Looking at the geographic sales analysis of its dealers is a logical starting point. Consumer demographic and socioeconomic measures would logically be studied for conclusions about their consumers. Differentiation is very important to a successful marketing strategy because without proper differentiation, you will not distinguish your company from other competitors. There is a difference between market and product differentiation. Market differentiation is customer oriented and depends on the market demand, while product differentiation, which is not a segmentation strategy, is supply-side oriented.
Product differentiation is desirable for commodity products such as soap.
Since brands of soap are basically viewed by the customer as being the same. It is important for companies to use variation in production such as branding, size, color, scent and packaging to help the customer to distinguish their product from other competitors. Market differentiation includes not only product differences, but also unique promotional, price and distribution strategies for specific market segmentation. Thus by recognizing the differences between differentiation and what needs to be done in order to successfully differentiate, the company can then figure out what target market it wants to attract and based on that market s characteristics, differentiate their products to meet those consumers wants and desires. Although market segmentation might sound like a great idea, it has limitations and a marketer must realize some of the potential shortcomings of segmentation.