How marketers can go beyond traditional ways of consumer segmentation

In a time when obtaining a comprehensive omnichannel view of consumers appears challenging, it's advantageous to transcend traditional segmentation methods reliant solely on factors such as affluence, propensity to buy, and demographics.

Advertisers and market research experts proposed at a panel discussion, held alongside the launch of Market Research Society of India (MRSI)'s new Socio-economic Classification System, 'ISEC', that segmenting consumers based on their behaviours, needs, and life stages offers a more effective approach.

Rajiv Dubey

Citing examples of how Dabur goes about segmenting for its healthcare and pharma range of products, Rajiv Dubey, Head of Media at the FMCG company, said, “Health-conscious individuals tend to gravitate towards healthier activities, making them prime candidates for health supplements consumption. Along with that, our research partners have provided invaluable data, including states with high disease indices and low disease indices, aiding us in segmenting the audience more effectively.”

He further emphasised that brands can effectively target consumers based on their current life stage, as product preferences tend to shift accordingly. For instance, Dubey highlighted that consumers often purchase baby products upon entering parenthood.

Along with Dubey, the other panellists were Muralidhar Salvateeswaran, Chief Operations Officer at Insights APAC, Kantar; Vivek Malhotra, Group CMO of India Today Group; Vinay Virwani, Head of Consumer Insights at Dabur India; Amit Adarkar, CEO, IPSOS, India and Jasmine Sachdeva, Managing Partner at Wavemaker India. The session was moderated by Shuvadip Banerjee, Chief Digital Marketing Officer at ITC and General Secretary of MRSI.

Muralidhar Salvateeswaran

In addition to segmenting the audience according to behaviour, Salvateeswaran proposed that brands could further refine their segmentation by considering consumer needs and layering it with additional variables such as lifestyle.

“Brands must look at new spaces of growth, especially the categories which have reached a saturation in terms of penetration,” he added.

Wavemaker’s Sachdeva echoed Salvateeswaran’s sentiments, emphasising the importance of identifying the source of growth after the brand has completed segmentation based on demographics and psychographics. This entails determining whether growth will stem from increased consumption or penetration in certain cases.

“That's the brilliance of digital data today, which helps brands segment the consumers better. For example, open data sources, in which brands can link their API which helps them become more deterministic of the need gap. Open API layered with static and digital first-party data, helps segment better today,” she added.

This underscores the power of digital data in enhancing consumer segmentation for brands. For instance, leveraging open data sources enables brands to link their APIs, enhancing their ability to pinpoint specific gaps in consumer needs more accurately. By combining open APIs with static and digital first-party data, brands can significantly improve their segmentation capabilities in today's digital landscape.

Jasmine Sachdeva

Giving an example of need-based segmentation done for Luminous Inverters, Sachdeva explained, “Wavemaker used an API, which helped them determine areas with power cuts. Even in the scenario of power cuts, mobiles function. Through mobiles, we were able to send across our messaging in the power cut areas.”

Info@BestMediaInfo.com