Final Customer Buying from the Product Producer

Acquire Steps: Acquire steps include all activities the customer completes preceding the use or the consumption of the product. These steps include the customer's efforts needed for evaluation and acquisition of the product.

3. Intellectual: Segment customers on the basis of their current knowledge and understanding of the company and its products.

A. Knowledge of company and company product

2. Familiarity with specific product

Customer segment does not know product because the product is: New on the market

Similar to other products from other companies

No.	SIC	Year	Note
1	2000	2005	Annie's Homegrown, a company with just 45 employees, is making its mark as an earthy, socially responsible company where anything artificial is banned from the ingredient list. After the company gained recognition for all-natural, white-cheddar popcorn called Smartfood, the product was sold to PepsiCo. The founder poured that money into white-cheddar macaroni and cheese. With unconventional marketing tactics, the company hit ski lodges, outdoor folk concerts and store parking lots to gain recognition. The company now produces 80 products which are sold nationwide.
2	2086	1992	Gatorade has 85% market share in sports-drinks. Pepsi and Coke try to move in with All Sport and PowerAde. All Sport advertised through taste tests in stores. Gatorade ads directly target competition, use high-powered sports figures.
3	2086	1998	Triarc's new Diet RC cola is advertising that is has no aspartame and instead uses sucralose. The new claim is designed to help the smaller business compete against bigger giants like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.
4	2389	1995	Many manufacturers are opening their own flagship stores. They act as a life-size, interactive ad, meant to boost brand awareness for the manufacturers.
5	2844	1987	Revlon entering the baby shampoo market with its Care for Kids mousse shampoo. DeVere Corp pushing Shampoo Created for Kids, which comes in bottles shaped like big crayons.
6	3524	1984	Around 1984, Honda spent $12.5 million advertising its lawn and garden equipment, 20% of the industry total ad budget, though it had only 2% of the market.
7	3600	2002	In addition to expanded product lines under the Vidal Sassoon, Revlon and Sunbeam names, the maker of hair and personal care products Helen of Troy has expanded into direct marketing. Tactica International markets personal care appliance and house wares items via direct response, catalogs and infomercials. Infomercials bring in higher margins because the process eliminates the middleman.
8	3600	2004	Samsung opened up a showroom in Manhattan but focused on showing off the products. Those who wished to make purchases were directed to nearby retailers.
9	3711	1990	Luxury auto manufacturers of the Classic Era didn't advertise in the mass media. They used posh showrooms with tapestries on the walls and Oriental rugs beneath the cars. Automobile Salons were major social events. They also placed ads in upper-crust magazines.
10	3949	1998	Penn Racquets Sports has made their tennis balls dye-free for their new customers, dogs. The tennis balls have the Ralston Purina Co. logo, thanks to a licensing deal with the dog-food giant.
11	4512	1986	Continental is expected to announce low fares to 30 cities out of Chicago's Midway airport for travel between Nov. 20 and Dec. 15. Continental will be flying out of Chicago for the first time, and such promotional prices aren't unusual.
12	4512	1993	Cathay Pacific Airways offered members of American Airlines' frequent-flier program a way to earn 80,000 miles by calling them and giving the names of 10 people you expect to fly round-trip between LA & Hong Kong on Cathay before next March.
13	4812	2002	Sprint PCS is launching an upgraded network for wireless data services this summer. Because of their recent partnership with Virgin mobile they will be able to target the youth market indirectly. In the industry, six national carriers and regional players vie for subscribers as airtime prices fall.
14	4813	1996	Bell venture's new "Talk Along" plan cuts the customer segment between boroughs. Only $14.99 a month, plus 49 cents a minute during peak hours, when all the calls are made from one designated borough. Outside the borough, the rate jumps to 99 cents a minute. AT&T followed with a "me-too" that doesn't differentiate between designated areas.
15	5812	2001	To begin circulating its brand without traditional advertising, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters distributed samples of its product at wine and food festivals and gave it to such organizations as the Cub Scouts and Ronald McDonald House.
16	7375	1987	InfoPlus produces a directory with yellow pages that have "talking ads." Each ad has its own 4-digit code for use with a push-button phone. By dialing a local number then punching in the code, consumers can hear more detailed information.

<<Return to Acquire Steps