How the company sees the market determines what he decides to make, as it will be to take these products to market, which it considers to be its competitors, and how big it considers its market opportunities. Most companies segment along the line determined by the characteristics of their products (category or price) or customers (age, sex, marital status and income level), because it is the most readily available data types, but the product and customer characteristics poor indicators of consumer behavior, because it is not, as the markets are structured from the point of view of the client. Customers just need to get things done, whether it be fixing their car, preventing boredom, or find something fun to do with your children. These situational needs, for which customers are looking to "hire" products or services remain undetected during traditional market research and segmentation. As a result, the true breadth of the competition too often goes unnoticed. When companies realize that they are opposed to in the mind, they can put together the actual size of the market in which they compete. Using examples from the fast food industry, furniture retail, automotive, and health care, and referring to a wide range of companies and brands, including FedEx, Starbucks, Google, Blackberry, TurboTax, and OnStar, this article describes the benefits that leaders can get when they segment their markets to work (risk and cost of innovation is minimized), the methods of those involved in marketing and new product development can be used to identify the job based on the structure of the market (interviews, surveys, observations, empathy and sharing of the art), and as part of a business plan can be more consistent and purposeful when innovators understand the work to be done. "Hide
by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony, Gerald Berstell, Denise Nitterhouse Source: MIT Sloan Management Review 12 pages. Publication Date: April 1, 2007. Prod. #: SMR240-PDF-ENG
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