It's summertime and you have loads of spare time, right? Instead of wasting it with the latest potboiler (which will probably emerge next summer as a Tom Cruise/Julia Roberts vehicle anyway), why not spend it wisely by reading about market segmentation and other fun topics? Here are four page-turners for your consideration.

The subject of the first book is summed up in its title: The Complete Guide to Focus Group Marketing Research for Higher Education. This slim (84-page) book by Robert S. Topor is a primer for college and university administrators who may be considering a research project to learn more about readership of alumni publications, for example, or local perceptions of the school.

Topor, president of Topor & Associates, Mountain View, Calif., is a moderator and consultant to higher education. In the book, he walks the reader through the focus group process, from determining if groups are necessary through recruiting, holding the sessions, and analyzing the results. While the book is brief, Topor covers all the bases, imparting his information in a straight-forward fashion.

The second book, Market Segmentation by Art Weinstein, is a snappily written look at the various ways to segment consumer groups - by where they live, how much they make, what they buy, etc. Weinstein is an associate professor of marketing at Nova University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. He also has been a senior marketing research representative for A.C. Nielsen Co.

He emphasizes applications and includes plenty of instructive information. Some of it is obviously geared toward the academic setting - included are several "Segmentation Skillbuilders," assignments to do a little homework on segmentation and/or put your knowledge of segmentation to the test. But some of the assignments, such as the one called "Using segmentation grids to identify benefit segments for your company," should be useful to those in the professional world.

Part one of the book is an overview of segmentation, its role in the marketing plan, and planning and researching guidelines for segmentation analysis. Part two addresses various segmenting approaches (geographic, psychographic, etc.) and the markets to which you can apply them. Parts three and four focus on segmentation strategy and case histories.

Many segmentation approaches and techniques overlap, so it can get a bit difficult to keep them straight. In essence, they're all trying to do the same thing, they just go about it in different ways. But Weinstein's book should help you determine which ways are best for you.

In the third book, Targeting the New Professional Woman, author Gerry Myers uses interviews and articles from the business press and other sources to focus on the efforts of companies that have recognized the potential of marketing to women.

Myers is president of the Myers Group, a Dallas consulting firm. As a successful professional woman - a member of the very market these manufacturers are trying to reach - Myers' opinions carry extra weight. She cites many personal experiences with companies that have pleased/angered her.

Early chapters focus on the do's and don'ts of marketing to women, with Myers dispelling some myths about women as consumers, for example, and offering advice to marketers and their front-line employees.
The real strength of the book lies in the chapters where Myers presents page after page of the success/failure stories of companies that have tried to market to women. The best of these is an examination of the hidebound automotive industry's strides and stumbles in becoming more sensitive to women's automotive-buying needs. Myers also includes a section that looks to the future of retailing, travel, politics, advertising and the like.

If you're trying to reach this lucrative market, this book is for you. By reading about the experiences of others, perhaps you'll avoid the mistakes they made. After all, if you have to learn from mistakes, it's always better to do it from someone else's.

The last stop on our summer book tour is a look at another set of consumer groups that manufacturers ignore at their peril: the growing U.S. ethnic populations. Multicultural Marketing: Selling to a Diverse America, by Marlene Rossman, focuses on marketing to Hispanics, Asian-Americans and African-Americans, using interviews with marketers at U.S. companies that have successfully reached these and other ethnic markets. As Rossman makes clear, marketing to these consumers isn't easy and shouldn't be rushed into; it requires careful thought and sensitivity, but the payoffs can be huge.

Each of these ethnic groups easily merits its own book, but Rossman - president of Rossman, Graham Associates, a New York marketing, research and consulting firm - has produced an informed book for marketers who need an easy-reading introduction to these growing, varied consumer groups.

 

The Complete Guide to Focus Group Marketing Research for Higher Education ($29, softcover, 84 pages), by Robert S. Topor, is published by Educational Catalyst Publishing. Call 415-961-6121 or write Topor & Associates, 280 Easy St., Ste. 114, Mountain View, CA 94043-3736. Include $3 for postage.

Market Segmentation ($32.50, hardcover, 313 pages), by Art Weinstein, and Targeting the New Professional Woman ($32.50, hardcover, 259 pages), by Gerry Myers, are published by Probus Publishing. For ordering information, see page 31.

Multicultural Marketing: Selling to a Diverse America ($22.95, hardcover, 192 pages), by Marlene Rossman, is published by AMACOM Books, 800-262-9699.