Wednesday, August 23, 2006
How Much Is Too Much?
byIn 50 years we’ve gone from having a choice of just a few TV channels to hundreds. IPTV could usher in thousands of more choices. And this doesn’t count the other ways we can now get TV content (video iPods, mobile phones, portable video players, and on the computer). Nor does it count the other options for video content we can watch on TVs such as thousands of movies titles, special interest videos, home movies or even photos.
Magazines have proliferated with ever smaller niches being targeted. According the Magazine Publishers of America, there are now almost 19,000 magazine titles serving almost every human interest. In addition, there is the successful and rapidly growing phenomenon of custom publishing that allows even more specificity in targeting a defined segment.
Radio has progressed from AM-only stations to now include FM, HD radio, Internet radio and satellite radio. What’s more, there is also a wealth of other audio content that can be delivered via iPods and other MP3 players.
Everywhere we turn, mass media is being transformed into micro media. And, micro media is being refined further to personal media. RSS and other online technologies allow a person the opportunity to essentially create an individual online media environment where the information finds you instead of you finding the information.
The challenge for consumers is how much is too much. It is a natural inclination for people to want more choices, but that doesn’t necessarily lead to more satisfaction. In fact, a book that has been getting a great deal of attention recently is The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz. An excerpt from the Business 2.0 blog explains the author’s position:
People are so overwhelmed with choice that it has two effects. Instead of liberating people it tends to paralyze them. Second, with all of this choice people may do better objectively—they may get a better salad dressing, CD player or spouse—but they will feel worse. When there are lots of options out there and you choose one and it is less than perfect, it is easy to imagine that there is a better one out there.
The challenge for marketers is how to reach customers with a message when there is such an incredible array of options. It is no longer practical or affordable to use sheer force in advertising (mass reach and frequency) to connect with people. Marketing has always been part art and part science, but the science of finding and reaching audiences and segments has taken on increasing importance with the proliferation of media options. Knowledge and information are vital to good marketing decisions and that need will grow in direct proportion to the number of media choices available. And, in a time-delimited world, reaching people with a relevant message in a relevant context will become a primary requisite for success.
