The Core Segmentation Mistake in Strategy
I've audited hundreds of strategies, and here's what I saw – part 3
Will an office clerk from a low-income country shell out $2,000 for a foldable smartphone? Will the mom-and-pop bakery invest in a high-end AI automation package?
Marketers are obsessed with segmentation. They love sorting people into segments, cohorts, and strata. Consumers? They refuse to fit the templates.
Behavioral economics suggests that customers are no more rational than a gambler who bets it all on zero.
Starting your strategy with customer segmentation is a costly mistake.
You can read previous parts here and here.
Mobile app, wine, and iPhone 16
A few years ago, I got a new mobile app. I liked it, but the full version was $9.99. The app promised to help me manage my projects, but the price threw me. $9.99 for an app? That’s insane! Later that evening, while buying wine at a store, I realized I hadn’t even checked the shelf with wines under €10. I wasn’t about to drink that cheap swill.
Three months ago, I started having my apartments renovated. Ther…