Resume Wizard - Colorado FFA



Agribusiness | |Colorado Agriscience Curriculum

|Section: |Agribusiness |

|Unit: |Marketing |

|Lesson Title: |Determining YOUR Target Market |

|Colorado Ag Education Standards|AGB11/12.04 - The student will understand the influences of agricultural economy and its influences on the overall economy. |

|and Competencies | |

| |Develop a marketing plan. |

| | |

| |Understand market alternatives. |

| | |

|Colorado Model Content |English Standard 1: Students read and understand a variety of materials. |

|Standard(s): | |

| |English Standard 4: Students apply thinking skills to their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing |

| | |

| |English Standard 5: Students read to locate, select, and make use of relevant information from a variety of media, reference, and|

| |technological sources. |

|Student Learning Objectives: |The Student will: |

| |Answer the question – ‘What is a Target Market?’ |

| |Determine the steps necessary to identify a Target Market. |

| |Use Market segmentation to define a Target Market. |

| |Learn how to evaluate consumer changes and buying patterns. |

|Time: |90 minute lesson (or two 50 minute lessons). |

| |There isn’t an abundance of material, but all of the learning activities will take extra time. |

| |Feel free to break the lesson where you feel it is appropriate. |

|Resource(s): |All Business – The one-stop resource for growing businesses: |

| | |

| |Guille, Marilyn: “How to Find And Sell To Your Target Market” - |

| |(Author Marilyn Guille owns Comprehensive Virtual Editing (CoVE) Services, which provides press release writing and distribution, |

| |general and business writing, editing, and ghostwriting services. Guille has been a professional freelance writer for over a |

| |decade) |

| |MonsterCommerce staff (June 15, 2006) “Determining your target market” - |

| | |

| |Barbara Cunningham, Business Development Specialist Clay County, Missouri |

| |University of Missouri Extension, “Reaching your Target Market”

| |Small Business Encyclopedia, , “Target Markets”, |

| |Further Reading: |

| |Cohen, Eric. "How to Target Smarter." Target Marketing. May 1998. |

| |Durden, Jonathan. "Questioning the Term 'Targeting' is Fundamental." Marketing. November 3, 1994. |

| |Field, Anne. "Precision Marketing." Inc. June 18, 1996. |

| |Gordon, Kim T. "Cream of the Crop." Entrepreneur. January 2001. |

| |Green, Gloria, and Jeffrey Williams. Marketing: Mastering Your Small Business. Upstart Publishing, 1996. |

|Instructions, Tools, Equipment,|Prior to the students coming into the room, set up a bull’s eye target (one is provided at the end of this lesson). Post the |

|and Supplies: |target on a wall, door – anywhere that you feel is appropriate. |

| |Cut out the million dollar bills located at the end of the lesson. Make sure you have enough for each student in the class (make |

| |copies as necessary – there are enough bills at the end of the lesson to accommodate 20 students). Write each student’s name on |

| |one of the bills; place scotch tape (double-sided works best) on the back of the million dollar bills. |

| |Have a blindfold available (big enough to go around each student’s head). |

| |Make sure the tables, chairs, etc. are pushed back – the students will be participating in a game similar to: “Pin the Tail on the|

| |Donkey”. |

| |Have one or two small prizes (candy, gum, etc.) for the winner(s) of the “Hitting our Target Market” exercise. |

| |Make copies of the PowerPoint Student Handouts – enough for each student to have their own copy. |

| |One copy of the “Refining your Product or Service” scenario cut into strips. |

|Interest Approach: |Good morning everyone! How are your marksmanship abilities today? Are you all limbered up and ready to hit a target? |

| |Elicit responses. |

| |Anyone feel like they could hit that bull’s eye located on that door/wall with two hands tied behind their backs? |

| |Elicit Reponses. |

| |Well – today is YOUR lucky day! To get things started this morning, we will be playing a new version of an old childhood favorite|

| |– but instead of ‘pinning the tail on the donkey,’ we will be “Hitting our Target Market!” |

