‘Most diets fail. That’s why diets make such a great business model,’ one Chief Executive Officer has said anonymously. Business teacher Mr Michael Edwards produced this quote as one of his examples of segmentation when he addressed the Exemplum Docet Society.
After having moved from The Model T Ford to a car industry segmented in a vast myriad of ways, the group turned their attention to segmenting tootpaste. The group quickly latched onto selling the benefits of whitening, avoiding tooth decay and treating sensitive teeth. They also appreciated that the growing number of single person households has increased demand for reasonably sized tubes. Of course the greatest marketing triumph is to sell toothpaste to those without teeth as they care for their gums.
The group gave their own attempts at creating a classification of residential neighbourhoods - large country detached house… flat in a high rise block… small town house… before they looked at the classifications created by CACI as they provide businesses with postcodes for different market segments. Businesses are keen to pay to learn where those with ‘Lavish Lifestyles’ such as hedge-fund managers and premiership footballers reside.
Finally the group had a taste of the geo-demographic segmentation provided byExperian. Not only does the company identify target segments it also provides names of those typically included in the groupings. This showed that Rupert and Felicty are Golden Empty Nesters while Percy and Ada belong to the Twilight Subsistence group of considerably less financial means.
This data is used to guide marketing strategies of large organisations. Rightly or wrongly, privacy is a thing of the past.
