Does STP analysis give meaning to the crowd that is the market?
Marketing Framework Introduction 5: STP Analysis
The biggest misconception in marketing is "trying to sell to everyone."A product for everyone, a service that pleases everyone—that is not an ideal, but a fantasy.
Customers are not a "market" but "individuals," and their minds are swirling with countless choices and noise. In that environment, only the "voice that speaks only to you" gets through.
STP analysis was born to clarify the "contours of this voice."
|Segmentation (Market Segmentation)
|Targeting (Determining the target customer)
|Positioning (Building your company's position)
These three tasks are the "heart of strategy" in marketing. Proposed by Philip Kotler, known as the father of modern marketing, in 1969, they have since been incorporated into practical business strategies.
The essence of STP lies in "discarding everything."
Segmentation does not mean classifying customers by gender, age, occupation, or income. Rather, it is closer to the process of "deciding who you will not engage with" after classifying them.
The moment you decide to target women in their 30s living in urban areas, you must be prepared to "cut off" men in their 60s in rural areas.
With that in mind, you move on to the task of "narrowing the focus" known as |<Targeting> (Determining the target customer).
The most important thing here is "story," not "numbers."
For example, if a beauty subscription service targets "office ladies who buy sweets at convenience stores on their way home from overtime" instead of just "women in their 20s," the advertising copy changes drastically. It shifts from a functional appeal of "makes your skin beautiful" to an emotional appeal of "for yourself after a hard day's work."
Thus, targeting is not a question of "who to stab," but "what kind of story to draw them in with."
And finally, |<Positioning> (Building your company's position).
This is a choice of which flag to raise on the battlefield. In a forest of similar products, you need to secure a space in the customer's mind that says, "This is your place." To do that, simply highlighting functional differences is not enough. What is needed is "differentiation of meaning."
Apple does not say they are "the best in the world in terms of specs." What they give their users is a "refined self-image." This is not a function, but the provision of an identity. In other words, positioning is a strategy that works on "human self-consciousness" rather than the "product" itself.
Here is a case study of STP application. A local craft beer manufacturer was facing the problem that "it sells to locals, but doesn't spread beyond that." So they did the following:
S: Beer enthusiasts vs. light drinkers, outdoor lovers vs. home drinkers
T: "Craft beer enthusiasts who want the perfect drink after hiking"
P: "An aftertaste that takes you back to the mountain summit the moment you drink it"
They built an STP like this and collaborated with camping supply stores and used photos of mountain trail scenery on their packaging. As a result, it went viral on social media among urban hiking circles, and they started getting calls from select shops in the city. What was born from the analysis was not a product, but a "scene." It was the moment STP analysis transformed a function into a story.
When thinking about STP, give your fictional persona a "name and a life."
Instead of "woman in her 30s," make it as specific as possible: "Aya Tanaka, 34, works at a foreign IT company in Ikebukuro, goes to the sauna twice a month."
By doing this, the design of advertising copy and product packaging becomes surprisingly concrete.
Of course, STP also has risks.
If you narrow your target too much, you close off the market's growth potential yourself.
Positioning incorrectly will lead to homogenization with competitors.
But the biggest problem is the possibility of creating an "ambiguous product that doesn't resonate with anyone."
Even so, words aimed at everyone reach no one.
Marketing is the "art of selection and exclusion."
"If you don't have the courage to choose, you won't create a reason to be chosen."
STP analysis is the work of cutting off all other customers to polish a product for "just one person."
Next time, "5 Forces Analysis."
It is a framework for reading "how many enemies are there" in your position after you have found it with STP. The market is a battlefield. Thinking you can win without counting the number of enemies and their weapons is nothing but a fantasy. Probably.