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Are Mass Markets Dead or Merely Sleeping?

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Are mass markets dead or merely sleeping?
Contemporary Issues in Marketing Communications
MA Marketing Communications
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Introduction: Evolution of Markets
“The governing ideal was not merely to keep up with the Joneses, but to be the
Jonese...
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fragmented the traditional media sector profoundly. The accelerating media
fragmentation is shrinking media audiences, t...
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Are Mass Markets Dead or Merely Sleeping?

  1. 1. 1 Are mass markets dead or merely sleeping? Contemporary Issues in Marketing Communications MA Marketing Communications Sayaka Brand W14146916 Module Leader: Jon Pike Word Count:
  2. 2. 2 Introduction: Evolution of Markets “The governing ideal was not merely to keep up with the Joneses, but to be the Joneses” (Bianco et al, 2004). In the mid- 20th century, it was Western society’s aim to fit in seamlessly, to own the same cars and home appliances as the next-door neighbors, “the Joneses”. The historical progress humankind has witnessed since the beginning of time has gradually been accompanied by marketing activities. The epoch of simple trade has governed for thousands of years before being broken through by the industrialization. Exploiting the newly found technological procedures allowed for goods to be mass- produced and consumed (White 2010). The aim of mass production was to effectively lower production cost as well as make use of economies of scale. Its pioneer, Henry Ford, perfected mass production to the extent to which the famous Model T was leaving the line every 10 seconds- enabling Ford to cut costs and prices, double the minimum daily wage at the same time yet still be profitable (Ford, 2014). However, the example outlined refers to an era where society was significantly more homogenous and uniform; not only in terms of ethnicities but also regarding aspirations (Bianco et al 2004). However, as incomes grew and affluence levels elevated, societies’ encounter with capitalism and postmodernism provoked a major shift in consumer demand and culture (Dirlik and Zhang, 2000; Bianco et al, 2004) A little like the infamous chicken or egg question, it cannot be pinpointed which led to the other- if the demands in society urged producers to keep up with the changes, or if demands were “artificially” created to increase consumption. Nonetheless, it can be said that the shift from mass to micro marketing has been equally driven by necessity as well as opportunity (Bianco et al, 2004). Media Proliferation and Audience Fragmentation Being a millennial makes me a part of a particularly unique generation as we experienced life pre-Internet, and since its implementation, organically grew alongside. Web 2.0 has fundamentally transformed life, providing a platform of infinite opportunities that allow exploration on a level previously unheard of. The present fast-paced, hyper-connected environment develops a thirst for constant innovation and a consequent death of a long attention span. This had us going from packed Facebook photo albums and YouTube videos to 3-second Snapchat pictures and 6-second Vine videos. Moreover, the proliferation of media has not only created an abundance of innovative new non-traditional tools such as the latter, but also
  3. 3. 3 fragmented the traditional media sector profoundly. The accelerating media fragmentation is shrinking media audiences, the increasing numbers of channels and media are making it more challenging for marketers to reach their target audience through traditional media (Kirby and Marsden 2006). What used to be network television with a few channels that reached out to a fairly uniform audience has evolved to cable television and satellite radio, providing new advertising options. What sounds promising, however, has actually led to increasing media clutter and fragmentation; hence making advertising and targeting less effective (O'Guinn, Allen and Semenik, 2012). Consequently, advertising giants, such as McDonalds, have reduced their budget allocation for TV adverts from what used to be 75% to a third (Doorley and Garcia, 2007). Advertising today, even when promoting mass-products, is highly targeted. One might think that trivial products such as detergent are mundane, one-size-fits-all products. According to P&G, this could not be further away from the truth. Companies have shifted emphasis from selling to the immense anonymous mass to selling to millions of particular customers (Bianco et al 2004). On the one hand, audience and media fragmentation aids the targeted marketing by providing various channels that reach a specific consumer. On the other, it reduces its effectiveness if the chosen channel fails to capture the desired consumer. This is precisely why the integrated marketing approach has emerged as a concept; instead of suffocating under media fragmentation, it uses the