SEGMENTATION: MALCOLM GLADWELL ON SPAGHETTI SAUCE

I have always believed in sharing knowledge and when I decided to share something about marketing I just wondered where to start from? 

I thought probably the best way to start would be as they say from the basics and I decided to go ahead with segmentation. 

A marketer can very rarely satisfy everyone in the market. Not everyone out there has the same liking for food, cars, college, movies or even partners. Marketers identify and profile distinct group of buyers who might prefer or require varying products and services by doing the usual demographic, psycho-graphic and behavioural analysis among buyers. Especially, after my classes on conventional methods of segmentation and the value based methods for the same I realized that it wasn't that easy and could be really confusing. I came across this very interesting video by "Malcolm Gladwell" and realized that it gave the essence of segmentation in the most simplistic manner. In the video "The Tipping Point" author gets inside the food industry's pursuit of the perfect spaghetti sauce and thereby makes a larger argument about the nature of choice and happiness.

I will present the learning through the framework most commonly used in my school, the K.A.S.H. framework.

Knowledge: In embracing the diversity of human beings a marketer can find a sure way to true happiness.

Attitude: The attitude while doing any research is to challenge the conventional methods and not to blindly follow them. One should have the guts to challenge and then test. The idea is to get the relevant data and information.

Skills: The real skill is to find out the right questions to ask at the right point in time to the right people. People including researchers find it difficult to implement the same and it becomes a point of confusion.

Habits: Most of us are habitual of following the usual conventional methods. In fact it is right way to go ahead when you are starting or you are confused. This habit is fine. But a marketer should try and go a step out of the box and try and see if he can present a third perspective.

I won’t write much and keep it simple and hope that people reading this learn a great deal from the video and the man himself.

Source: 

1. http://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html

2. Marketing Management by Kotler, Kelly, Koshy, Jha; 13th Edition