Marketing As Strategy

TWO

From Market Segments to Strategic Segments

If you went out of business, would anyone miss you?

MARKETING’S BASIC MISSION is to create a difference between a company’s offering and that of its competitors on an attribute important to customers. To create differentiation, marketers use segmentation, targeting, and positioning, or STP. Market segmentation is the process of dividing the market into homogeneous groups of customers who respond similarly to a particular marketing mix of the four Ps—product, price, place, and promotion—the essential tactical tools for positioning the firm’s offer to the targeted segment. Not surprisingly, any marketing practitioner can comfortably converse in terms of market segments, target markets, and positioning. ...