Bye Bye Mass Market: So Now What?

In his June 2 Buzz Bin, Jeff Jarvis notes that “The new Detroit isn’t Detroit.” Blogging about the shift from global to local, Jarvis says, “The mass market is dead, replaced by the mass of niches.” Marc Gunther, senior writer at Fortune, said the same thing in 2006.

So, if mass market and mass culture are dead, then mass marketing also is finished. The following developments offer a few small clues to what may be ahead:

• Mass direct mail becomes highly targeted, variable data printed communication.
• National TV advertising shifts to targeted online placement.
• Mass product frenzy for the likes of Starbucks shifts to mom ‘n pops.
• Mass email marketing migrates to on-line social media like Facebook and Twitter.
• Telemarketing implodes into highly sophisticated customer service call centers.
• Online news adopts the “hyper-interest” approach.

-scrubbed by Marketing Brillo