dispersion to its advantage. To enhance the primary advertising message and to reach out to their desired specific consumers, marketers use tools such as promotions, sponsorships and public relations in addition (O'Guinn, Allen and Semenik, 2012). Therefore, integrated marketing communications (IMC) campaigns cater to the needs of today’s fragmented audience and media, and do not attempt to re-create mass markets. It is critiqued that IMC uses mass marketing channels and sends a unified message across all traditional and non-traditional media. Further, it is said to face strong barriers, such as restriction in creativity and unaccommodating organizational structures, which encumber success (De Pelsmacker, Geuens and Bergh, 2010). However, the combination of the efforts of each medium has a greater impact all together than a message wandering through a single channel. Moreover, IMC is essentially used to allow one medium's weakness to be counterbalanced by another’s strength, synergized components to support each other and create grander effect (Kitchen et all 2004). Contrary to common belief, a successful IMC strategy does not signify that an organization should only with a single message and one unifying brand. More realistically, an integrated method encourages marketers to
  4. 4. 4 implement a strategy with multiple targets and allows them to attain integration of different communication messages, functions and brand within one organization. Consequently, IMC has the potential to profoundly transform the meaning of marketing communications and might even be the succeeding step in the evolution of marketing. (Dewhirst and Davis, 2005, Kilatchko, 2005, Grove, Carlson and Dorsch, 2002, Lee, 2002, Phelps and Johnson 1996) A perfect example for this would be Snicker’s integrated campaign “ You are not you when you’re hungry”. The campaign played on the consumer’s emotion of irritability and moodiness in times of hunger. With such a common phenomenon that everyone could relate to, it was possible to create a multidimensional campaign. Snickers got celebrities to send tweets that were completely out of character, such as Katie Price tweeting about the outlook on the Chinese economy (Benady 2012). When the underlying campaign was revealed, it received great feedback not only due to its humour but clever guerilla tactics. This campaign therefore exemplifies how it was able to integrate all marketing tools into one campaign, leveraging each one for its strength and viral capacities. The core message stays the same in each medium (“you are not you when you’re hungry”), however, TV and YouTube ads showed a proper TV spot, whereas Twitter was used for celebrities drawing attention and interest, and Facebook to post campaign-related “posters” with humorous examples of how people are not themselves when they are hungry. By approaching the consumers through the channel that speaks to them the most allows firms to appeal to their individual needs, which a mass-market approach could not. This campaign proves that integration is not about saying the same thing in different channels. It illustrates that it is about attaching powerful and engaging consumer insight to a unique feature of the brand and make it come alive through its appropriate channels, whether its TV ads, Social Media or a piece of merchandise (Benady 2012).
  5. 5. 5 Consumer Empowerment The opinion of rejecting the recreation of mass markets through IMC can be further underlined with the factor of consumer empowerment. Kliatchko (2008) argues that IMC must be audience driven to be effective. “Companies must recognize that they increasingly have to engage gods and are not dealing with helpless consumers anymore”, says Rishad Tobaccowala, an executive vice president of Media Vest Group, in an interview with Bianco et all (2004). Through the proliferation of non- traditional media and revolution in patterns how media is consumed means that consumers can determine the channel and content they want to be exposed to and the duration thereof. Kevin Roberts, the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, in an interview with the Economist (2005): “For the first time the consumer is boss, which is fascinatingly scary and terrifying, because everything we used to do, everything we used to know, will no longer work.” Kirby and Marsden (2006) explain that the result of the abundance of information, non-traditional media and the Internet as a whole is the marketing-savvy and skeptical consumer, which portrays the main challenge in today’s marketing. Therefore, it is no secret that social media has profoundly revolutionized the principles of marketing in a traditional context. With 3.4 billion interactions on Facebook and half a billion tweets being sent out daily, marketers are always on the outlook for new ways to use those profitably (Mullin 2013). As previously mentioned, we can witness a simultaneous shift in consumer behavior to being distrustful towards corporate advertising, making the oldest advertising tool, word of mouth, the strongest influencer of our time (Figure 1, Mashable 2013).
