The session on market segmentation -- Segmentation, Divide and Rule -- at the CII Marketing Summit 2003 saw the panel emerging at a consensus that a sharpened customer focus needed mass customisation, which meant segmenting the market by greater number of parameters and reaching out in a way to every different customer.
Aart Weijburg, director (detergents), Hindustan Lever Ltd, made a strong case for redefining the existing segmentation methods like SEC classification, and called for a more scientific approach that focussed on alternative methodologies like creating a living standard measure.
Asserting that segmentation had worked for several brands such as Lifebuoy and Lux, he said that there was a need to move from inferred conclusions to measuring behaviour more precisely. "Marketers should be able to accurately predict consumer behaviour," he said.
Outlining the limitations of segmentation, Rajiv Inamdar, president, AC Nielsen ORG MARG, talked about the difficulties of finding methods of communicating with defined segments, the unwillingness of the company to discriminate between consumer segments, and the lack of experience and education while dealing with segmentation studies.
Asked why market research failed, Inamdar said that in most cases, there was a high level of decision making required on part of the client.
"We can only show the door," Inamdar said.
In his address, the managing director of McDonalds, north India, Vikram Bakshi, said that his company, because of its relatively short stint in India, had been able to think out of the box with a relatively greater ease.
"We have been able to successfully segment our target audience on the basis of role, on the time of the day and on the day of the week. We also segment by hunger, by group type, by convenience and by sensitivity," he said.
Providing a service perspective to the business of segmentation, Nimish Soni, managing director of ProcessMind Services, said that it was vital for the business process outsourcing companies to decide whether they wanted to focus on the vertical or horizontal customers.
"Indian players should build their capabilities in a way that they become strategic partners to their customers and not just vendors," Soni added.
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