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The Gap in Market Segmentation
What is the point of market segmentation? Really, what is the point? As my Uncle Jim used to say, "If you throw enough dirt on the wall some of it is going to stick, ain't it?" So why don't companies just throw a bunch of good products at the people and just see who buys what, if anything at all? That might have worked along time ago, but now, the answer in short, is competition. Today, there are to types of companies, those that are profitable ? and those that are profitable. My point is, companies don't have time to keep "throwin' dirt," they have to find that one piece of dirt that sticks and keep using it. Anderson and Vincze in Strategic Marketing Management, (pg 226) define market segmentation as "the process of dividing a large market into smaller groups or clusters of customers with similar characteristics." Basically, market segmentation is the filter that determines what dirt sticks, and what doesn't. In addition, if I understood one point that has been repeated over and over in class, it's that the key to success in business in the future is the relationship between the buyer and seller. Segmentation permits closer relationships between buyer and seller and the ability to identify new marketing opportunities as Gap Incorporated has done with me.
The first time that I remember being able to go shopping for my own clothes, with my own money, was when I was hired for my second job at the age of 16 (working in my grandparents' florist). Boy was I proud of myself. So, where was a 16 year old to get some cool clothes at a cheap price? Old Navy, "Duhhhhhh!" ...