturing industry. Southwest has a stringent selection policy, where it spends more time, energy, and money in recruiting people who can fit the fun and collaborative culture of the company (Jackson et al., 2012, p.584). It has a People Department that performs the decisive function of recruiting and selecting personnel (Jackson et al., 2012, p.584). Personality tests and interviews support the rigorous selection process (Jackson et al., 2012, p.584). Hence, though both companies ensure that their employees fit company goals and culture through th eir recruitment and selection practices, Southwest shows extra dedication and uses more resources in recruiting people with the right attitudes. Performance Management Management Styles Both Lincoln Electric and Southwest have charismatic founders, whom employees find be empathic of their employees’ welfare, although Southwest has a â€Å"wackier† attitude to managing employees. In an employee interview, Trahan remarked that James Lincoln â€Å"