Page 126 - MYM 2016

Market Segmentation: Still the Bedrock of Commercial Success
fig. 7: buying process of
a customer segment of a global travel company, nicknamed “John and Mary lively”
For example, most so-called
digital strategies
are ine ective
because the com-
pany does not
have a robust
marketing strat-
egy that spells out
what the target
markets are, how they are segmented and what the value proposition is for each key target segment.
Su ce it to say that any organization that embarks on any segmentation path other than needs-based segmentation is doomed to waste an awful lot of time and money.
For readers who want a detailed explanation of the correct methodology for carrying out correct, needs-based segmentation, please refer to Market Segmentation: How to Do It; How to Pro t from It by McDonald and Dunbar, Wiley 2012. ■
Malcolm McDonald is an Emeritus Professor at Cran eld University School of Management and an Honorary Professor at the Warwick Business School, England. He has written over 40 books, including the bestseller “Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them.”
RefeRences
Bailey, C., Baines, P., Wilson, H. & Clark, M. (2009). Segmentation and Customer Insight in Contemporary Services Marketing Practice: Why Grouping Customers is No Longer Enough. Journal of Marketing Management, 25(3-4), 228-251.
Christensen, C., Cook, S. & Hall, T. (2005). Marketing malpractice: the cause and the cure. Harvard Business Review, 83(12), 74-83.
Coviello, N., Brodie, R., Danacher, P., & Johnston, W. (2002). How rms relate to their markets: an empirical examination of contemporary marketing practice. Journal of Marketing, 66(3), 33-46.
Jenkins, M., & McDonald, M. (1997). Market segmentation: organisational archetypes and a research agenda. European Journal of Marketing, 31(1), 17-30.
McDonald, M., & Dunbar, I. (2012). Market Segmentation: how to do it; how to pro t from it, 3rd ed. Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann.
McKinsey & Company. Forbes. (July 7, 2016). Where the
big changes are happening in sales and what they
mean. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ mckinsey/2016/07/07/where-the-big-changes-are- happening-in-sales-and-what-they-mean/#1699f1e169a8
Rigby, D., Reicheld, F., & Sche er, P. (2002). Avoid the four pitfalls of CRM. Harvard Business Review, 80(2), 101-109.
Smith, W. (1956). Product di erentiation and market segmentation as alternative marketing strategies. Journal of Marketing, 21(July), 3-8.
Wilson, H., Daniel, E., & McDonald, M. (2002). Factors for success in relationship marketing. Journal of Marketing Management, 18(1-2), 199-218.
Wind, Y. (1978) Issues and advances in segmentation research. Journal of Marketing Research, 15, 317-337.
Yankelovitch, D. (2006). Rediscovering market segmentation. Harvard Business Review, 84(6), 122-131.
John and Mary Lively
126 | MINd YOUr MarkETING OCTOBEr 2016