Looong Tail II

Thinking about yesterdays post regarding niche-markets and the hope that the consumer of the future will be inspired to seek out the brands that "reflect them", I was left with an uneasy feeling. 

The problem is that, for many consumers, what they define as "them", or how they see themselves, is very often a reflection of mainstream culture.  We would like to think that, given the resources, more and more people would be motivated to define themselves apart from the mainstream, but I'm not so sure about that.  It's simply easier for many people to base their cultural identity on mainstream models and examples.   

And as the micro-niche markets are juiced up, the ever-refined efforts of big corporations to extend their reach be amplified.

Chris Anderson, the Wired editor that coined the Long Tail expression is more optimistic:

"Everyone's taste departs from the mainstream somewhere, and the more we explore alternatives, the more we're drawn to them. Unfortunately, in recent decades such alternatives have been pushed to the fringes by pumped-up marketing vehicles built to order by industries that desperately need them."

With limited time to fully explore this tension right now, we'll end this post with this thought: the challenge to the micro-niche markets will be to create the kinds of communities (elsewhere referred to as relationship hubs) that can inform cultural identity and create meaning.  Without that, the products and services that hope to make an impact in the emerging long tail marketing world will never stand a chance.

Comments

[john winsor]

Costantinos, thanks for posting this. I pointed to your blog from a recent post on Beyond the Brand.

[Constantinos]

thanks john.
in my opinion, chris anderson's analysis of the "long tail" of marketing is a very powerful one with many implications for advertising, branding, customer relationships etc. there is certainly a lot more to write about this, and i look forward to reading your feedback!