You do not have to be a key player in the marketing industry to know that it was shortly after World War II that mass marketing took full affect. With a seemingly singular audience, television, radio and print media were discovered to part of the successful equation employed by companies across North America. By the 1960's, with only three major networks, a company could reach about 80% of an intended target market simply by advertising on two channels at the same time!



In the 1980's however, much like the disco era just passed, mass media had begun a descent. The North American landscape was changing and marketing mediums were beginning to follow suit – in a half-hearted if-I-have-to sort of way. In fact, even as the North American landscape began to change, and significant drops in ratings and circulations began to occur, it was not until just recently that companies have seriously considered micromarketing a viable “put your advertising dollars here” option. In fact, in the early part of this decade, mass media profits continued to soar significantly despite the equally significant loss in audience share. Ouch.

Even now, as I write this article, mass media profits continue to rise, although in a limping kind of manner as opposed to the staggering growth of past decades. Even the most traditional companies have begun the process of pulling back the reins on traditional media. This does not, however, mean that companies are spending less on advertising. We all know that marketing dollars have to go somewhere. Subsequently micro media marketing is growing at a rapid pace.

Just as we know that the advertising industry is not going to dry up and disappear simply because mass advertising is not the slam dunk equation it once was, we also know that television, print, and radio media marketing are not going anywhere anytime soon. They have been key players for too long to simply disappear off the face of the planet. Besides, how are we supposed to know we are hungry at two in the morning if the Taco Bell commercial does not remind us?

Instead of television, print, and radio marketing disappearing altogether, these mediums simply have to adapt. In fact, they have already started to do just that. Newspapers and radio can now be found online and are accessible almost anywhere. This means that the advertising within online news and radio sites have the opportunity to be very dynamic and practical.

Television has also adapted, and not just by dabbling in the online world. Smart and innovative companies are very aware that television as a marketing tool is not, in itself, faulty. It simply does not have the capability to reach the masses as it once did. It still, however has the ability to connect and influence an intended target market. This is where concepts such as narrowcasting come in to play. Narrowcasting involves bringing the television to the customer in the store at the point of purchase.

As markets continue to segment and advertises are scrambling to keep up, one thing is certain. It is time to stop considering micro marketing as a tool to fight market segmentation and to instead jump in head first, embracing the marketing opportunities that are presenting themselves to forward thinking, dynamic companies.