Mass Markets - Do they still exist?
BusinessWeek reports that now are the days of micro-marketing, and so is the world. Gone are the days, when a single TV serial (the most common mass caputre tool) had a mass market audience which translated into huge profits. But now, the almost-universal audience assembled long ago by network television and augmented by the other mass media is fragmenting at an accelerating rate. The mass media’s decline is an old story in many respects; prime-time network ratings and newspaper circulation have been sliding since the 1970s. What’s new is that the proliferation of digital and wireless communication channels is spreading the mass audience of yore ever-thinner across hundreds of narrowcast cable-TV and radio channels, thousands of specialized magazines, and millions of computer terminals, video-game consoles, personal digital assistants, and cell-phone screens.
For marketers, the evolution from mass to micromarketing is a fundamental change driven as much by necessity as opportunity. America today is a far more diverse and commercially self-indulgent society than it was in the heyday of the mass market. The country has atomized into countless market segments defined not only by demography, but by increasingly nuanced and insistent product preferences. “All the research we’re doing tells us that the driver of demand going forward is all about products that are ‘right for me,”‘ says David Martin, president of Interbrand Corp. “And that’s ultimately about offering a degree of customization for all.”
In the competition for ad dollars, the new digital media — especially the Internet — are blessed by two intrinsic advantages over mass media. First, they are interactive. This capability enables marketers to gather reams of invaluable personal information directly from customers and adjust their sales pitch accordingly, in some cases in real time. Second, in part because digital media are interactive they permit a fuller and more precise measuring of advertising’s impact. “Advertisers want to exactly know what they are paying for and what they are getting for it, and you really get metrics on the Web,” says David Verklin, CEO of Carat North America, a media-buying agency. “Clients really believe in the Web now.”
The hollywood legend Marlon Brando is dead. A two times oscar winner, Marlon Brando potrayed the role of Don Vito Corleone in the Godfather. A potrayal of depth, purpose, intelligence and hypocrisy, the character is best summed up with the let me make you an offer you can’t refuse
What I learnt now is more interesting: many rate his performance as Stanley Kowalski of “A Streetcar Named Desire” as his best. Here’s to the best of the best.
Three Cheers
HindustanTimes.com reports the story of a rickshaw puller’s daughter who cracked the pre-medical entrance exam, one of the most competitive medical entrance examinations in India.
For most of the years that Vaishali Wankhede studied, her family could not afford electricity. She had to make do by studying under the street-light just outside her house. Even when they finally managed to get power connection, she still had to study under the street-light as six other members of the family slept, moved or fought in the barely 20-ft by 15-ft slum dwelling which is her home. Today, having secured around 86 per cent marks in the Pre-Medical Test (PMT), Vaishali’s ambition and aspiration have managed to throw back the burden of circumstances. Her mother Maya is a house-help, washing utensils and clothes. She has studied till Class VIII. Her father Ramesh is a rickshaw-puller.
Hats off to the girl who has proved that hard work and determination is what counts in the end. Read the full story here.
IT and India - Questions and Speculations
The fall of Chandra Babu Naidu, the chief minister who had become an icon-figure for IT in India, has led to a speculation of whether IT has failed in India. There are some issues cited by political parties et al for the failure. Some feel IT has NOT created jobs. Many in the left front feel that IT is for the rich. Another argument is that water and electricity are more important than IT. In Karnataka, the argument is that IT only benefits urban youth. Every one is damn sure that India is NOT shining.
Professor Sadagopan analyses these arguments and tries to create a wholesome picture. He writes on his blog that the IT provides a person with a skill set that results in life-long jobs that are well-paying and accessible to one and all, unlike many of the “jobs†that are created by Government Schemes for “3-4 monthsâ€. He further talks about the entrepreneurs who had come from poor or middle class families and have made it big.
A good article that can make an interesting case study as well as food for thought.
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