Finding the Right Fit: Maïenga's Current Market Segments & Opportunities

For this strategic consulting project, I analyzed Maïenga Sports Events—the French agency behind the iconic Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc—to evaluate their market segmentation approach and identify growth opportunities.

The challenge was clear: Maïenga's gender-based segmentation had built extraordinary brand equity and participant loyalty, but now faced reputational and growth risks in today's evolving DEI landscape.

I conducted a comprehensive segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) analysis across Maïenga's event portfolio: the flagship women-only Rallye des Gazelles, the Trek'In Gazelles trekking event, the co-ed Bab el Raid rally, and the discontinued GAM (Gazelles And Men) event. Using AI-powered analysis through Perplexity, I analyzed Instagram followers, attendee testimonials, and French-language web content to build detailed demographic, psychographic, and behavioral profiles for each event's target market.
The analysis revealed that while the Rallye des Gazelles' primary segment—affluent, adventurous women aged 35-50 earning €100K+ across France and the EU—generates exceptional loyalty and transformational value, this model has limited demographic growth potential and increasing vulnerability to gender-exclusivity backlash. Meanwhile, overlap between Bab el Raid and the discontinued GAM diluted the co-ed offering, and current co-ed events skew male-dominated, weakening the brand's empowerment positioning.

My strategic recommendation: launch "Le Cercle," the first truly all-gender, LGBTQ-inclusive rally in a diversity-friendly destination (France, Spain, Portugal, Canada, or New Zealand). This would fill a major market gap—adventure rallies still use binary gendering in registration—while future-proofing the brand, preserving what makes Rallye des Gazelles unique, and establishing first-mover advantage in inclusive motorsport experiences.

My Role
🎯 Market Segmentation & Competitive Analysis: Mapped Maïenga's event portfolio across demographic, psychographic, and behavioral dimensions to identify each event's target segment, value proposition, and market positioning. Conducted competitive landscape analysis across driving/motorsport and trekking/endurance categories, revealing that no major rally event is truly inclusive of non-binary or trans participants.
🔍 AI-Powered Primary Research: Leveraged Perplexity AI to overcome the language barrier, analyzing French-language sources including Instagram follower patterns, attendee testimonials, event registration data, and promotional content. This unconventional research approach allowed me to extract authentic Voice of Customer insights and demographic patterns that would have been inaccessible through traditional methods.
👤 Customer Persona Development: Created "Margot du Pont—The Gazelle Loyalist," a detailed persona representing the Rallye des Gazelles' core segment. Mapped her emotional needs (community, excitement, recognition), rational needs (safety protocols, authentic sustainability), attitudes toward motorsport and sustainable sport, segment attractiveness metrics, and information sources to build a complete picture of the primary target.
📊 Strategic Positioning Framework: Developed a comprehensive positioning strategy for the Rallye des Gazelles using the Promise-Points of Parity-Points of Difference-Reasons to Believe-Brand Identity-Personality model. Positioned the rally as "a rite of passage and service" that transforms participants into legends through analog challenge (no GPS, only map and compass), deep solidarity, and ISO 14001-certified sustainable adventure.
💡 Growth Strategy & Risk Mitigation: Designed "Le Cercle" launch strategy with specific location recommendations, target demographics (men, women, non-binary, LGBTQ+; 25-45; €40-90K HHI), positioning ("Where everyone becomes their own legend"), and partnership recommendations with established French LGBTQ+ organizations (L'Autre Cercle, Centre LGBTQI+ de Paris, FSGL) to ensure authentic inclusivity and mitigate performative activism risks.
🎨 Visual Strategy & Presentation Design; Created a consultant-style slide deck with strategic use of Maïenga's brand colors (orange and navy), clean data visualization, and professional formatting to communicate complex segmentation insights clearly. Designed positioning diagrams, competitive matrices, and strategic frameworks that made the analysis accessible to non-marketing stakeholders.

Tools
- Perplexity AI (Primary research, French-to-English translation, demographic pattern analysis)
- Canva (Slide deck design and visual frameworks)
- Strategic frameworks (STP analysis, positioning statement, persona development)
- Competitive intelligence (Cross-platform event research)

Key Insight: This project showcased how AI can democratize market research by breaking down language barriers and enabling sophisticated analysis of international markets—turning French Instagram followers and testimonials into actionable strategic insights that identified a €40-90K market opportunity in inclusive adventure sports.