Is your customer segment strategy aligned with your brand? by Peggy Munnagle

In the famous words of Peter Drucker “The customer rarely buys what the business thinks it sells him.” Strong brands have very clearly defined customer segments and powerful brand promises that strongly appeal to those segments specifically. The best brands clearly offer an amazing value proposition to a defined audience (or segment of the population) and then become a favorite of that group; this segment of customers often feel like they are part of a group that uses and identifies with that brand.

That said, segmenting your marketplace does not mean your market needs to be small. It just means it needs to be distinct. While Apple is the de facto example, other strong brands also illustrate the power of strong positioning to a clear segment of customers. Think Disney, Harley Davidson, IKEA, Trader Joe’s…even the Green Bay Packers. All of these are strong brands with clear positions and loyal (often very large) customer groups.

Telling your brand story is an art. Finding the story line to tell is a science – one you can craft with skillful segmentation.