Mike de Block

Are niche truly the new mass

The question whether niche markets are the new mass markets was constantly buzzing to my head the last couple of days. Ever since I finished my internship at the HQ of the Dutch retailer Albert Heijn, I resent everything that is developed for the mass. In each project a 6 was preferred over an 8, as it would then be more approachable for the critical mass. Nevertheless, other Dutch food retailers aren’t doing anything differently as they continue to think from a traditional mindset. The result, 99% of the Dutch food retailers are telling the same story and thus all move to the middle of the market. In short, a market full of opportunities for new entrants who dare to focus on a niche and deliver quality.

However, it’s just a matter of time before it will happen and it’s therefore a pity that 99% of the companies still focuses on the critical mass, while the effect of social media is that it can “humanize” companies. In short, it has the power to let consumers feel that they are noticed as an individual. KLM is a good example, as it does an excellent job via their campaigns as the journey of inspiration and KLMsurprise. Each campaign is focused a niche group, but by ensuring that each campaign is linked to the overall pre-determined KLM story, masses can be approached via numerous niche campaigns that in essence tell exactly the same story. In short, KLM started from a general story and took bits and pieces to create a story for each niche target group of KLM. However, in order to be successful it doesn’t depends on your story, but on your promise. Wallmart is doing an excellent job with their crowdsaver app, which let consumers decide how much discount is given via likes on FB.  Crowdsaver is developed for the mass, but it matches with the promise from Wallmart where value for money is king. Again as long as you clearly manage the promise of your social media undertakings, it’s not sincerely critical to focus on a niche target group.

To conclude, use social media solely when the promise of your company and social media itself can be fulfilled. Social media users aren’t spreading stories to engage with your company, no they just want to spread a remarkable story in order to be noticed. According to my believe, Wallmart quantitative promise is suitable for a mass market, were KLM qualitative promise is only suitable for niche markets. It therefore depends on your promise, so do you foresee any big problems ahead or solely opportunities? In any case, don’t exaggerate your promise as your social media undertakings will then backfire. However, when you manage your promise you soon will have an army of brand lovers.