Segmentation that did not work like it should have

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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 were hand written. The financial institution 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, one of their marketers put in a placeholder for the salutation that read, 'Dear Rich Bastard.' Unfortunately when the final letter was printed it still read, 'Dear Rich Bastard.' The customers found out first!

A 19 year old signed up to receive emails from a electronic game company. The first few emails were targeted and incredible. He purchased things from them. He is now getting offers that are more appropriate for a 10 year old even though there is no one at home that matches that profile.

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

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 the people who worked there.

A major airline has created an additional top tier segment. They want their special to become 'super-special.' Unfortunately, while their people channel has started doing a good job in recognizing the new tier, their systems keep missing out on 'basics.' Unfortunately, the 'super-special' tier keeps missing out on what they were promised and I sure hope that the airline goes back to the drawing board to fix things.

If you have a segmentation strategy, you need to test things out to make sure that your segmentation strategy is operational. In simple english, make sure it works!