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Difference Between Target Market & Audience?
Posted By: shahud* on 8/27/2004 9:27 AM (CST) 50 Points
Whats the difference between target market and target audience? As i got very puzzled between these two. As somebody told me about the great Marlboro Advertising Campaign that the target market in the campaign is the "cow boys" and the target audience are "smokers" I kept on trying to get the grip over this issue but cant figure it out.
If mothers and fathers are the target audience for the advertising of pampers then what is the target market?

Posted by: aosterday* Accepted Answer
8/27/2004 10:12 AM (CST)
They are usually the same thing. Sometimes an audience may be a more segmented portion of a larger market. For example, if you're selling Pampers, the market is comprised of all parents with children in diapers. But maybe your target audience is the more affluent segment of that market, those parents who can afford a premium brand of diaper. In other words, a target audience can be a more narrowly defined group within the target market.
 
Posted by: mjklanac* Accepted Answer
8/27/2004 10:27 AM (CST)
I think it's safe to assume that more often then not the target audience overlaps with the Potential Market.

~mjk
 
Posted by: bobhogg Accepted Answer
8/27/2004 10:39 AM (CST)
shahud...

I think the "someone" who told you about the Marlboro campaign was playing semantics, not explaining a marketing principle!

This is one of the drawbacks of employing too much jargon - and we marketers are as guilty of that as anyone else, I'm afraid.

Using the exact words that you quote, could we define a "target market" as everyone you've identified as a potential customer, whereas a "target audience" could be that group of potential customers that you can reach with a particular marketing communication message?

In practical terms, however, I'd be inclined to consider the two phrases as interchangeable.

Bob
 
Posted by: Peter (henna gaijin) Accepted Answer
8/27/2004 11:38 AM (CST)
I think there can be a difference in the terms.

Target market is who you want to sell to. For Marlborough, the target market would be various demographic breakdowns of people who smoke or might be willing to smoke.

Target audience is who the media you are using reaches.

You hope that the target market and target audience overlap perfectly, but this doesn't always happen.
 
Posted by: MrHegemony* Accepted Answer
8/27/2004 2:09 PM (CST)
I believe that what Peter said is correct. Your target audience is the population group that are going to see your various marketing endeavors, whereas your target market is a specific break-down of the target audience.

As two other members mentioned, you hope that your target audience and target market overlap, but that doesn't always happen.
 
Posted by: pkemper* Accepted Answer
8/27/2004 2:20 PM (CST)
In B2B there is also a clear distinction:

The target market are the ORGANIZATIONS that are potential buyers (sometimes segmented by size, by industry, by geography, etc).
The target audience are the PEOPLE inside those organizations (usually segmented by position inside the organization).

At least, that is what we use when we design campaigns (we're in the B2B software market).
 
Posted by: SRyan ;] Accepted Answer
8/27/2004 7:22 PM (CST)
Not sure if this is accurate, but I'd guess that your target market includes the folks who actually BUY your product. The target audience would include those who INFLUENCE the buyers.

The best example is my six-year-old daughter, who has zero buying power. She's a member of the TV audience who gets bombarded with commercials for the latest idiotic, breakable toy. I'm the one who puts that toy on my credit card.

- Shelley
 
Posted by: Wiglaf Accepted Answer
8/29/2004 7:30 PM (CST)
Thank you SRyan

Target audiences and target marekts are often the same, but not always.

Consider business markets. Busienss may buy products and services but the decision to do so is made by people. In this case, the people that work for a business and can influence or make decisions are the target audience. But, in counting the potential size of the market the number of businesses define the target market.

Or consider American Doll Store. Parents buy $85 dolls for kids but kids make them want to go to the store. Again, parents are the target market but kids are often the target audience. Same could be said for many other children's toys.

Whenever the pruchase decision maker is not the same as the end user, the Target Market and the Target Audience are not the same. The Target Market defines the size of the market and the end user. The Target Audience defines who influences or makes the decision to buy.

Keep inquiring,
Tim
 
Posted by: shahud* Author Response
9/1/2004 1:27 AM (CST)
Dear Friends
It was an exciting and surprising experience, that I got such a marvelous feedback over my question. I am highly thankful to all of you for helping me and letting me know with your kind thoughts. Am not a marketer by profession but somehow my profession is deeply linked with marketing, as am working as an art director here in pakistan. I hope my further experience with this great site will be more thrilling and exciting. I wish everyone peace, joy and more happiness. GOD bless us all.
 
Posted by: Mushfique Manzoor Accepted Answer
9/8/2004 7:02 AM (CST)
Hi shahud

Target market are those whom you are targeting in selling your products. these people will use your products/services, the end users.

Target audience is the people who are reached by the various media you are using to communicate your marketing activities.

in cases of products used by adults, who make the purchase decision on their own Target Market and Target Consumer overlap each other. In case of Marlboro ad both are same, existing and potential smokers, as mentioned by peter. Most adult products are in this category, interestingly Baby products like baby cereals, diapers etc also have the TM and TA overlapping, parents :)

for products in which the end user is different from the purchase decision makers, the Target Audience is the purchase decision makers and users both while Target Market are only those who are end users. examples are kids products, toys dolls etc.

hope this helps.

cheers!!
 
Posted by: Doug I* Accepted Answer
9/11/2004 1:56 PM (CST)
Ok so now that I'm trying to identify my Target Market of those who might buy my products I now have to sit down and work out who will be in the Target Audience for each of the advertising and promotional mediums I use. That's how I see the difference.

"People" will want to buy my product. That's my Target Market. How many "People" will read the newspaper and be in my printed media audience? How many "People" will read my mass e-mail and be in my electronic audience? How many "People" will respond to word-of-mouth promotion and be in my BTL advertising audience?

Am I learning ? :-)
 
Posted by: Sharon Moderator Response
9/14/2004 10:09 PM (CST)
Hello all. I am closing this question. This is standard procedure when the question author gets busy and falls out of the conversation for a while – or doesn’t understand the procedure for closing.

Thanks for participating!
 
Posted by: randhir Member Response
9/30/2005 3:25 AM (CST)

A Target is that where u find the target audiance but all target audiance may not be from the target market.

A classic example is of chocolate where target market is generally in the age group of 8-25 but normally audiance is someone who buy chocolate and that may be old men/women.
 
Posted by: lulighttec* Member Response
2/26/2007 8:37 PM (CST)
Interesting thing to note, your friend was slightly off when they mentioned that Marlboro marketed to cowboys. Eventually they did use that advertising campaign, but it is interesting to note that Philip Morris originally targeted housewives, which is where the packaging of the Marlboro cigarette comes from (The red roof with a white peak, like the eaves of a house).
 


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