MKTG6013 Chap.4 Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
Segmentation becomes strategic when groups differ in the value they seek or the way they respond. Targeting compares attractiveness with firm fit and reachability. Positioning then claims a valued, credible difference relative to alternatives.
This chapter connects customer profiles and empathy tools to evidence, uses perceptual maps critically and warns that an empty map space may reveal weak demand or infeasibility rather than opportunity. Demographic descriptors can assist identification and reach, but needs, behaviour, usage setting and decision criteria must explain why marketing action should differ.
Profiles distinguish observations and sourced facts from assumptions so vivid detail never receives unearned confidence. Target selection uses consistent criteria and explicitly considers the strongest rejected segment. Positioning combines target, frame, difference and proof, then tests whether product, channel, message and price can deliver the claim.
Perceptual axes must reflect customer judgement, and any apparent gap still requires evidence of demand, capability and viable economics.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Value as a segmentation basis
- 02
Demographic, geographic, psychographic and behavioural variables
- 03
Customer profiles and evidence boundaries
- 04
Target attractiveness, fit and reachability
- 05
Positioning statements and reasons to believe
- 06
Perceptual maps, axes and empty-space traps
- 07
Cross-border segments and evidence-based pooling
Worked example · free
Position a portable water-filter offer
- +1Define the target through behaviour, context and desired value rather than age alone.
- +1Choose the category frame: portable filtered water for commuting.
- +1State the difference: reliable water without daily bottle purchase.
- +1Supply proof through certification, compact design and replaceable cartridges.
Key terms
- Market Segmentation
- Grouping customers whose needs, values or likely responses differ in meaningful ways.
- Target Market
- The selected customer group the firm chooses to serve with a designed marketing offer.
- Customer Profile
- An evidence-based synthesis of a target’s context, goals, obstacles, alternatives and choice criteria.
- Value Proposition
- The promised benefit and reason a target customer should prefer an offer.
- Positioning Statement
- An internal statement linking target, category frame, valued difference and credible proof.
- Perceptual Map
- A representation of how customers perceive competing offers on relevant attributes.
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning FAQ
Why is demographic segmentation often too weak?
Demographics can help identify or reach a group, but they do not always explain the value sought or likely response. Combine them with needs, behaviour, context and decision criteria so the segment changes what the firm actually does.
What makes a customer profile useful?
A useful profile synthesises observed evidence about the decision situation, desired outcome, barriers, alternatives and information sources. Imagined names or hobbies should be labelled as assumptions and removed when they do not guide a marketing choice.
Does an empty perceptual-map space show an opportunity?
Not automatically. The space may be empty because customers do not value the combination, the attributes conflict or firms cannot deliver it profitably. Validate the axes, data, demand and organisational feasibility before treating the gap as a position.
Assessment move
Take one category and generate three segments using value and behaviour rather than age alone. For each segment, write the job, barrier, current alternative, reach route and evidence source. Then score target attractiveness and firm fit separately so a large group does not automatically win. Practise the positioning statement in a fixed sequence: target, frame, difference and proof.
Draw a perceptual map only after defining customer-relevant axes, and write one reason an empty space might remain empty. During revision, check whether every profile detail changes an action. In the project, keep the target and position identical across the market analysis, creative brief, channel and pricing slides; inconsistency here weakens the entire plan.
Create an evidence table that labels each profile statement as observed, sourced or assumed, and rank assumptions by the damage caused if they are wrong. Compare segments on the same attractiveness and capability criteria, then explain why the runner-up was rejected. For positioning practice, rewrite the statement after changing one target need and trace the effect through offer, channel, message and price.
Collect customer language for the map axes instead of inventing convenient opposites, and distinguish a hypothesis map from one built from measured perceptions. Ask whether a vacant space reflects unmet demand, conflicting attributes or poor economics. Rehearse oral answers that begin with target choice, cite two facts, identify the strongest alternative and finish with the evidence needed before commitment.
This keeps STP connected to behaviour and implementation rather than persona decoration.
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