Nowadays, marketing trends consist of adopting a more consumer-oriented marketing approach; whereby the company competes for a specific consumer rather than competing for market share. Although this trend is triggering more companies to shift from a mass marketing orientation yet, based on specific conditions, some companies tend to use mass marketing instead of market segmentation as a preferred approach. Hence, one size does not always fit all.
When a company offers a single product to all segments in the same market or tries to serve all customers in the market, that company is applying mass marketing. Mass marketing is a common strategy that is practiced widely, but it is not always negative. This strategy applies to certain products, such as medications and condoms, amongst others, that have a good demand in public. Therefore, in order to expose these product types to the population, companies generally follow a mass marketing campaign with the primary intent of building a high level of awareness amongst the population. Nonetheless, a main and significant criticism of the mass marketing approach is that it considers a heterogeneous population as if it were homogeneous.
To put it differently, mass marketing disregards market segment differences and targets the entire market with a single offer. Hence, for products that are multifaceted and complex, consumers typically display different preferences towards such products; therefore, to keep up with such changes and compete effectively in the marketplace, companies need to implement a more systematic approach that considers the array of consumer preferences; in this case, mass marketing is less applicable. Clearly, one size does not always fit all. For instance, wine, online dating, and even performing arts are some of the many products and services that are highly recommended to utilize segmentation as opposed to mass marketing due to their sophistication.
Segmentation, on the other hand, is more complex and requires different categorizations of consumer needs, desires, and traits into subgroups that share standard features and have similar recognized value definitions. For this reason, companies should develop a product or service that will satisfy a selected target of consumers better than existing products or clearly identify customers’ needs and wants while focusing on the most attractive consumer targets. By all means, if the product or service fails to satisfy the needs of consumers, the product or service should be reformed to accommodate consumers.
To emphasize, market segmentation tends to serve specific markets better than others. For example, with wine consumers, a mass marketing approach was no longer suitable. Therefore, wine producers in New York reshaped their marketing strategies using consumer preferences and consumption behavior patterns specific to country, gender and generation cohort to segment their market. For this industry’s success, the inclusion of consumer profiles, preferences, and market segmentation is a vital component in its marketing strategy.
In the final analysis, even though one size does not always fit all, what is important to realize is that the chances of attaining success are often greater with market segmentation instead of mass marketing by allowing the company to focus exclusively on excelling within their particular niche—a much more reasonable objective. As consumers' demand for personalized, customized consumption choices is growing; it is recommended that everyone should not be treated as a potential customer; it would be more logical to cultivate a good understanding of the specific group that is your consumer and focus on marketing to them—the idea of peculiar competence. After all, the company should focus on what it does best, for that is what boosts profit.
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