The Kendric, Smith & Partners approach to market segmentation places consumers into relatively discrete groupings - or "segments" - based on maximum commonality among members within each group while, at the same time, achieving maximum differentiation or dissimilarity between groups. Values and beliefs about usage of your product or service represents the most fertile ground for achieving maximum commonality within groups while achieving maximum differentiation between market segments. In effective market segmentation, differences in values and beliefs serve to reflect the differences in consumption behaviour that distinguish market segments.
Attitudes toward product features and benefits are a direct reflection of values and beliefs in a product category. As such, it is important to know the degree to which product features and benefits actually drive brand choice within each segment. Reflecting these factors, segmentation research done by Kendric, Smith & Partners offers a number of important benefits...
It provides knowledge of the relative importance of product features and benefits as determinants of brand choice behaviour, within market segments.
It provides insight into the distinguishing socio-demographic, psychographic and life-style characteristics that underlie the values and beliefs and the product-usage behaviour of defined market segments.
It identifies optimum positioning criteria and communications strategy for differentiated market segments.
Insight from this type of enquiry - when carried out by Kendric, Smith & Partners - is typically as follows:
Identification of product-related and product-usage attitudes, values and beliefs, with this insight forming the basis of understanding product-category usage and brand choice.
Identification and definition of product-category purchase and usage behaviour patterns, so that differences between market segments can be profiled.
A broad base of socio-demographic data, so that socio-demographic differences between segments become evident.
Psychographic and lifestyle information, with knowledge in this area providing one of the keys to understanding and changing values and beliefs and consumption behaviour on a differentiated market-segment basis.
Descriptions of segments, based on differing product-usage values and beliefs, psychographics and demographics in a way that provides understanding of behaviour and, thus, enables prediction and manipulation of behaviour.
Identification of the size of each market segment, in terms of proportion of population and proportion of consumption, so that the relative importance of each market segment is understood.
Features and benefits that are prime drivers of brand choice within each market segment.
Definition of the image of client and competitive brands against determinants of brand choice within each market segment.
Definition of the competitively strong and competitively weak client and competitive brands within each market segment.
A defined positioning strategy for the client brand line that optimizes its competitive position.
- A defined communications strategy to support each client brand for optimum positioning in target market segments.
Benefits of Our Segmentation Apporach
Using Kendric, Smith & Partners to define the segment structure of your market offers unique benefits...
- We identify the values and beliefs that distinguish each market segment.
- We identify the features-and-benefits attributes that drive brand choice in each market segment.
- We identify the strengths and weaknesses of competing brands - yours and your competitors - against drivers of brand choice, in each market segment.
- We show you the cause-effect relationships between values and beliefs, brand-choice drivers, socio-demographic characteristics and psychographic characteristics within each market segment.
- We humanize and personalize each market segment, with a first-person profile of the values and beliefs, the personality and psychology and the socio-demographic characteristics that distinguish it from other segments.
- We identify surrogate demographic or behavioural characteristics that are most characteristic of each market segment so that they are "visible" to the various marketing functions.
- We define a brand positioning strategy with positioning criteria for your product line, including precise communications objectives that have maximum competitive appeal for each market segment.
- We translate positioning strategy and communications objectives into descriptive segment guidelines for use by each functional element in the marketing mix (brand management, advertising, promotion, direct marketing, direct sales, etc.).
In Summary
We provide you with complete and comprehensive market definition that can become the foundation of your strategic marketing business plan. The unique insights that are gained from a Kendric, Smith & Partners market segmentation study will show you the way to achieve the ultimate marketing goal of enhancing or changing buying behaviour to your competitive advantage.
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