  6. 6. 6 Figure 1: Courtesy of Mashable.com (2013) Mullin (2013) therefore postulates that social media has become the modern form of word-of-mouth marketing. It is in our nature to reduce risk pre-purchase by obtaining information and opinions to facilitate decision-making when evaluating alternatives (Solomon 2010). Whilst traditional word of mouth reached consumers individually through their inner circles, Web 2.0 and the social platforms it provides allows one person to directly reach out an unlimited number people at once. This has tremendously magnified this type of consumer-to-consumer communication. The efficacy of non-traditional media lies in the insertion of the “listening”-element; what used to be corporations preaching to the public can now be responded to through these platforms, creating two-way communications. Companies are faced with the intimidating circumstances of giving up partial control of the corporate message. IN exchange however, companies can gain valuable market insight and respond efficiently (Safko, 2012). Hence, the shift of who is sitting in the throne can and should not be changed. Today, with all ad-blocking and
  7. 7. 7 skipping technology, online reviews and platform where we can exchange our ratings and experiences for products with complete strangers, have left companies with no choice but to work on their transparency and focus on “earning earned media”. A campaign that has provided consumers with valuable and truly engaging content was Coca Cola in the summer of 2013. “Our summer campaign invited you to share a moment of happiness with friends, family and loved ones. We swapped the iconic logo on our bottles with 250 of the most popular names in Great Britain, so you could Share a Coke with the people who matter to you the most (Coca-Cola GB, 2014)” With more than 1.8billion servings in over 200 countries, Coca Cola is a prime example of a mass product. However, through their integrated campaign strategy, they were able to appeal individually to each of their consumer by personalizing the bottle to a level of relevancy. Not only did Coca Cola print names on bottles, but also embedded it into a whole experiential marketing event, by letting the names appear on the digital billboards at Piccadilly Circus. Moreover, this campaign received massive engagement levels on social media through all the people sharing their experience and pictures of bottles. Ultimately, Coca Cola jumpstarted its campaign by giving out the personalized merchandise, but the real success was driven by the consumers, who shared their genuine appreciation for the campaign by creating earned media and propelled it to the level of tremendous success and increased likability. The Coca-Cola example demonstrates that, even if the merchandise itself is a not a unique niche product but in fact mass-produced, a mass marketing strategy would fail to impress the consumer with a standardized mass media advertising.
  8. 8. 8 Other similar examples are the recent campaigns of ABSOLUT Vodka, Absolut Unique and Absolut Originality. In both campaigns, the company completely rearranged their production process to create 4 million uniquely designed bottles. Absolut Originality infused the transparent bottle with a single drop of blue colour to grant each bottle with a completely unique design. The bottles were advertised on billboards but consumers were able to engage by the “add your own drop” on their website and social media to personally customize their bottle (Absolut Vodka 2014). Conclusion Companies cannot stay competitive in the market if they do not adopt an integrated marketing approach that caters to individual segments. Mass marketing can in very few cases still be an effective tool, that is, when the target market is homogenous, such as in the commodity industry. However, any company that needs to expand and capture new segments has no choice but to abandon a mass marketing strategy or to cost-intensively invent a new product for every new segment (Ferrell, O.C.; Hartline, M.; 2012). I do believe that personalized, targeted advertising is here to stay, due to all the reasons mentioned, as it is simply more effective, measurable, allows for interaction with the consumer and strengthens relationship marketing. Hence, there will be no relapse to mass advertising in the foreseeable future. However, that IMC is not aiming to recreate mass-markets does not mean that mass markets are dead. Mass marketing is. The thirst for new trends is always partly fuelled by society, and not only marketing. The chronology that is associated with the postmodern era
  9. 9. 9 emphasizes the mistrust towards the future and enjoys nostalgic consumption. This is particularly visible in the fashion industry, where we can often see a comeback of the past, where elements of the e.g. 60’, 70’, 20’ are embedded in the new collections. Since we have gone from conformity to individuality throughout postmodernism, it is unclear what post-postmodernism holds for society. Will society be saturated with individuality? An example of a subtle indication of the latter is the latest fashion trend “Normcore”. This describes bland, unfashionable notion of dressing in an utterly conventional, nondescript way, where sameness accentuates the desire to fit in (Farell 2014; Doonan 2014; Cochrane 2014). Therefore, there is a certain likelihood of society wanting to remove all the clutter and go back to a more functional rather than hyper-reality driven environment. Given this probability, it can be concluded that mass-markets are likely to be merely sleeping and could be revived one day- either through necessity or opportunity.
