Segmentation Snafus

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A good friend of mine was two nights away from achieving 'super-elite' status with a particular hotel chain. He checked into the hotel only to be banished to the basement. When he checked out (two days later) his invoice welcomed him to the 'super-elite.' Sadly he was acknowlegded by a computer and not by people.

A major financial institution took time to segment out their super elite. They created very compelling offers for these people. The men got cuff-links, women got scarves, & the address labels for the package that was mailed was hand written. The FI wanted to get the attention of the recipient and an in person meeting for their investment officers. Very stylish & elegantly done. When they designed the letter, the salutation placeholder read, 'Dear Rich Bastard.' Unfortunately when the final letter was printed it still read, 'Dear Rich Bastard.' The customers found out first!

My son (18) signed up to receive emails from a electronic game company. The first few emails were targeted and incredible. We purchased things from them. He is now getting offers that are more appropriate for a kindergartner. (We have no one at home that matches that profile.)

I got two offers to sign up for digital wireless - 40% off, followed by a 35% off - all within 15 minutes. While I was thrilled that I got more, I did wonder if someone else got 50% off.

A colleague of mine who enjoys 'jeweled' status with his airline got assigned a middle seat '43B' on a six hour flight. With no chance of an upgrade, he was told that there were no other options, yet he was horrified to see empty aisle seats as his plane took off. They even ran out of food (for purchase) by the time they reached him. He doesn't stand in lines, his phone calls are answered immediately, & the web site gives him really personalized messages. Yet, what failed for him are the people channels.

If you have a segmentation strategy, you need to test things out to make sure that your segmentation strategy is operational. Don't miss tomorrow's post on how and why you should operationalize your segmentation.