Market Segmentation Hawaii

Market Segmentation Hawaii

The article tell how to tap the potential of market segmentation. Many financial services power-houses have adopted a marketing positioning strategy that portrays them as leaders in virtually all segments of the market.

Market segmentation is the process of partitioning the marketplace into customer/prospect groupings that have similar characteristics and are likely to exhibit similar behavior. As a key component of an effective strategic marketing plan, market segmentation can facilitate the insightful market analysis, the discovery of underserved niches, and the use of approaches that achieve competitive advantage. The basis of successful market segmentation is well conceived market research that provides insights into meaningful customer traits and guides prioritization of possible target markets and marketing techniques.

General Motors offers an early example of successful market segmentation. In the early 1920s GM redefined its marketing strategy by segmenting car buyers into price/quality brackets. They then differentiated their offerings by focusing products, as well as their advertising and marketing promotion, to meet the needs of each class of buyers. Thus began the renown family of GM products—Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac. Ford, which offered its standardized Model T in “any color as long as it’s black,” was caught flat-footed and was forced to close its main River Rouge plant for nearly a year to retool in an attempt to regain a competitive stance.

As the GM example illustrates, implementing an effective market segmentation strategy does not require that a firm alter its products or services. What it does require is that the company:Market segmentation is definitely more an art than a science. Some of the more common segmentation screens utilize geographic, demographic, socio-economic, psychographic, usage and/or benefit considerations. There are, however, also a number of creative market...