Ford Ka
Historically, car manufacturers including Ford segmented buyers according to their income and age. Ford used these figures to classify small car buyers into four target groups.
• Financially constrained buyers (single men and women without children <100,000 FF)
• Average income, more youthful/expressive buyers (100-250 thousand FF, single men/women/childless couples)
• Average income and/or family constrained buyers (full nesters, empty nesters 100FF and above)
• Higher income, not family constrained buyers (single men, women, childless couples >250,000 FF)
Pros: Manufacturers specialized in certain categories; small car manufacturers focused on low production costs while luxury car manufacturers focused on differentiation through product features and quality. This delineation resulted in less competition.
In addition, regional level marketing was practiced.
Cons: Max profits is not exploited because a fleet of cars to service a range of geographic, demographic, psychographic, behavioral and attitudinal segments is unavailable.
Which segmentation approach should be used for the Ford Ka?
Demographic segmentation was advocated by management due to its historical success and the fact that data was accessible.
However, demographic focus group results contradicted management’s view. The 40-44 year old group comprised a 32% share.
Attitudinal segmentation was advocated by the advertising agency. If it is true that the market is fragmented to a greater extent than Ford’s management currently assumes, then the attitudinal segmentation approach has the dual advantage of not alienating traditional market segments, such as the 40-44 year olds that featured highly in addition to encompassing a wider demographic based on lifestyle choices.
Attitudinal segmentation had a risk of being expensive and risky. Overall, the risk of choosing demographic segmentation and potentially experiencing project failure appears greater than the risk of favoring an
• Financially constrained buyers (single men and women without children <100,000 FF)
• Average income, more youthful/expressive buyers (100-250 thousand FF, single men/women/childless couples)
• Average income and/or family constrained buyers (full nesters, empty nesters 100FF and above)
• Higher income, not family constrained buyers (single men, women, childless couples >250,000 FF)
Pros: Manufacturers specialized in certain categories; small car manufacturers focused on low production costs while luxury car manufacturers focused on differentiation through product features and quality. This delineation resulted in less competition.
In addition, regional level marketing was practiced.
Cons: Max profits is not exploited because a fleet of cars to service a range of geographic, demographic, psychographic, behavioral and attitudinal segments is unavailable.
Which segmentation approach should be used for the Ford Ka?
Demographic segmentation was advocated by management due to its historical success and the fact that data was accessible.
However, demographic focus group results contradicted management’s view. The 40-44 year old group comprised a 32% share.
Attitudinal segmentation was advocated by the advertising agency. If it is true that the market is fragmented to a greater extent than Ford’s management currently assumes, then the attitudinal segmentation approach has the dual advantage of not alienating traditional market segments, such as the 40-44 year olds that featured highly in addition to encompassing a wider demographic based on lifestyle choices.
Attitudinal segmentation had a risk of being expensive and risky. Overall, the risk of choosing demographic segmentation and potentially experiencing project failure appears greater than the risk of favoring an