The Consumer Product Strategist's Guide To Segmentation Analysis

Segmentation analysis is the hardest task in market research — and it's the most important research that consumer product strategy professionals will use. Segmentation means not treating consumers as one unified market with identical needs, desires, and motives. Instead, segmentation identifies groups of like-minded consumers and ranks them in terms of their attractiveness as targets for a particular product or service. Effective segmentation analysis leads to improved product strategies by creating resonance in both product designs and in marketing messages. Consumer product strategy professionals shouldn't blindly outsource segmentation projects to the market research department but should become deeply involved themselves. This means understanding how studies are conducted, tailoring segmentation models to product-related concerns, and using product life cycles to guide the types of research that are conducted. After investing time and money in helping create the right segmentation model, consumer product strategists should make segmentation an everyday part of how they do their jobs.