Mass Marketing Explained

Mass marketing is the maximum exposure of product advertising to consumers. It's the opposite of niche marketing where the idea is to advertise and market products to specific target markets. A target market is a segment of consumers identified through research to be the most likely to buy a particular product. In mass marketing, products that many people want or need such as soda, toothpaste, bread and household cleaners are advertised to a large audience.

Mass communication is crucial in successfully reaching large consumer audiences. The origin of mass marketing is the latter part of the 20th century when new technologies such as television and radio became immensely popular in society. For the first time, advertisers were able to reach wide audiences of people with each advertising message. Products that most people needed or wanted could be advertised to that large general market through the medium of broadcasting. Advertising is always done through specific communication channels to reach consumers; broadcast technology is the channel used by mass marketing.

For example, products advertised during national television programs reach consumers in entire countries. As long as these products are available countrywide, advertising to such a huge demographic is considered successful marketing strategy. Consumers seeing products advertised on television commercials are more likely to choose them over similar store products that weren't promoted. Showing television viewers the actual product and communicating benefits such as getting sparkling white teeth by using Brand X toothpaste has been shown to increase sales of advertised products. As the commercials are repeated, the repetition through broadcasting helps to create brand recognition.

Brand recognition occurs when consumers recognize a product through its packaging, name and promoted benefits. Consumers seeing a new product advertised that appeals to them are likely to add it to their shopping list. Mass marketing also works to inspire brand loyalty by reminding consumers of the benefits of a product over competing products. Through repeated product advertising, advertisers hope consumers will continue to purchase the item. Through mass marketing strategy, brand managers create a wide appeal for their products to match the wide scope of their audience.
Mass marketing is also called undifferentiated marketing since the typical strategies of reaching different market segments aren't used. In differentiated marketing, at least two different market segments are targeted. Each segment is reached through unique promotional strategies. This type of market concentration can be extremely effective in creating product sales, but it's more expensive than mass marketing.

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