| |To start us off, when I say BIRTHDAY I need each of you to leap out of your seats and form yourselves into a line organized by |

| |birth date. Those with birthdays in January are first, followed by February, then March, etc. Any questions? Great! Now, |

| |dazzle me with your quickness and efficiency – BIRTHDAY! |

| |Observe as the students get into a line. This might be interesting – especially if you have students from multiple grades in the |

| |class. Notice the students are to get in line by their birth date – not their age. |

| |Fantastic everyone! Excellent work! Now, when I say TARGET, I will begin by blindfolding the first person. After they are |

| |blindfolded, I will spin them in exactly 3 circles and point them towards the target you see posted on the wall/door. They will |

| |then attempt to place their Million Dollar Bill on the bull’s eye of the target. |

| |After the first person goes, we will work our way through the line until everyone in the class has had a turn. Remember, no |

| |cheating – do your best to find the bull’s eye of the target while blindfolded. |

| |The student who gets closest to the bull’s eye wins a prize. Any questions! Great!!! TARGET! |

| |Continue through the exercise until all students have placed their dollar bill somewhere ‘near’ the target. Announce the winner |

| |of the ‘game; give them their prize.’ |

| |Kudos to all of you for your hard work in trying to hit the bull’s eye on the target without any direction or vision. It’s |

| |apparent you all gave this exercise your best shot. |

| |What can you tell me about where the million dollar bills are placed? |

| |Elicit responses – students should come up with something along the lines of “they’re scattered all over’ |

| |That’s right – the bills are scattered all over the target, the wall, the posters, and even the classroom. |

| |Why do you think the million dollar bills were placed where they were instead of located directly in the middle of the bull’s eye?|

| |Elicit responses – students should be able to explain that they couldn’t SEE where the bull’s eye was, making it difficult to hit |

| |with the bill. |

| |Exactly! Each of you just participated in a marketing exercise – an exercise where you were trying to hit a ‘target market’ |

| |without having any information to make a precise decision. You were literally trying to hit the target blindfolded! And spent |

| |millions of dollars trying! |

| |Do you feel like your millions of dollars were well spent? Did you actually hit the target with your money or was it spent |

| |wastefully? |

| |Elicit responses – hold brief classroom discussion. |

| |When I say BLINDFOLDED, everyone please make sure they have a copy of today’s ‘student notes’ handout, return to their seats and |

| |take out a writing utensil and prepare to be dazzled – you’re about to learn how to hit the bull’s eye on a “Target Market” every |

| |time – allowing all of you young entrepreneurs to maximize your profits and operate successful small (or large) businesses without|

| |wasting lots of your hard-earned money chasing after the wrong customers or hitting the ‘wrong’ market. |

| |Any questions? All righty then – BLINDFOLDED! |

|Objective 1: |The following information is chunked into user friendly format on the PowerPoint Slides ______. Encourage students to follow |

| |along on their Student Notes pages. |

| | |

| |Add class discussion, examples, etc. as necessary. |

| | |

| |The information on the PowerPoint Slides is scripted below in case you’d like a more detailed description: |

| |Objective #1– What is a Target Market? |

| |Introduction: Not knowing who your target market is and what they want is like doing business blindfolded – definitely something |

| |everyone in this class can now relate to. How much fun is it to spend millions of dollars trying to hit a target you can’t see? |

| |Probably not too much fun – I’ll bet each of you could come up with a more efficient use of your funds than throwing them around |

| |in the dark. |

| |In order to operate a small business or entrepreneurial venture – all business owners MUST realize that their particular business |

| |CANNOT be all things to all people. Instead, that business must reach specific customers and satisfy their particular needs. |

| |As an entrepreneurial business owner, you must identify those customers and understand as precisely as possible what they want. |

| |This process is called Target Marketing. |

| |Let’s look at a quick definition of Target Marketing: |

| |Target Marketing: The process of finding and studying potential customers. |

| |Target Marketing for your venture doesn’t have to be complex or expensive, but it is extremely important. In a nutshell, it |

