The Marketing Book 5th Edition

272 The Marketing Book

several years and which can be further overlaid
by geodemographics. Geodemographics itself
would be based on the National Census which,
in the case of the UK, represents 60 million
people and the analysis of up to 80 census
variables plus financial and other variables
used to cluster neighbourhood groups. This is
further overlaid with personalized details of 20
million individuals and the hundreds of prod-
uct/service interests they have marked on
lifestyle surveys.

One-to-one segmentation and CRM

There is some evidence that some segments
want to behave more as individuals and there-
fore perhaps be treated as such by marketers
(Evans, 1989), but although the discussion

above probably gives the impression that we

have moved to ‘segments of one’, one-to-one

marketing is not the norm and perhaps is more

rhetoric than reality. Dibb (2001) explores

aspects of this and points out that ‘at the heart

of segmentation strategy is the notion that

customers will allow themselves to be man-

aged’. Indeed, the use of the word ‘manage-

ment’ in CRM might signal that ‘relationship

management’ is an oxymoron. It implies power

and that that power is one way.

Such data analysis as has been outlined

above can lead to individuals being targeted,

but not necessarily as individuals. The CHAID

example demonstrated that although individ-

ual data were processed, the resulting segments

are still aggregates even if their constituent

members are targeted by name and address,

and probably with different styles of offer from

Figure 10.5 Data mining model