Market segmentation 273
Figure 10.6 Targeted segments and differential treatment according to Offer and Creative, together with
Control Groups
those in other segments. Tesco has analysed its
loyalty card data and it has been reported
(Marsh, 2001) that mining the mountain of
transactional data from its 10 million Clubcard
users has led to the identification of 100 000
different segments, each targeted with a differ-
ent set of money-off vouchers via a customer
magazine. A similar example is provided by
Tower Records. This company has segmented
its customer database and e-mails offers to
selected targets, but ‘out of every 10 000 e-mails
sent, no more than three people receive the
same offer’ (Marsh, 2001).
The ‘personalized’ approach to relational
marketing, however, might experience future
flak. Digital printing technology allows person-
alization to a higher degree. ‘You can personal-
ize page by page, its easy to put a name
anywhere throughout the copy’ (Arnold, 2002).
A development of this in the USA was an
apparently hand-written mailing targeted at
members of a particular health care segment. So
convincing was this that over 150 people
complained on the basis that it looked like a
friend writing to them telling them they needed
to lose weight! (Rubach, 2002).
Technology will also facilitate more exam-
ples of personalized targeting of segments. It is
now possible to target an individualized TV
message, analogous to personalized mailing, to