| |requires you to find out everything you can about the customers you intend to pursue. Once you have that information, you’ll have|

| |a much better chance of capturing those customers for your business. |

| |All right ladies and gentlemen – here’s the biggest question of the day - Why do we CARE about Target Marketing? |

| |To help us warm up our brains and be able to work through this question, let’s do a quick modified Newton Moment – is everyone |

| |ready? Are you ready to question the structure of the universe – just as Sir Isaac Newton did? All right – let’s go! |

| |When I say SIR ISAAC I want each of you to write down an answer as to WHY you and I, and every small business owner should care |

| |about Target Marketing. Once you have your answer – write it in your student notes. Questions anyone? Let’s get started! SIR |

| |ISAAC! |

| |As the students begin writing their answers to the ‘why’ question, quietly work your way through the room – visiting with |

| |individual students and discussing their answers. Privately ask 1-3 of the students to share their answers at the conclusion of |

| |the e-moment. |

| |Thanks everyone for your effort and hard work! _____________, ____________ and ____________ have agreed to share their thoughts |

| |with the class. Kindly give them your full and undivided attention while they share their SIR ISAAC knowledge with you. |

| |After the students have shared their thoughts – hold a brief discussion – then move on to the next PowerPoint slide – which |

| |indicates several concrete reasons why business owners should CARE about Target Marketing. |

| |Target marketing can: |

| |1. Be a particularly valuable tool for small businesses because they often lack the resources to appeal to large differentiated |

| |markets or to maintain a wide variety of products. |

| |2. Allow small businesses to develop products and a marketing mix that fit a relatively homogenous part of the total market. |

| |3. Allow small businesses to focus their resources on a specific customer base; therefore they can carve out a successful market |

| |niche that serves customers better than larger competitors. |

| |4. Maximize profit for small businesses – making it the primary function of marketing management for many smaller companies. |

| |Read the following story to your students. Ask them to put down their pens/pencils, close their eyes and listen to the story. |

| |For your convenience and ease of reading, the following script is included on the PowerPoint presentation. |

| |Great note-taking everyone! Let’s take a quick break from writing; when I say FISHING, I want everyone to close their eyes and |

| |transport themselves to their favorite fishing spot; where you will listen very carefully to the story I’m about to tell you. Any|

| |questions? FISHING! |

| |A nationwide manufacturer of fishing equipment is looking to sell its newest, most innovative fly rod. In order to determine |

| |which customers might most likely purchase this top of the line rod – the CEO of marketing decides it would be a waste of time and|

| |money to randomly market this product to the entire U.S. population – especially because this fly rod is most likely to appeal to |

| |die-hard outdoor enthusiasts and fishermen and not your everyday suburbanite. |

| |But where do these outdoor enthusiasts live? Where do they shop? What websites do they visit? Where do they go to fly fish? |

| |Rather than waste money shooting in the dark, this savvy CEO decides to conduct market research – and he/she uses tools such as |

| |demographic reports, market surveys, and trade shows, to determine which customers would be most likely to purchase the new fly |

| |rod and how to market to them and their vulnerabilities. Once he/she has this information in hand, the CEO is able to more |

| |efficiently spend their limited resources in an effort to persuade members of the target group(s) to buy the rod. |

| |Advertisements and promotions would then be specifically tailored for each segment of the target market – including emails, web |

| |banners, flyers, magazine advertisements, television advertisements, in specific markets, etc. |

| |GREAT LISTENING everyone! What did we learn through that short passage? |

| |Elicit Responses. |

| |That’s right – it only makes sense to heavily market your product to those customers most likely to purchase what you’re selling! |

| | |

| |Fantastic work on Objective #1 – “What is a Target Market” – your note taking and listening skills were superb! |

|Objective 2: |Objective #2 – Finding your Target Market |

| |Now that we’ve whetted our appetites, let’s explore exactly how to find our target market! |

