Executive summary Marketing segmentation is the new cliché in the field of marketing. Initially, mass marketing was very popular, but the new concept of market segmentation was developed to address challenges arising from mass marketing. Unlike mass marketing, market segmentation recognizes disparities that exist among different consumers and it is upon this notion that its principles both in theory and practice are founded. During segmentation process, consumer needs among individuals with similar characteristics are identified and concurrently specific products and services are designed to suit those needs. The popularity of the above strategy has been accelerated by instability of segmentation variables such as demography, behavior and geography. In addition, firms that have adopted marketing segmentation have realized benefits such as market niche benefits, consumer brand loyalty and competitive positioning in the market. On the other hand, market niche might lead to negative results especially to small firms in the event of sales decline. Introduction The concept of marketing is not anything new in business. The rise of free markets, in spite of its numerous benefits, posed serious challenges to businesses due to increased competition (Martin, 20011, p. 15). As a result, the idea of marketing was conceived as firms tried to promote brand recognition among potential consumers (Martin, 20011, p. 15). Initially, firms embarked on mass marketing whereby consumer’s tastes and differences were not differentiated (Bell, 2009, p. 27). However, numerous researches in this field exposed new information that consumers’ needs were diverse and differed from one individual to another (Bell, 2009, p. 29). It is against this background that the concept of market segmentation was developed in theory and sooner adopted into practice. According to Dibb and Simkim (2007, p. 53) the concept of market segmentation seeks to establish different needs of targeted consumers with an aim of grouping together individuals who share several characteristics. Since the initial conception, market segmentation has experienced rapid growth owing to its popularity in the business arena around the world (Martin, 2011, p. 17). The recent popularity of market segmentation can be linked to several condusive environment factors. Unstable and evolving demographic factors To begin with, market segmentation is dependant on demographic composition of a population (Kim, 2011, p. 153). Concurrently, research studies have indicated that demographics variables such as lifestyle and gender based preferences and tastes are evolving each day (Martin, 2011, p. 16). For instance, only recently men were not known to take interest in cosmetic products and fashion. However, in recent years, the rise of metro-sexual man has compelled producers to come up with cosmetic products, fashion magazines and other similar brands that target male consumers. For instance, Nivea for men brand which was developed to address the needs of the aforementioned type of men (Kim, 2011, p. 156). In terms of lifestyle variable, research has shown that present day consumers have developed sophisticated tastes and this has g