Purchase-funnel targeting
All in-market consumers are not alike. Not only ado they differ according to their particular preferences or current life stage -- and beg to be treated differently -- but they differ according to the stage in the purchase process that they are in.
They may be just starting the process. They may be evaluating different brands. They may be focused on price and location for purchase. These different stages are frequently referred to as purchase-funnel stages. Marketers care deeply about where consumers are in this funnel, particularly within industries where the manufacturers operate through distributors and retailers and do not sell products directly to consumers, such as in the automotive industry.
For example, while in-market auto buyers are of interest to both auto manufacturers and local dealers, each of them has very different interests in those consumers, depending on where in the funnel they are at the moment.
A consumer at the top of the funnel in the automotive purchase cycle is probably just sorting through the different makes and models and features. The same person six weeks later is probably in a different mindset. He or she has probably started to focus on a particular model type, may already have developed a pretty strong brand preference and is starting to care most about issues such as price and location and service. Thus, delivering a generic auto ad to all in-market consumers irrespective of their funnel position might be merely unhelpful, but it could also be harmful.
Creative mock-up for ad targeting a generic buyer
Artist's conceptualization: not a real ad
Targeting price and rebate offers to someone at the top of the funnel might cheapen that brand in the consumer's eyes just at the moment they are trying to decide on other issues such as the environmental friendliness of the brand. Targeting generic brand messages to a consumer ready to make an imminent purchase might miss the chance to close a deal.
Creative mock-up with a focus on brand attributes
Artist's conceptualization: not a real ad
In this case, not only is the message different, but the advertiser is different as well. It is the manufacturer's ad that should be shown in the former case and the dealer's ad in the latter.
