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Market Segmentation

Understanding Different Customer Needs

Imagine you're flicking through a glossy women's fashion magazine. You wouldn't be surprised to see an advert for a premium shampoo that featured a very attractive women in an expensive gown, showing off her beautiful, shiny hair.

Now imagine you're looking at the type of magazine aimed at mums. It probably contains some recipes, some craft ideas, and some true stories of family life. An advert for that same premium shampoo might show a mother laughing, and stroking the heads of her two happy children.

Finally, imagine that you're turning the pages of a men's magazine. You turn over the pages discussing the latest cars, interviews with the star of a recent action movie, and so on. An advert for that same premium shampoo might feature a man with strong, healthy-looking hair, playing tennis.

So what's going on here? The same product has been advertised in three completely different ways. The answer is that the shampoo manufacturer is using market segmentation.

Market segmentation involves dividing up the potential market for a product into groups of people who have similar needs, and then addressing these needs in a focused way.