  10. 10. 10 References Absolut Vodka, 2014. Originality. [online] Available at: <http://www.absolut.com/uk/news/art/Originality/> [Accessed 21 Apr. 2014]. Bianco, A., Lowry, T., Berner, R., Arndt, M. and Grover, R., 2004. The Vanishing Mass Market. [online] Businessweek.com. Available at: <http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/185770-the-vanishing-mass- market?type=old_article> [Accessed 13 Apr. 2014]. Benady, D., 2012. Nike, Snickers and Fosters have created powerful integrated campaigns – so what's their secret?. [online] the Guardian. Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/best-awards/powerful-integrated-campaigns-secret> [Accessed 21 Apr. 2014]. Coca-Cola GB, 2014. Share a Coke: Swapping Our Name With Yours. [online] Available at: <http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/share-a-coke/share-a-coke.html> [Accessed 21 Apr. 2014]. Cochrane, L., 2014. Normcore: the next big fashion movement?. [online] the Guardian. Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/fashion- blog/2014/feb/27/normcore-the-next-big-fashion-movement> [Accessed 21 Apr. 2014]. De Pelsmacker, P., Geuens, M. and Bergh, J., 2010. Marketing communications. 1st ed. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. p. 28-30 Dewhirst, T. and Davis, B. (2005) Brand strategy and integrated marketing communication (IMC). Journal of Advertising, 34 (4), p.81–92. Doonan, S., 2014. Dressed down: Welcome 'normcore', the latest fashion buzzword. [online] The Independent. Available at: <http://www.independent.co.uk/life- style/fashion/features/dressed-down-welcome-normcore-the-latest-fashion- buzzword-9246809.html> [Accessed 21 Apr. 2014]. Doorley, J. and Garcia, H., 2007. Reputation management. 1st ed. New York: Routledge. The Economist, 2005. Crowned at last. [online] Available at: <http://www.economist.com/node/3785166> [Accessed 21 Apr. 2014] Farrell, A., 2014. Meet Norma Normcore. [online] Vogue UK. Available at: <http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2014/03/21/normcore-fashion-vogue---definition> [Accessed 21 Apr. 2014]. Ferrel,O. C.; Heartline, M.; (2012). Marketing Strategy. U.S.A.: Cengage Learning. Page 131. Ford, 2014. The evolution of mass production. [online] Ford.co.uk. Available at: <http://www.ford.co.uk/experience-ford/Heritage/EvolutionOfMassProduction> [Accessed 18 Apr. 2014].
  11. 11. 11 Grove, S.J., Carlson, L., and Dorsch, M.J. (2002) Addressing Services’ intangibility through integrated marketing communication: an exploratory study. The Journal of Services Marketing, 16 (5), 393–411. Kirby, J. and Marsden, P., 2006. Connected marketing. 1st ed. Oxford: Butterworth- Heinemann. Kliatchko, J., 2008. Revisiting the IMC construct. International Journal of Advertising, 27(1), pp.133--160. Kilatchko, J. (2005) Towards a new definition of integrated marketing communications. International Journal of Advertising, 24 p. 2-33 Kitchen, P.J., Brignell, J., Lit, T., and Jones, G.S. (2004) The emergence of IMC: a theoretical perspective. Journal of Advertising Research, 44 (1), p.20 Lee, T.J. (2002) Integration, say hello to Integrity. Strategic Communication Management, 6 (5), 11. Mullin, S. (2013), How to Master Social Customer Acquisition. Available from: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/master-social-customer-acquisition/ [Accessed: January 27, 2014]. O'Guinn, T., Allen, C. and Semenik, R., 2012. Advertising and integrated brand promotion. 6th ed. Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-Western. P.74-76 Phelps, J.E. and Johnson, E. (1996) Entering the quagmire: examining the ‘meaning’ of integrated marketing communications. Journal of Marketing Communications, 2 (3), 159–172. Safko, L. (2012), The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies for Business Success, 3rd ed, John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey. Solomon, M., Bamossy, G. & Askegaards, S.(2010), Consumer Behaviour: A European Perspective, 4th ed, Pearson Education, Essex. White, S., 2010. The Evolution of Marketing. [online] D. Steven White. Available at: <http://dstevenwhite.com/2010/06/18/the-evolution-of-marketing/> [Accessed 17 Apr. 2014].

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