Like causal
analysis, the Crossed Segmentation technique is used to outline
the problem that you are going to face.
In his book “Idee che rendono… come
trovarle”, Michel Joly shows how to use this technique through
a real story that he calls “fairy tale”.
“Like other techniques, this method
helps you to outline your problem but unlike other techniques it tries
to split it up…: you often end up finding your solution with
a little effort.
Example1: The butane fairy tale
A producer of small butane cans
to be mainly used for camping or, in general, for domestic use when
other energy sources were missing had noticed that when he advertised
his product, his sales decreased.
He tried to split up the market and address consumers directly, as
he had only dealt with retailers so far.
Something unexpected had occurred before: he had found out that not
only campers but also people living in the elegant city areas purchased
his butane cans. However, the inquiries made about the retailers’customers
proved that most of them had Spanish or Portuguese surnames. So the
problem was the following: how to address all foreign people living
in France who needed butane cans for their lofts without regular energy
plants?
The answer came out quite easily and resulted from another question:
can these foreign people living in France (possibly not for a long
time) read in French? (Those who live in France for a long time can
speak and read in French but they are not living in lofts any longer).
No, they could not read in French, so they could not even understand
written advertisements!
Was there any solution? Of course! The producer needed to advertise
his products in Spanish, Portuguese, etc. not only in newspapers but
also in the places where these people met.” (Joly, 1993)