Narrowcasting for a demassified society

Narrowcasting.

This idea is nothing new. It’s the opposite approach of broadcasting. How would you define it? I see narrowcasting as aiming media messages at specific segments of the public defined by values, preferences, or demographic attributes. You’ve probably also heard it referred to as niche marketing or targeting marketing. The names are different, but the ideas are the same. It’s all based around the idea that mass audiences no longer exist.

Take our televisions, for example. You can subscribe to hundreds of channels, based on your own interests. Like Golf? Watch the Golf Channel. Are cartoons more your style? Get Cartoon Network. The same goes with satellite radio—entire stations exist based on the idea of a targeted, segment audience.

New technology makes it easier to reach niche markets and targeted audiences. Undoubtedly, we have all experienced narrowcasting firsthand as we access blogs, social networking sites, and online journals/news sites daily. But even for those who do not use computers—magazines, radio stations, and newspapers are narrowing their focus on particular groups of people. Communication today is not what it has been previously. In the past, people were more inclined to read the same information or watch the same channels on television. Today, people have the ability to choose what sources they’d like to depend on and learn from, according to their particular interests.

It’s showing how our society has evolved and become “demassified.” These audience segments signal a change in values and opinions, and a change in the use and interest of media. How are we, as professional communicators and marketers, supposed to keep up with the shift? And what’s next? How will the media evolve?

Image: Thanks ganatronic