Segmentation: choose who, then the race
Introduit| English | Sens |
|---|---|
| positioning/pəˈzɪʃənɪŋ/ | positioning |
"Everyone" is not a target
- The 408 responses split four ways: busy professionals 179 (44%), fitness-focused 110 (27%), families 69 (17%), other 48 (12%). Only one of them gets the campaign's first £3,600.
- A segment is useful only if it is measurable, substantial, actionable — the criteria, not the demographics.
The criteria as a sieve
- Measurable: countable. Substantial: big enough to fund the campaign. Actionable: a channel and a message exist that reach them.
- "People who hate cooking" is substantial and fails actionable — no list, no slot. Busy professionals pass all three: LinkedIn targeting, 44% of responders, a message ("evenings back").
Which criterion does this segment fail?
Test candidate segments against measurable, substantial and actionable - each failure has a name.
179 of 408 respondents are busy professionals. The share, in % (nearest whole)?
Difficulté 2/5 · 140 pièces + un petit bonus lors de la première réussite aujourd'hui
$179/408 = 43.9\%$ - the largest block, and it passes all three criteria.
Match each criterion to its question.
Difficulté 2/5 · 140 pièces + un petit bonus lors de la première réussite aujourd'hui
Targeting is the three questions; positioning is the fourth.
Value = size x conversion x retention x margin
- The launch target: 180 reachable professionals in the pilot city, 27% trial rate, 5 meals a week, £2.70 CM → the annual ceiling at full retention ≈ £126,000 ✓.
- The ceiling is not the forecast: it is the number the funnel's reality will discount. Segment value is never size alone — retention and margin live in the multiply.
Why is the 126,000 annual figure called a ceiling, not a forecast?
Difficulté 1/5 · 100 pièces + un petit bonus lors de la première réussite aujourd'hui
$180 \times 0.27 \times 5 \times 2.70 \times 52$ is the full-retention ceiling; unit 7.6's real funnel (15% trial, churn) does the discounting.
Which factor is NOT in segment value = size x conversion x retention x margin?
Difficulté 1/5 · 100 pièces + un petit bonus lors de la première réussite aujourd'hui
Creativity moves the conversion and retention terms - it is an input, not a term. The formula keeps the comparison honest.
The fitness segment (27%, 64% weekly loyalty) may beat professionals at scale because:
Difficulté 1/5 · 100 pièces + un petit bonus lors de la première réussite aujourd'hui
Value = size x conversion x RETENTION x margin: loyalty compounds. Segment choice is a portfolio, and the second bet is priced the same way.
Positioning: the race you can win
- The competitor sits at £6.90 on "healthy". Nimbus cannot out-health the health brand; it can out-convenience everyone: the bundle, the subscription, the 6 pm slot.
- Position: "Tuesday evenings, solved" — a specific moment, a credible difference, a reason to believe. On the perceptual map (convenience x health), the rival is high-left; Nimbus claims high-right.
The rival owns "healthy". Nimbus's defensible position is:
Difficulté 1/5 · 100 pièces + un petit bonus lors de la première réussite aujourd'hui
Attack where the incumbent is structurally weak, not where they are strongest. The augmented layer (unit 7.3) is the moat that carries the claim.
On the convenience-health map, Nimbus deliberately claims the high-convenience corner rather than the centre.
Difficulté 1/5 · 100 pièces + un petit bonus lors de la première réussite aujourd'hui
The centre is contested; the corner is ownable. Differentiation is choosing the race - the map just draws the choice.
Positioning the bundle on "quality" differentiates it from the 6.90 rival.
Difficulté 1/5 · 100 pièces + un petit bonus lors de la première réussite aujourd'hui
Everyone claims quality - a difference everyone claims is not a position. Claim the moment and the systems: Tuesday evenings, solved.
Three segmentation slips
- Segmenting by demographics when behaviour differs. Age bands that buy identically are decoration.
- Choosing a segment you cannot reach. Fails actionable — the campaign is a wish.
- Positioning on "quality". A difference everyone claims is not a position.
Recap
- Measurable, substantial, actionable — then value = size x conversion x retention x margin.
- Position on a deliverable difference, owned against the map.
- A claim nobody can attack is a difference nobody can copy quickly.