| |Introduction: Who are your customers? Who will buy your product? Many savvy small business owners either have no idea who will |

| |buy from them, or they assume that 'everyone' will. |

| |Assumptions like this can lead to wrong decisions, wrong pricing, wrong marketing strategy and ultimately, business failure. |

| |The most successful small businesses understand that only a limited number of people will buy their product or service. The task |

| |then becomes determining, as closely as possible, exactly who those people are, and 'targeting' the business's marketing efforts |

| |and dollars toward them. |

| |You, too, can build a better, stronger business, by identifying and serving a particular customer group – your target market. |

| |1. Refine your Product or Service : Do NOT try to be 'all things to all people.' Become a specialist! |

| |Cut the following script up (a complete script is located at the end of the lesson for your convenience) – give portions of the |

| |script to students in the class. Ask them to stand up and read their part when it is time to do so – this involves the students |

| |in the story-telling process. |

| |Student #1: Let’s look at an example from a Big Game Hunting Operation located in Northwestern Colorado. |

| |Student #2: This small business made some specific decisions early in their market planning. They controlled a fairly large |

| |portion of private land (approximately 14,000 acres and very little public/BLM land. As a result, hunting opportunities for the |

| |general public were extremely limited. |

| |Student #3: Deciding to capitalize on this opportunity, this small business decided to target specific hunters from out of state |

| |who wanted to experience Colorado Big Game Hunting in a private, club-like atmosphere. |

| |Student #4: This business established themselves as a ‘trespass fee’ hunting operation, where hunters from out-of-state traveled |

| |to the ranch, and paid a fee to the landowners. In exchange they were allowed free access to the private hunting grounds |

| |controlled by the ranch for the duration of the hunt. |

| |Student #5: As a ‘trespass fee’ operation, the small business owners recognized that there were plenty of licensed, bonded and |

| |insured big game guide and outfitting operations in the area. To differentiate themselves from the guide and outfitting services,|

| |they charged hunters a flat fee, which included free access to the hunting grounds for five days. This fee also included housing |

| |in the form of two completely furnished hunting cabins (including DirecTV), and provided family style homemade dinners as well as |

| |sack lunches for the duration of their trip. |

| |Student #6: This decision to not ‘guide’ the hunters, or allow them to set up camps on the property, etc. eliminated a percentage|

| |of the market – but it also gave the business a 'niche' that they could capitalize on, and expanded their market in a way that |

| |other big game hunting operators could not take advantage of. |

| |Great work PARTICIPANTS – everyone, let’s give our actors a hand and thank them for participating in class today! |

| |Have everyone in class clap and cheer for the readers. |

| |What did we learn in that script? |

| |Elicit Responses. |

| |Excellent – that sometimes it makes sense to REFINE our products or services to meet a specific market – because we’ll be able to |

| |maximize our profits and REALLY provide what customers are looking for! |

| |Now that we’re experts on realizing how we need to refine our products and/or services, we need to understand that: |

| |2. People purchase products or services for three basic reasons: |

| |To satisfy basic needs. |

| |To solve problems. |

| |To make themselves feel good. |

| |To be successful, you'll need to determine which of those categories your product or service is the solution to, and be prepared |

| |to market it accordingly. |

| |Your product or service may fit more than one category, too: To highlight this, let’s revisit our Big Game Hunting operation |

| |again: |

| |Give another 2 students the second portion of the Scenario scripts – ask them to read the scripts to the class: |

| |Student #7: We discovered that our big game hunting business primarily targets folks who just want to feel good – spending a few |

| |days out in the ‘wilderness,’ while still being able to come home to the modern-day creature comforts at night. |

| |Student #8: We’ve also structured our business to target people who want to reward loyal employees, top salespeople, or upper to |

| |middle management; our business represents a solution to a problem many businesses often face: "How can I best reward my workers |

| |for their performance? Instead of raising their pay, what kind of a ‘once in a lifetime experience’ can I provide them?" |

