Blog 10
Written on 3:10 PM by Sarah
This group project helped me to gain more concrete knowledge on the concept of segmentation. Segmentation involves identifying a specific subset of customers whose response to a marketing strategy is different from that of another segment and figuring out what their unique wants and needs are. Segmentation is important in identifying the most important stakeholders, which in turn allows us to focus our limited resources on the most valuable segments of customers. Segmentation is also critical for designing a product that actually meets the needs of the target market. Some of the potential difficulties with segmentation include difficulty segmenting very diverse groups, too little or too much data, high research costs, and difficulty uncovering new markets.
This project was the first time I actually had to apply segmentation in a real-life setting, and having to do so really helped me to better understand the concept, which had previously been kind of abstract in my mind. What I gained the most from this project regarding segmentation was an understanding of the challenges that segmentation can pose. We ran into many problems when trying to develop the Cougar segment.
First, the segment turned out to be much more diverse than we expected. We went into the project with the preconceived notion that cougars never cook and they rarely use their kitchen. While this was true for some cougars, it turned out to be the complete opposite for others. As a result, we were forced to choose between targeting those cougars who rarely cook and those who cook often. Second, it was hard for us to obtain enough data to draw reliable conclusions from. Finally, since the Cougar segment is relatively new, it was even harder to find information on our segment and discover their needs.
Another concept I gained a better understanding of as a result of this project is the process of gaining insights. There are countless ways to gain insights about customers, and with more developments in technology, the number of techniques continue to increase. Current methods include surveys, interviews, focus groups, observation, image collages and diaries, web tracking, RFID, and social media. The key to effectively gaining insights is to establish specific goals and to define exactly what you would like to find out about your segment, instead of simply saying that we need to find out more about this segment.
This is probably the most valuable lesson in terms of gaining insights that I received from working on the project. It proved to be more difficult than we thought to narrow down what insights we wanted to gain. For example, when developing our survey, it was challenging for us to determine what questions were relevant and how to word them. For instance, did we want to know about all their eating habits in general, or just those involving them actually using their kitchen to cook? We also had to avoid asking them about the aspects of their lifestyle that were not necessarily relevant to our room, but when we took on the task, it turned out to be substantially difficult to determine what insights were relevant and which were not.
Overall, I enjoyed working on this project because it synthesized all the concepts we had learned in a single project but still allowed us to express our creative sides. Also, I was able to work with a great team in which everyone pulled their weight and everyone was enthusiastic about the project. We had a lot of fun working on the project, and that it made it much more enjoyable. I especially liked the fact that this project was hands-on (due to the deliverable of an actual prototype) instead of abstract or theoretical (like a paper can be). My only complaint is that it was a little frustrating not to have any direction regarding the final update. It would have helped to have had some criteria regarding what information needed to be included in the Powerpoint.
