Situational Marketing

Well this is a new one. Followers of this form of marketing, though few at present, say that this concept can revolutionize the marketing field. Lets try and understand it.

Situations can be formed by observing many aspects of everyday behaviour. They can be formed by product and service use, shopping and purchase dynamics, consumer lifestyles and routines, media and promotion consumption. Situation analysis is all about extracting common patterns of behaviour grounded in everyday life. It is about defining the markets based on the experiences people have each and everyday.

How is it an improvement over current marketing practices which most of the companies are following. According to the followers of situational marketing, context and situation drives 40-60% of choices consumers make in their everyday lives and existing methods miss these opportunities. Situational marketing satisfies these opportunities by addressing them and leads to results which benefit both consumers and firms.

I am not in a position to comment on this strategy, about its future which only time will tell. However this concept might be effective for certain products.....and some companies have started using this concept...an example for the same is 

“To begin with, we’re broadening the frame of reference for each of our categories by looking at our products through consumers’ eyes rather than through the narrow lens of our manufacturing processes. With a broader frame of reference, we can compete in larger, faster growing categories; gain share from a wider range of quick meal and snack alternatives; drive incremental volume and mix; and better meet consumer needs.”

- Irene Rosenfeld, Kraft Foods Annual Report 2006