| |Thanks for your assistance readers! Everyone give them a standing ovation for their excellent acting skills today! |

| |Instruct the students to give the two readers a standing ovation! |

| |. |

|Objective 3: |Objective #3: Using Market Segmentation To Define Your Target Market |

| |Now that we’ve found our Target Market, we need to really zero in on that market by using Market Segmentation. |

| |1. Define the scope of your product: |

| |First of all, is your product international or national in scope? |

| |Or is it more likely that you will sell it primarily in your own region or community? |

| |In our Big Game hunting scenario, the ranch’s primary market is actually national or international – hunters who come to this area|

| |from all over the world to hunt in the nation’s largest elk herd. |

| |Their secondary market is local – people who might want to take a one-day hunting trip, but don’t have any need for lodging or |

| |meals. |

| |2. Identify Market Demographics: |

| |Let's say that your primary market is local or regional, and that you live in a community with a population of 2,000 people. The |

| |first thing you'll need to do is research the 'demographics' of your community – WHO are the people in your community? How old |

| |are they? How many of them are young, middle-aged, elderly? |

| |Age: children, teens, young, middle, elderly |

| |Gender: male, female |

| |Education: high school, college, university |

| |Income: low, medium, high |

| |Marital status: single, married, divorced |

| |Ethnic and/or religious background |

| |Family life cycle: newly married, married for 10 – 20 years, with or without children. |

| |This information should be available to you through your local town, hall, library, or Chamber of Commerce – and the more detail |

| |you can get, the better. |

| |This is an ideal place to have a quick class discussion about the demographics of the community(s) your students live in. |

| |Have each student warrant a few guesses about the make-up of their community. Write there responses/guesses on the board/overhead|

| |projector. Save these responses and compare them to their Application: Extended Classroom Activity located at the end of the |

| |lesson. |

| |Once you have defined the scope of your product AND identified market demographics, you will need to divide it into market |

| |segments |

| |3. Segmenting the Market: Lots of times prospective customers don't know about your company, or can't tell the difference |

| |between your company and others. It is your job, once you know who your best customers are, to 'target' the group that you've |

| |identified – even if you have competition. You can best ‘target’ that group through market segmentation. Break consumers and |

| |their spending habits down into manageable categories. Several categories include: |

| |Lifestyle: conservative, exciting, trendy, economical. |

| |Social class: .lower, middle, upper. |

| |Opinion: .easily led or opinionated. |

| |Activities and interests: sports, physical fitness, shopping, books. |

| |Attitudes and beliefs: environmentalist, security conscious. |

| |Technologically driven: likely to purchase items online. |

| |Does your target market tend to use search engines, directories, or shopping portals? |

| |Are the demographics of your target market more apt to click on banner ads, text ads, or are they more vulnerable to email |

| |marketing? |

| |Know what words people are typing into search engines () |

| |4. Determining What Motivates your Targeted Consumer’s Purchasing Power – So now you know the types of people out there – you |

| |know who’d you’d like to target – NOW you need to know what do they want? |

| |There are 6 ways to identify what your customer’s might want: |

| |Study your market and your customers. |

| |Study your competitors and your competitors’ customers. |

| |Observe and ask questions – lots of questions. |

| |Find out what customers will respond to in your type of product or service. |

| |Find out what is most important to them. |

| |What motivates them? |

| |Once you’ve worked your way through the six ways to identify what customer’s might want, complete the following questions about |

| |your product. |

| |Answering these questions can help shape the type of consumer you may want to target. These questions reveal your consumers’ |

| |motivations for buying: |

| |Is your product a necessity or luxury? |

| |What is the product’s lifecycle? How often will customers need to re-purchase? |

| |What is the product’s availability? |

| |Are there any foreseeable future changes in this industry? |

| |What is the price of an average purchase? |

| |Although answering these questions may seem tedious, they are essential to the success (or failure) of your small business. |

