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Mass Marketing refers to an attempt by marketers to engage an entire market using one marketing strategy which entails mass distribution through the use of mass media (Business Dictionary Editor, 2014). The trend of using this type of strategy began in the early sass and although still present in modern society as a form of marketing, is becoming progressively less common (Stresses, 1996). In fact, Susan Greece of Inc. Mom is welcoming her audience to the “era of sub-sub-submitting”, since the constantly evolving technology industry as made mass marketing virtually abstract, the focus on niche groupings have hastily increased (Greece, 2003). The focus on niche marketing verses mass marketing has already started shifting however this is expected to continue progressing as the main form of marketing, with future success coming from those who can merge mass marketing techniques with niche marketing segmentations.
Given the progression of mass marketing since its inception, it is evident that trends have varied heavily directly related to evolving technology; currently the market is infiltrated with personal electronic devices which has caused previously known successful marketing strategies, such as mass racketing to become less effective and compelled business to implement their core marketing strengths through niche segmentation. As the United States entered the industrial revolution of mass production, companies began to see a need to advertise to the marketplace in order to educate the marketplace.
The industrial age began an era of “mass consumption” as people now had accessibility to products at a much lower cost due to the mass production being done in assembly line factories worldwide (Decode, 2013). Historically, much of society lacked the extra cash necessary to make non-essential purchases, however as disposable income increased u to the dropping of prices of consumer goods, people began to look for more products that began to fulfill a want rather than a need.
It is said that marketers in history “set out to create a mass market in which progress was characterized by an abundance of consumer goods and an abundance of consumers” (Stresses, 1996). Reaching the maximum number of people was the goal in history as society was limited in options and had minimal resources outside of the mass media, however with improving technology the success mass marketers had been accustomed to experiencing has significantly weakened causing companies to reevaluate and update their historical marketing tactics.
As the United States has continued to grow and evolve, so has its cultural background. The U. S. Is known for its ethnic diversity and ability to each individual to thrive on their own cryptographic characteristics instead of conforming to a societal set norm. According to Ted Nelson, managing partner and director of brand planning at Mullen Communications in Wham, Massachusetts, “there is no mass market. Everyone isn’t coming to me for the same reason, each supermarket reacts to something different. Your national appeal is the sum of all the fringes” (Greece, 2003).
This clearly indicates where the market currently is and foreshadows what the future holds, in that the mass market is no longer a successful marketing strategy and that embracing the melting pot of society by sub-segmenting marketing strategies to be more personalized is where business are currently or need to be heading. For instance, McDonald’s has reduced their television marketing budget, making it only one third of total spend verses five years ago when two thirds of spend of the marketing budget was coming from television expenses (Bianca, Lowry, Berne, Arrant, & Grover, 2004).
Television is the main form of ass communication in America, as proven in a recent study that “American’s spend more than four and half hours a day in front of the tube – and a whopping 99% of all U. S. Households have at least one TWO, thus reducing the spend amount was a huge shift in the way McDonald’s advertises (All Business. Com Editor, 2011). McDonald’s is one of the leading corporations worldwide and their advertising is well known by most cultures, which can lead one to believe that other businesses may need to follow suit.
If McDonald’s reduced their television spending by a third, where are they now spending the other two-thirds of their marketing budget? Many predictions of the future tell of mass marketing declining which, if McDonald’s is any indication, is an accurate prediction, but the expectation is that as mass media declines, new niche marketing techniques which highlight sub-segments of the mass market will flourish.
Expert of communications in India, Nearer Nary, who is also the president of Contagious Communications, explains that “people don’t really need advertising” and suggested that instead of coming to market with a direct request of consumers, new marketing techniques should lend themselves to a more personal, even friendship eke, relationship between consumers and marketers (Kendall, 2009). This is being done through technology advances like the internet in which a large portion of society have access to at all times.
With the wave of personal technology devices like smartness, tablets, laptops, etc, a marketers success “depends on customers seeing, engaging with, and sharing your content within their trusted social networks” (O’Neill, 2014). McDonald’s, being a multi-national corporation, is keen to the trends of the marketplace and has likely shifted much of their budget to more rationalized marketing campaigns which can be run through computer algorithms, ensuring target consumers are receiving specified ad campaigns, which differ based on niche.
Since it is known that the population still heavily uses the tools of distribution common to mass marketing, such as television, it is impossible to say that mass marketing will ever fully die, however those who find a way to distribute niche communications through a mass media distribution channel, will likely find the most success (Foster, 2010). Technology drives cultures in many forms including how businesses communicate to their consumers.
As the evolution of technology drove consumers to be more independent, marketers are being forced to reevaluate mass marketing techniques and create a new style of marketing which encompasses the best features of both niche and mass marketing. As one would expect, there have been significant changes in the way businesses market to consumers especially in regards to the shifting of consumer interactions on a more personal scale. Mass marketing, which originally did not intend to open a dialogue with consumers, must now merge with niche segmentation techniques.
This means combining the mass racketing distribution techniques such as the use of mass media, with a niche marketing approach which encourages personalization and consumer/business dialogue, to create a transmission that is customer specific but reaches a wider span of consumers in the specified niche. Works Cited All Business. Com Editor. (2011). Television Advertising Pros and Cons. Retrieved September 22, 2014, from All Business: http://www. Livableness. Com/small-business- TV-advertising/1 5583543-1 . HTML Bianca, A. , Lowry, T. , Berne, R. , Arrant, M. , & Grover, R. (2004, July 11). The Vanishing Mass Market.