A colleague and I were recently discussing the issue of whether or not companies are really successful in applying segmentation strategies from a customer experience viewpoint. We quickly agreed on examples where customers pay differentiated prices to experience differentiated service levels, e.g. first vs. coach class on a commercial flight, expedited shipping for an online order, front-row seats at a concert. But these are examples where customers self-segment the experience based on their value equation.
Are there examples of successful experience-based segmentation strategies that do not involve differentiated pricing? An illustration would be the leisure vs. business traveler checking into the exact same hotel, paying the same room rate for the identical type of room. Ideally, the leisure traveler would experience an "on boarding" process that is different from the business traveler, in a way that speaks to the context and expectations each have. For example the leisure traveler might get a more relaxed and paced check-in process that gives extra information about using the property for leisure purposes; the business traveler's experience might emphasize efficiency and business-related amenities.
Can anyone think of good examples of companies (B2C or B2B) that are delivering segmented experiences for the same core service or product, without relying on the customer to self-select via the pricing structure? If so, how do they do it?
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Posted by: Komal Tariq Poland29 | 28 October 2011 at 03:45
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Posted by: supra vaider | 30 September 2011 at 11:13
It depends on how stringently you want to apply a criteria of differentiation, but...
-Nike, Reebok, Puma, et al often sell shoe models that, other than stylistic embellishment designed to appeal to certain buyer, are the same.
-Many technology hardware manufactures have essentially the same product/price-point for consumers and enterprise buyers, but the purchase/ownership experience is very different across the two segments
-Food Industry: a french fry is a french fry
-Health and Beauty: what is the true difference (it's not ingredients) between toothpastes, shampoos, etc.
Posted by: Patrick | 18 June 2008 at 08:29
>Tom: okay, fair enough...but segmentation in marketing communications, especially direct marketing, is common. So to be more specific, the examples I'm looking for are in the realm of customer experience with the core product or service offering, and not on the web, where "mass customization" is arguably much, much easier to pull off.
Posted by: Brian | 18 June 2008 at 06:18
How about this one from DMI:
http://www.3aday.org/Pages/Welcome.aspx
We did the research for them to build out a detailed understanding of dairy consumers by mindset - they re-vamped all the marketing to address customers by mindset.
TO'B
MotiveQuest LLC
Posted by: Tom O'Brien | 17 June 2008 at 15:10