What is Market Segmentation? In today's business world, there is no doubt that consumers play an important and vital role in driving markets towards more successful turnover. However, many organizations and businesses have realized that they cannot attract buyers in the same way because they are too diverse and each buyer varies in their purchasing needs and performance. Marketing, in itself, has gone through two stages; mass marketing and targeted marketing. Mass marketing refers to managing the market as a uniform group and providing the same marketing mix to all customers. However, the disadvantages of mass marketing are ignoring the needs and preferences of other consumers and only offering one specific product to consumers. If companies continue to neglect different customer needs, another company is likely to enter the market with a product targeting a wider range of customers belonging to varied groups, thus leading the previous company to lose its existing customers . Marketing has therefore seriously taken into account the different needs of customers; identify market segments and produce the most suitable product for each target market accordingly. Targeted marketing not only helps sellers find their marketing opportunities more effectively; it also helps in satisfying the needs of consumers and directing them to an appropriate market based on their spending preferences. Thus, market segmentation is a necessary process to subdivide markets into different promising consumer segments with comparable characteristics and who are most likely to display similar needs. Market segmentation has undoubtedly emerged as a primary marketing planning mechanism and the foundation of effective overall strategy formulation...... middle of article ......www.justmeandmy.com /the-7-p-of-marketing -and-link-building-for-seo - Answer to question 3 in the essay http://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry/default.aspx?indid=117http ://www.oppapers.com/subjects/australia-wine-industry-page1.htmlhttp://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/online/3421/in-search-perfect-wine?page=0http://www .southaustralia.biz/Investing-in-SA/Industry-Profiles/Wine.aspx **KEY RESOURCE - SOUTH AUSTRALIAhttp://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/grange-defies-wine-industry-hangover/story -e6frg8zx-1225858119273http://www.winebiz.com.au /search/?zoom_query=market+segmentation+in+wine+industry ** WINE DATABASEAdvertiser's article Tuesday May 18, 2010 – harvest down 12% http://www.adf.org.au/downloads/APC_Marketing_and_Advertising_Policy_Statement.pdf - alcohol marketing policy http://www.decisionanalyst.com/publ_art/MarketSegmentation.dai