Capital One can be summed up in two words: Mass customization. With information in its computer databases on over 100 million potential customers and 1 of every 7 U.S.households, Capital One has a card that's right for you.

The first 200 words of this essay...

Capital One can be summed up in two words: Mass customization. With information in its computer databases on over 100 million potential customers and 1 of every 7 U.S. households, Capital One has a card that's right for you.

The Falls Church Virginia based company started the jump from a regional bank leader to a credit card industry leader when cofounders Richard Fairbank and Nigel Morris began their unique

"try-it-then-track" approach. They believed that using a one-size-fits-all marketing strategy was outdated and began using information to tailor specific products to specific consumers for regional Signet Bank in 1988. Fairbank and Morris believed that with pricing, fees, balance limits and other options, they could tailor a card to a specific consumer whether they were high risk or pure platinum. This new strategy became so successful that the credit card division spun off to form the corporation Capital One in 1994.

Marketing Environment

Buying power - defined as total personal after-tax income available to spend on goods and services, went up for most Americans in the 1990's. (Table 1: U.S. Population by Race, Buying Power and Income) This prompted a national buying spree. But with