What is it?
Market Segmentation is the process of identifying a company’s target consumer and what segment of society they belong to, their product can belong to one or many segments (Solomon, M, Russell-Bennet, R, & Previte, J 2018, Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having Being).
Converse’s changing market segment
To explain this further i’ll use converse and topic of their popular sneaker the iconic ‘Chuck Taylor’. Converse has been a very well known sneaker brand for many years however in 2002 they had to file for bankruptcy and in turn were bought by Nike (apparently for a cool $305 million… in cash [Jeff Sommer, New York Times Author, Aug 1st 2015]). Chuck Taylors were a very popular sneaker through the 1960-70s especially seen as the popular shoe choice for basketball players, Wilt Chamberlain was a very well known player that wore ‘Chucks’. As brands like Nike and Reebok came into the sport sneaker market converse became less popular and dropped in popularity. After Nike bought the company they quickly realised that the demand for converse sneakers by athletes had depleted but they were still an iconic shoe that was worn by those in the music scene and somewhat ‘rebels’, sponsoring grassroots music events in London and New York (Josie Allchin, ‘Case Study: Converse, 16th May 2012).
Realising that the market segment for the sneakers had changed and the needs of their target audience had too changed Nike set out to keep the original look of the ‘Chucks’ not adding the famous ‘Nike swoosh’ and simply making sure the shoe was comfortable for everyday use. The Chuck Taylor shoe was reborn and Converse now is one of Nike’s highest contributing units of business with many celebrities seen wearing the shoe casually as a fashion statement (Jeff Sommer, New York Times Author, Aug 1st 2015).
As mentioned market segmentation for Nike helped to make the converse brand once again a popular and sought after brand once they realised that athletes or young adults and children aspiring to be athletes no longer demanded them as the development of running shoes by the likes of Nike, Adidas and Reebok took over. Now a fashionable, comfortable sneaker for everyday use the Chuck Taylor is again in demand by consumers and selling very highly. I myself own three pairs of ‘Chucks’, 2 in black and 1 white pair.
References:
(https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/your-money/converse-treads-carefully-in-updating-well-worn-chuck-taylor-brand.html) ‘Converse Treads Carefully in Updating Well Worn Chuck Taylor Brand‘, Sommer. Jeff, New York Times, Aug 1st 2015, [accessed 18/03/2019]
(https://www.forbes.com/2001/01/22/0122converse.html#619c6bc37627) Dukcevich. D, ‘Converse Loses its Footing’, January 22nd 2001 [accessed 19/03/2019]
Solomon, M, Russell-Bennet, R, & Previte, J 2018, Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having Being, P.Ed Australia, Melbourne. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [18 March 2019].
(https://www.marketingweek.com/2012/05/16/case-study-converse/) Allchin Josie, Case Study: Converse, 16th May 2012 [accessed 18/03/2019]
Converse 