Malcolm McDonald was recently cited as one of the top marketing gurus in the world, along with Philip Kotler and Michael Porter and, in a 2006 Times HE piece, he was named as one of the top ten consultants in the UK. He is now Emeritus Professor at Cranfield University School of Management where, until recently, he was Professor of Marketing and Deputy Director. Formerly Marketing Director of Canada Dry, he is Chairman of six companies and works with many of the operating boards of the world's biggest multinationals on every continent. He is the author of over 40 books, many of which have been translated into several foreign languages and has published hundreds of articles and papers.

Although retiring from his teaching role, Malcolm continues to research and teach at Cranfield and other universities around the world and to promote himself via speaking engagements, visiting lectures, and consultancy.

Ian Dunbar is a segmentation practitioner with extensive, hands on experience in segmenting markets for a wide range of business sectors. Since establishing the Market Segmentation Company with Malcolm McDonald in 1995, Ian has worked with numerous companies around the world ensuring their segmentation projects deliver the insights required for successful marketing strategies. He has held senior marketing positions in companies from both the service and manufacturing sectors and obtained his MBA from Cranfield University School of Management in the UK.

Foreword vii

Preface and acknowledgements ix

An important note to the reader from the authors xi

List of figures xv

List of tables xix

1 Market segmentation - the bedrock of successful marketing 1

2 Preparing for segmentation - additional guidelines for success 21

3 Fast tracking through the segmentation process 47

4 Determining the scope of a segmentation project 71

5 Portraying how a market works and identifying decision-makers 105

6 Developing a representative sample of different decision-makers 143

7 Accounting for the behaviour of decision-makers 213

8 Forming market segments out of like-minded decision-makers 255

9 Determining the attractiveness of market segments 303

10 Assessing company competitiveness and the portfolio matrix 329

11 Realizing the full potential of market mapping 349

12 Predicting channel transformation 369

13 Setting marketing objectives and strategies for identified segments 407

14 Organizational issues in market segmentation 449

15 Using segmentation to improve performance - a case study 469

Index 481