Shift to Total Market Strategy: Integration over Segmentation

Marketing is most effective when the messaging, format, and device are targeted to the right audience, at the right time, on the right platform.  The shift from traditional media to digital media generated a shift from mass media to targeted media.  Mass media had one message and pushed it out to the general market.  Digital (and emerging media) allows for more relevant, targeted messaging.  While the evolution of digital devices has transformed the ways brands communicate, the audience is transforming as well.

                Based on the US census, racial and ethnic minorities make up about half of children under the age of five.  Within the next five years, it’s projected that minorities will make up more than half of children under eighteen.  This rapid expansion of minorities is signaling to brands to reanalyze marketing strategies and rethink communications.

                Multicultural marketing is a buzz word that is popping up in every marketer’s boardroom.  Previously, multicultural marketing has been an afterthought or a separate initiative during key time periods, such as Black History Month or Hispanic Heritage Month.  With the shift in population growth, marketers can’t ignore the demographic trends any longer if they wish to be successful.  Rather than an afterthought or a separate, isolated initiative, multicultural marketing needs to be built into all aspects of everything a marketer does.  It’s projected that by 2043, minorities will become the majority in the US.  In order to have a total market strategy, marketers need to develop integrated marketing strategies, strategically targeted to market segments.

Shopping: Where In-Store and Online Collide

Emerging media broadly categorizes new and evolving media, usually driven by advances in technology.  While mobile devices are no longer new, they are a platform that allows for new media to emerge.  Think about some of our most common activities, such as social networking, taking pictures, checking in at our favorite locations, or shopping.  Mobile devices have made these activities easier, more convenient, and has created additional value to them. 

Let’s take a detailed look at shopping.  Mobile devices have impacted the way consumers shop in a variety of ways.  First, mobile proximity payments are starting to take off.  It’s convenient to pay for your coffee and bagel with a swipe of your phone.  No credit card, paper slips, or cash required.  Business Insider Intelligence estimates that mobile proximity payments will increase from $1.8 billion in 2013 to $190 billion in 2018.  This could allow for brands to instantly include coupons or additional communications with your digital receipt.  The phone can easily load gift card points and store order preferences. 

Next, mobile phones have proved to be vital when shopping in-store.  Many retailers have mobile

apps, but the new trend is to include in-store mode, which leverages the phone’s location technology to provide relevant information based on where they are inside a store.  Rather than needing to seek a sales person’s assistance, shoppers can reference an in-store map to determine where they are in the store.  It can also include sale items or offer coupons.  Users with in-store mode are twice as likely to use a retailer’s app and engage with a marketer.

Lastly, mobile devices are used for price comparisons and mobile purchases.  While in a store, consumers use mobile devices to shop other stores with similar products.  Mobile purchases are also on the rise as consumers get more comfortable shopping on mobile devices.  Overall, mobile is just one device, but has a great impact on how consumers think about shopping.  Since our mobile devices are always on us, marketers are leveraging technology in order to create a better brand experience with consumers.