| |All right newshounds and eyewitnesses – it’s time for an Eyewitness News Account! When I say GET THE NEWS, we’ll be |

| |participating in an Eye-Witness News Moment. |

| | |

| |Quickly pair up into teams of two. Now, I’d like one of you to be the reporter and the other to be the eyewitness! |

| | |

| |The eyewitness needs to stand tall and take on the air of someone who saw “Segmenting the Market AND What Motivates Targeted |

| |Consumer’s Purchasing Power” under discussion with their very own eyes – you must be a know-it-all with a pleasant personality. |

| | |

| |The reporter must address an imaginary camera, with a microphone – use your pen – in hand, and welcome the viewing audience to |

| |‘this breaking news report.’ As the reporter you must question the eyewitness about the content we just learned in “Segmenting |

| |the Market AND What Motivates Targeted Consumer’s Purchasing Power” |

| | |

| |Do you have your roles ironed out? Great! |

| | |

| |This is a timed event; after 30 seconds I will give the class a signal – at this signal you will switch roles – and play again for|

| |another 30 seconds. |

| |Does anyone have any questions? If not, then GET THE NEWS! |

| | |

| |Monitor the students’ news reports – by moving around the room and observing each team. Make sure to give the students a signal |

| |at 30 seconds – indicating that they must change roles. |

| | |

| |Fantastic effort! It sounds like everyone really has a handle on “Segmenting the Market AND What Motivates Targeted Consumer’s |

| |Purchasing Power”. Let’s check for understanding. |

| | |

| |At this point you may want to increase individual accountability by randomly selecting individuals to tell what their eyewitness |

| |said. |

| |5. Turning Motivators Into Messages |

| |The last component of using market segmentation to define your target audience includes turning “Motivators into Messages”. |

| |By now you should have a picture emerging of who you think your 'ideal' customer is … or who you want it to be. Depending on the |

| |nature of your business, you might even be able to write a description of your customer. |

| |From the targets and purchasing motivators you’ve identified, start with one or two words you want to associate with your |

| |business. From these words, develop either a motto or a tag line for your business. |

| |"Fly the Friendly Skies," "We Try Harder" and "Do It Your Way" are all well known tag lines. |

| |To reinforce this message, ask the students to capture a Motivating Message in their Student Notes that captures the essence of |

| |the Big Game Hunting Scenario that’s been referred to throughout this lesson. |

| |To help us reinforce the idea of creating a Motivating Message – When I say ROCKY MOUNTAIN ELK, everyone take the next 45 seconds |

| |to create a unique, motivating message that could be used as a tag line for the Big Game Hunting Operation we’ve been referring to|

| |throughout this lesson. Make sure to capture your Motivating Message in your student notes! Ready – Set – ROCKY MOUNTAIN ELK! |

| |Monitor the students’ progress writing their motivating message – assist when necessary |

| |I am so proud of you – there are definitely a few advertising geniuses in the room today! Would anyone like to share their tag |

| |line? |

| |Elicit responses from students – as many as you feel are appropriate. |

| |Fantastic work! So – now that we’ve gone to all that work of identifying a target market, further defining and refining that |

| |market, identifying potential customers and their wants and needs – AND we’ve got our business off the ground everything should |

| |just run smoothly right? |

| |Perhaps for a while, but in the long run, successful businesses continually adjust their target markets. What’s that you say? We|

| |have to go through ALL that work again? No –way!!?? |

| |Fortunately for us, and for small business owners everywhere, there are a few ‘shortcuts’ once you’ve laid all the initial |

| |groundwork. Anyone dying to find out what these shortcuts entail? Let’s be dazzled by this final piece of information – ready? |

|Objective 4 |Objective #4: Consumers Constantly Change; Change with them. |

| |1. Interact with and get to know your customers |

| |TALK with your customers, get to know them, their families, their specific needs; then change your products/services to meet their|

