Martin Guitar Company

C.F. Martin & Co.

For the musician who loves what they do, it’s the power, precision, innovation, and history that asks you, “are you experienced”?

Brandon Staab

Marketing 320 (002557)

Michael B. Zeibell

Section 10

C.F Martin is a guitar company which has constructed acoustic instruments for 174 years. The company started when Christian Frederick Martin moved from Germany to New York City in 1833 with the dream of producing acoustic guitars. On 196th Hudson Street his dream became reality, and Martin guitars were being constructed. Because of the weak music industry in the 1830’s, Martin grew through a variety of distribution agreements and bartering. By 1873 the company grew from a one-man operation to over a dozen craftsmen. Currently C.F Martin has an 84,000 square-foot factory located in Nazareth Pennsylvania. That facility houses nearly 500 employees, and is responsible for standardizing more guitar designs and innovations than any other acoustic guitar manufacturer. And that is why I have constructed their positioning statement as, “for the musician who loves what they do, it’s the power, precision, innovation, and history that asks you, “are you experienced”?

C.F Martin competes in the music industry along with companies such as Gibson, Fender, Taylor, Larivee, and Breadlove. Martin’s market segment is completely grounded to the production of acoustic instruments, and targeting the musicians in which use them. The focus on this segment allows Martin to put all their energy into the acoustic category; un-like Fender, Taylor, and Gibson who branch off into the electric guitar category. Furthermore, Martin tightens its market niche to hand selected wood; solid-body acoustic guitars. That niche is directed towards professional musicians and or amateurs who are looking for the best instrument in all the guitar categories. The categories constructed by Martin are influenced by two main external factors; the psychographic personality of their customers, and competitive factors of the industry. The personality of the individual customer is extremely complex, and is constructed through their demographic background. The customers personality is what Martin attempts to mirror through there 19 guitar shapes and 187 body styles. Martin responds to these external factors by striving to have a guitar for every personality from all walks of life. Furthermore, Martin uses their prestigious name and benefit-segmentation strategy to combat the competitive instrument market. Martin has set the standard for acoustic guitar innovation and quality in almost every category (pretty beneficial to own one).

As stated above, Martin’s customer’s personality derives from their individual demographic influences. Because the categories are so diverse and personalized, Martin attempts to deploy a multi-segmented strategy with one-to-one marketing technique in which attempts to classify people with their personality to specific guitar attributes. These attributes range from size, shape, wood, color, sound, neck shape, and amplification technique. The one-to-one marketing concept is necessary; and is what makes it possible to match ones personality to a specific guitar through these specialty item purchases.

But Martin is more than just selling acoustic instruments; they attempt to sell the ultimate guitar experience. The positioning statement directly supports the positioning statement. The experience incorporates Martin’s history, style, prestige, innovation, and quality that have resulted from 174 years of making top notch guitars. Hence, “are you experienced”? And with that comes the price of experiencing Martin guitars.

Price is a huge factor for the Martin Guitar Company. A prestigious brand with impeccable quality holds a high price tag. Martin guitars generally start around $1,500 dollars, and can go up to $100,000. However, Martin has designed a lower price point section of guitar models that start around $500. Overall most companies locate the majority of their acoustic products under $1,000 because the largest market is in amateur guitarist. Martin meets the positioning statement by matching the high costs with high standards in quality. So where does Martin sell their products?

Their distribution strategy is fairly simply. They allow the customer to buy the product through any authorized Martin dealer such as the Guitar Center. These places allow the customer to play the instrument all while receiving one on one help with a guitar technician. These stores also have their inventory available online for viewing and