Marketing Insights From a to Z: 80 Concepts Every Manager Needs to Know

egmentation
In the past, companies such as Sears or Coca-Cola, when asked who
their customer is, would answer “Everybody.” But a marketer can
rarely satisfy everyone in a market. Not everyone will like the same
camera, car, cafeteria, or concert. Therefore, marketers must start by
dividing up the market.
Companies that moved away from mass market thinking started
by identifying large 
market segments
. Procter & Gamble, in selling its
Duncan Hines cake mix, would define the target market as “married
women between the ages of 35 and 50 with families.” Later compa-
nies moved from large segments to 
narrower niches
. Estée Lauder
might design a product for “black American professional women be-
tween the ages of 25 and 35.” Finally, some companies have moved