I just finished reading “No One Size Fits All – From Mass Marketing and Mass Handselling” – by Tom Hayes & Michael S. Malone. This book is about the changing marketplace – that mass media marketing will become less and less effective. That the Internet is returning us to a world of smaller, more insular communities. That companies need to change how the interact with customers – from telling them about their products to engaging in their communities.
Overall it’s a book worth reading – but it’s a little dry. There is a lot of research that the author references to make his points – a lot of sociological research. While I’m not fully on board with the author – I think it’s worth considering how the world is changing how to market to customers.
Like in some of my other Book Reviews – I will talk less about the book and more about some observations about it. I see some of what the author sees – as the growth of online communities is large and growing. I’m on Facebook a lot, read Twitter posts a lot and support a number of online forums (from a technical perspective). I see trends in TV watching – that people are using the DVR, watching things online – that old days of everyone watching the same thing are over.
One of the fascinating things the book points out is the human need to form groups – to find a sense of community. One of the things I find fascinating is how much money (hundreds, even thousands of dollars) people will spend on their hobbies. I can’t imagine spending that much money (probably because I don’t have it) on a hobby – but I see it over and over across many hobbies. I’ve often wondered why that much money is spent – is it just because they enjoy the hobby that much – or is it about a sense of community? About how by joining other in that hobby – of that shared passion – they find identify and comfort in that shared community. View full article »
