In marketing strategy, concentrating a firm's efforts on one particular, narrowly defined segment of consumers is known as which type of marketing?

Introduction / Context:
Segmentation and targeting are fundamental concepts in marketing strategy. Instead of trying to serve the entire market, firms often choose specific segments to focus on. When a firm chooses a very narrowly defined and specialised segment and tailors its offerings to that group, it is said to pursue a niche marketing strategy. This question asks you to recall the term used for concentrating efforts on such a particular segment.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The firm concentrates marketing efforts on one particular segment.
• The segment is narrow and distinct, not the entire market.
• The options include several named marketing approaches.

Concept / Approach:
Niche marketing involves serving a relatively small group of customers with specialised needs that are not fully met by mainstream providers. The niche may be defined by geography, usage, benefits sought, price level or some other characteristic. The firm designs its product, promotion and distribution to fit the niche closely. Among the options, niche marketing is the only one that directly describes targeting a narrow segment as a strategy.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recognise that the question describes concentrating efforts on a particular consumer segment.Step 2: Recall that such focused targeting on a narrowly defined group is called niche marketing.Step 3: Option B is exactly niche marketing, while options A, C and D refer to other concepts.Step 4: Ambush marketing is an aggressive tactic of associating with an event without official sponsorship, not a segmentation strategy.Step 5: Therefore, select option B as the correct answer.

Verification / Alternative check:
If you think of real world examples such as a company that only makes ultra light trekking equipment for expert hikers, or a restaurant that serves only gluten free dishes, these are niche marketers. Marketing literature explicitly labels such strategies as niche marketing. Ambush marketing, content marketing and cloud marketing refer to different approaches related to communication and technology rather than segmentation. This confirms that option B is correct.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, ambush marketing, involves trying to gain attention at an event in a way that ambushes a competitor, not focusing on a narrow consumer segment. Option C, content marketing, is a communication approach that uses valuable content to attract customers; it can be used for many segments, broad or narrow. Option D, cloud marketing, refers to delivering marketing activities through cloud based platforms and is not about segment focus.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes choose content marketing because they associate the word content with specific topics, but content marketing is not defined by the narrowness of the target segment. Another mistake is to pick an option based on familiarity rather than matching the definition in the question. To avoid this, always map the phrase in the question, such as concentrating efforts on one particular segment, to the technical term niche marketing that you have learned.

Final Answer:
Niche Marketing