As one of the world’s most recognized brands, with a trademark that’s reported to enjoy a 94% global recognition rate, Coca-Cola’s target market transcends age, gender, socioeconomic categories and even global boundaries. And this range is reflected in a rich diversity of products, including Sprite, Minute Maid and sugar-free Diet Coke — all available in a wide variety of flavors, sizes and packaging. 

Coca-Cola did not always enjoy such market dominance, but fought its way out of the soda shoppe over the course of many decades. And for all its success, the company is also instructive for a number of missteps like the ill-fated launch of New Coke in the 1980s. And, even while dominating the international market, Coke’s success has been less consistent at home, where Pepsi is more competitive.

Like Coca-Cola, Nike is a global brand with worldwide recognition. Their target market is more defined in terms of age, and has been repeatedly recognized as the “favorite footwear and apparel brand” for teenagers in the U.S. in the past decade. In general, though, Nike’s target market is anyone who aspires to exercise, as expressed in its famous “if you have a body, you are an athlete” mission statement. 

Perhaps even more impressive, though, is the company’s embrace of the female target market in recent years, resulting in a dramatic 24% growth in revenue. To do so, Nike reinvented offerings like bras and leggings, going so far as the use of specialized technology to create “data visualizations” of the human body to improve product development, as a Nike research director explained to Retail Dive.

The “most valuable brand in the world, and probably of all time,” with a 2022 market valuation of almost $950 billion, Apple is a stunning success story in the efficacy of successful defining and targeting a specific market — particularly when that target market is largely middle- to upper-income earners in urban areas with the disposable income to pay for high-end technology products. 

For that price point, Apple’s target consumers get a top-notch user experience, a reliable and highly supported product, and considerable brand cache — a tradeoff that appeals to students and professionals between the ages 20 and 45. And within this broader target market, the company has successfully targeted more specific audiences like those who work in graphic design or film production. 

In stark opposition to Apple’s high-end approach, Tesco, the British big-box retailer, targets a market that’s interested in bargains and motivated by value and affordability. This is a customer who’s willing to become a club member to get the lowest price possible — a demographic that Tesco has successfully leveraged to become one of the world’s biggest multinational retail chains based on revenue. 

The company has successfully pursued specific segments of its larger target market with campaigns and features like Tesco Bank and the Clubcard Pay+ innovation program, which works online and offline. And with its relaunched Everyday Value brand, Tesco built on considerable brand loyalty while also “shifting the rhetoric away from price to real value,” as Rosie Baker writes at Marketing Week. 

Another of the world’s most prominent retailers, Primark pursues a target market that’s fashion minded and budget conscious — or “fast fashion,” as it’s sometimes called, along with brands like ASOS, Gap, Zara and H&M. With little advertising and in defiance of current digital trends, the company built a strong following through word of mouth and the appeal of a satisfying brick-and-mortar experience. 

While known for its low price point, Primark’s story isn’t all about pricing. The company also fosters brand loyalty by offering select customers items on a basis of exclusive and limited availability. And, although it offers all styles of clothing, it also focuses more on women more than men, and on younger more than older shoppers, with a primary range of 16 to 30 years of age.   

Another “fast fashion” brand, ASOS targets a market that’s closely similar to Primark — largely in the 18-to 34-year range, and both fashion minded and budget conscious. Yet it takes a different course in reaching that market, employing cutting-edge marketing mix like savvy social media campaigns on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, smart email marketing and a stylish and engaging website. 

On a larger scale, ASOS is taking on the global market, with a mission to become a “truly global retailer”. While floundering in 2022, that effort paid dividends as recently as 2021, when the company reported a triple-digit increase in profit — largely the result of a successful diversification during Covid-19.

 Starbucks has successfully defined and engaged its target market in a way other businesses can only dream of. Initially targeting 20- to 40-somethings willing to pay a higher price point for convenience in coffee and food, Starbucks has successfully embraced new target markets like the quick-lunch and mobile-order/app-based customers. 

Based mostly in urban and suburban areas, Starbucks consumers tend to be busy, on-the-go students and professionals. One way it reaches those buyers is with a popular rewards program that rewards quick transactions. And an ambitious plan for international expansion — its store count in China alone is expected to reach 9,000 stores by 2025 — means plenty of geo-based targeting, as well.