| |changing needs: |

| |Use surveys and analytics to get to know your customers. |

| |Place surveys at your place of business. |

| |Incorporate questions into your online checkout process. |

| |Issue surveys via email. |

| |Surveys allow you to capture information about your customers. |

| |Information is power, and this type of feedback from customers may show you opportunities for improvement. |

| |2. Using the information you’ve gathered - Once you have the best possible understanding of your target market and you’ve become |

| |aware of all the different niches that you can market to, be sure you: |

| |Keep a pulse on the industry. |

| |Refresh your data with new research regularly. |

| |Utilize this information heavily whenever you are crafting or re-investing in your business’s marketing strategy. |

| |Business start-ups typically accept any kind of initial legitimate business in order to pay the bills and establish themselves as |

| |a viable entity. |

| |Long after the start-up has blossomed into a solid member of the local business community; it may continue relying on these early |

| |accounts rather than casting its net for more promising clients. |

| |Instead of letting your current customer base define you, use target marketing to determine who your next customers or clients |

| |should be. |

|Conclusion |We have finally worked our way through the complex process of targeted marketing. Armed with the tools you now have in your |

| |“Marketing” toolbox, hopefully you won’t feel like you’re trying market your products to consumers while blindfolded. |

|Application--Extended Classroom|1. Break the class into small groups (3-4 people per group). |

|Activity: |2. Challenge each group to research the demographics of their local community and find answers to WHO are the people in their |

| |community? How old are they? How many of them are young, middle-aged, elderly? Ask them to come up with statistical information|

| |on the following categories: |

| |Age: children, teens, young, middle, elderly. |

| |Gender: male, female. |

| |Education: high school, college, university. |

| |Income: low, medium, high. |

| |Marital status: single, married, divorced. |

| |Ethnic and/or religious background |

| |Family life cycle: newly married, married for 10 – 20 years, with or without children. |

| |Encourage them to look at specific community statistical data. This information should be available through the local town: hall,|

| |library, or Chamber of Commerce. Another great resource is: - just fill in the pertinent |

| |information and the statistical data is provided to you. |

| |3. Compare the information each group comes up with, with the initial information they guessed on during the lesson. How close |

| |were they? How far away? |

| |4. Armed with the necessary demographics statistics, challenge the groups to further segment the market by breaking consumers and|

| |their spending habits down into manageable categories. Several categories include: |

| |Lifestyle: conservative, exciting, trendy, economical. |

| |Social class: lower, middle, upper. |

| |Opinion: easily led or opinionated. |

| |Activities and interests: sports, physical fitness, shopping, books. |

| |Attitudes and beliefs: environmentalist, security conscious. |

| |Technologically driven: likely to purchase items online. |

| |5. Also ask the students to seriously consider the following six ways to identify what customer’s might want: |

| |Ask them to study their market – what opportunities are there? |

| |Get them to study their competitors and their competitors’ customers – perhaps by visiting other local businesses in the |

| |community, observing pricing and customer service at other ‘big box’ stores, etc. |

| |During their business visits and observations, instruct them to ask questions – lots of questions. |

| |Instruct them to find out what customers will respond to in their type of product or service. |

| |Find out what is most important to and motivates their customers. |

| |6. Once each group can explain what they’ve learned about the demographics of their community and further segmented those |

| |demographics – allow each group to come up with a ‘product’ or service to sell that compliments the demographics of the town. Use|

| |your discretion to determine if the group has really done their homework right regarding their demographics and segmentation |

| |conclusions. |

| |7. When every group has an acceptable product or service in mind (that’s been targeted to the local community through |

| |demographics and segmentation research), ask each group to answer the following questions regarding their product or service: |

| |Is their product/service a necessity or luxury? |

| |What is the product/service’s lifecycle? How often will customers need to re-purchase? |

| |What is the product/service’s availability? |

| |Are there any foreseeable future changes in the product/service’s industry? |

| |What is the price of an average purchase? |

| |8. Lastly, challenge the students to create a motivating message that carries throughout their entrepreneurial endeavor – they |

