For years, common wisdom for any successful business was to get big as fast as you could.
"Mass" was the only game to play.
But now, in an age where there internet makes everything accessible from your couch via a mouse click, niches matter.
Today's rallying cry is - "DECOMMODITIZE!"
Mass is no longer fashionable.
A great example of this is Blue Moon Beer.
Brandweek has an interesting little article on the back page which recounts how the marketing team for Blue Moon declined to be interviewed by Brandweek for a profile on the company. The reason being was that Blue Moon, which positions itself in the marketplace as a craft brewed Belgian-style ale, is actually owned by Coors Brewing Company. When it comes to beer, it can't get any more "mass" then Coors.
There's a line in the Brandweek article that speaks to the heart of just how important niche (or at least the perception of niche) is in today's marketplace:
"(There is) the fear that people might stop drinking the
word-of-mouth brand if they knew it was borne by a big brewer."
Coors is so protective that Blue Moon be perceived as "indie" that last year it stopped handing out samples of the beer at the Coors booth during convenience store
expos. Now, when you see Blue Moon at a trade show,
it's positioned as being from the "Blue Moon Brewing Co. of Golden, Colo", not from Coors.
Speaking about the importance of niche, there's a line (that I think came from Steve Heyer) that gives great advice to those who strive for mass:
"Nothing can stay mainstream forever"
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