Week 4 Part A: Defining Target Markets

     A target market is an audience a company is marketing to in an attempt to gain their business. The process of deciding who the target market is and how to appeal to them is a lot more complicated than it seems. While most companies starting out initially know who they want to appeal to, that can be broken down into subcategories and more from there. As society adapts, businesses need to keep up in an attempt to stay relevant and appeal to their ever-changing (and growing) clientele. While larger companies have the budget and staff to work on their marketing and analytics, smaller businesses need to be able to keep up and attempt to do the same. Two companies that are similar, but also quite different are Subway and Hungry Bear Deli.

    Subway has always been acknowledged as the "healthy" fast-food option. From the story of Jared (their former spokesperson) to their wide variety, it is a place for people to go to get a filling sandwich without feeling as guilty. Their demographic tends to be healthy, young adults who need a quick meal. Their logo colors, green and yellow, tend to be associated with health and excitement, which makes sense as that's how they brand themselves. On the other hand, Hungry Bear Deli is a local sandwich shop and doesn't have quite the reach of Subway. Their target market is rather broad as they appeal to those who like sandwiches and salads. Their logo mimics that of the California state flag, but adds the bear eating a sandwich, which adds to the meaning of the name. 

    There are a few obvious differences between the two sites, one being the site itself. Subway's site was created by a professional team most likely with professional web developers. Hungry Bear Deli's website is powered through Bentobox, which hosts restaurant websites and offers templates to help small companies build their website. Unfortunately for Hungry Bear Deli, this limits their ability to customize the website as much as a larger company. Since Subway has the money to pour into their web design, they can offer more information on their site and call-to-actions, which heightens their depth of content. As far as alignment goes, Subway simply makes better use of centering their content, while Hungry Bear Deli's website takes up a tiny bit more room than is necessary. The last differences combine hierarchy and contrast. While there is nothing wrong with Hungry Bear Deli's website, Subway simply uses better font and better contrast with their colors to make everything pop.

    While the companies vary in size and budget, they have a decent amount of similarities. For starters, they both have a clear concept. They both market what they sell, and even have ways to go about ordering online as well as linking their social media channels. There is also repetition and ease of use with the display of their logo, which helps with brand recognition and clarity. They also share the broad market of sandwich lovers, with Subway appealing to the masses and Hungry Bear Deli appealing to locals. Overall, both companies make it clear that they want to provide food service to their customers and want to make it as easy as possible for their customers to get it.

    Many websites that share a target market will have both similarities and differences. Whether this is their demographics or their psychographics, a company has to set out clear outlines as to who they are trying to appeal to. Once a company can do this is when it can build its website to optimum performance. While this effort can best be made with a large budget, websites like Wix, WordPress, and Squarespace allow small businesses to build effective sites of their own. I look forward to seeing how businesses continue to adapt to further the wants and needs of demanding clients.