A target market is a group of individuals or subsegments from a
broader market which a company has identified as its primary
customer base (Shoemaker & Shaw). There are numerous ways to target certain customers within a market. For
example, a company may want to target certain customer base on geographic
location and within the geographic location there are cities, parts of the
cities, media market and even neighborhoods. Demographic segmentations is also
another common way of segmenting a market based on cultural, education, age,
race, income and much more. Each target market is designed with products and
services in a way that the needs and wants of its primary customers are met
successfully.
The Marriott International has successfully
built up different target market within its industry by specifically targeting
the needs for their customers. The JW Marriott, created by the Marriott
international as a luxury brand, is designed to target mainly on customers who
are seeking for a quiet and luxurious atmosphere during their accommodation. These customers are mostly around the age of 30ths, who earns an average high
income and usually travels for business purposes. Therefore, their customers
are mostly the individualistic, sophisticated, and self-defined travelers who
are willing to spend more money on their accommodations while traveling on a business
trip. The purpose for the JW Marriott is to provide their guests with a simple
elegant atmosphere that allow the customers to feel as leisured and comfortable
as possible without any distraction or disruption.
The JW Marriott Kuwait which recently awarded
Best Business Hotel indicates that they provided “simple elegance” and
outstanding “intuitive service” ideally designed for business travelers who
look for a quiet and undistracted accommodation. According to the JW Marriott Kuwait City – Experience our hotel commercial, the hotel states that they
provide large deluxe guest rooms and suites featuring luxury bedding, spacious
work areas, high-speed internet, beautiful executive lounge, and outstanding
spa and massage service. Meanwhile, the hotel is located in the heart of the
Kuwait city so it is also very convenient for them to travel around the city. Opposite to the W hotels – known for their unique atmosphere, funky
style and vibrant music, JW Marriott hotels strive for an inviting atmosphere
and simple elegance. According to the JW Marriott Kuwait City News, it clearly states that the brand is trying to provide their
guests with a “quiet” and “luxurious” experience in the hotel because they
believe being a luxury hotel does not need to consist with excess formality. Instead, there will be no loud music, no exaggerated environment, and fancy
decoration. What is left will be a simple, elegance sense of sight so that
their guests can enjoy staying in the beautiful hotel without distraction or
disruption. The hotel also promises to handle
their guest’s request and needs in a very careful and precise manner, which
means that guest can expect their needs and experiences to be highly satisfied.
For example, a guest arrived at the Kuwait airport who is looking for a taxi to
the JW Marriott Kuwait surprisingly found out that the hotel has actually
already reserved a Mercedes to pick him up from the airport to the hotel
(tripadvisor). By doing this, the JW Marriott Kuwait will be able to attract
and to maintain valuable customers who are more preferred to stay in a simple,
quite, and luxurious place.
Besides rooms and services, the JW Marriott also
desired to target customers who are looking for high standard catering and
cuisine in the hotel. According to the official JW Marriott website, each hotel
under this luxury brand offers authentic cuisine with fresh picked local
ingredients and traditional local culinary skills. Each fine dining restaurants
in the hotel hired expert chefs and professional servers in order to provide
the best dining experience for their customers. The atmosphere, architecture,
and the serving culture are also very genuine and varied as each city the JW
Marriott hotel is locating. And no doubt, the prices are expected to be high in
value. The PRIMO, one of the fine dining
restaurants in the JW Marriott Orland, Grande Lakes, will be a demonstrating
example showing the target market the hotel is trying to attract. The PRIMO is
a modern Italian restaurant under the JW Marriott hotel which they hired the
James Beard Foundation’s Award-Winning Chef, Melissa Kelly, as the executive
chef of the restaurant. The restaurant is known for its “homegrown” concept where
the chef guarantee to use only the finest ingredients for each dishes, which
they stock up directly from PRIMO’s organic garden and local farms. Consequently, people who choose to dine in
this restaurant would expect to seek for a high standard of fine dining
experience. The hotel, on the other hand, would also expect to earn higher
revenue from providing higher quality service and environment for their
customers.