| |must have a tag line for their business. |

| |9. After completing all of the steps (and checks with the instructor), instruct each group to put their findings together in a |

| |PowerPoint Presentation. Instruct them to also create any necessary marketing materials (such brochures, price lists, etc.). |

| |When they have completed the project, have a Presentation Day during class where each group presents their findings, their target |

| |market analysis, and proposed product /service offering. This presentation would be targeted to mirror a “Trade Show” |

| |presentation where the team ‘marketing the product’ does so to a group of interested individuals. |

| |10. This activity could also be modified to meet the needs/demands of the Agricultural Sales and/or Agricultural Marketing CDE |

| |events. |

|Application--FFA Activity: |As a chapter, or as the current officer team, come up with a Targeted Market for the local FFA Chapter. Address questions such |

| |as: |

| |Who are the customers of our chapter? |

| |What do these customers purchase from our chapter? |

| |Why do they support our chapter – loyalty, support local youth programs, receive valuable goods and services from the chapter? |

| |How can the chapter better meet the needs of these customers? |

| |How can the chapter identify new customers? |

| |How can the chapter develop products or services that will meet the needs of these potential new customers? |

|Application--SAE Activity: |Ask entrepreneurship students to seriously consider how they are marketing their products. If they haven’t already done so, |

| |challenge them to walk through the steps to identifying and establishing a target market. These steps, and the business plan that|

| |will result, will help jump-start the student’s cash flow and will also help them become successful entrepreneurs in the future. |

| |Students who are serious about increasing their income, and who have worked through the steps necessary to identify their |

| |particular target market also have many things to include in their record books and proficiency applications. |

|Evaluation: |1. Grade student notes for thoroughness and accuracy. |

| |2. Take a class period to play “$10,000 Pyramid”. |

|Evaluation Answer Key: |Print off the PowerPoint Presentation – use it as the answer key. |

| |Will vary, based on the cards created for the $10,000 Pyramid Moment. |

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Refining your Product or Service Scenario Script

Student #1: Let’s look at an example from a Big Game Hunting Operation located in Northwestern Colorado.

Student #2: This small business made some specific decisions early in their market planning. They controlled a fairly large portion of private land (approximately 14,000 acres and very little public/BLM land. As a result, hunting opportunities for the general public were extremely limited.

Student #3: Deciding to capitalize on this opportunity, this small business decided to target specific hunters from out of state who wanted to experience Colorado Big Game Hunting in a private, club-like atmosphere.

Student #4: This business established themselves as a ‘trespass fee’ hunting operation, where hunters from out-of-state traveled to the ranch, and paid a fee to the landowners. In exchange they were allowed free access to the private hunting grounds controlled by the ranch for the duration of the hunt.

Student #5: As a ‘trespass fee’ operation, the small business owners recognized that there were plenty of licensed, bonded and insured big game guide and outfitting operations in the area. To differentiate themselves from the guide and outfitting services, they charged hunters a flat fee, which included free access to the hunting grounds for five days. This fee also included housing in the form of two completely furnished hunting cabins (including DirecTV), and provided family style homemade dinners as well as sack lunches for the duration of their trip.

Student #6: This decision to not ‘guide’ the hunters, or allow them to set up camps on the property, etc. eliminated a percentage of the market – but it also gave the business a 'niche' that they could capitalize on, and expanded their market in a way that other big game hunting operators could not take advantage of.

Second Half of the ‘Refining your Product or Service Scenario Script’

Give this script to two additional students after discussing how ‘People purchase goods or services for three basic reasons’.

Student #7: We discovered that our big game hunting business primarily targets folks who just want to feel good – spending a few days out in the ‘wilderness, while still being able to come home to the modern-day creature comforts at night.

Student #8: We’ve also structured our business to target people who want to reward loyal employees, top salespeople, or upper to middle management. Our business represents a solution to a problem many businesses often face: "How can I best reward my workers for their performance? Instead of raising their pay, what kind of a ‘once in a lifetime experience’ can I provide them?"

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