There is a method

Back from a client meeting I got thinking about a concept which follows
up on the Long Tail: The macro-niche.

When a brand wants to talk to its audience it usually makes sense to
convey an advertising message to a large, mainstream crowd. It brings
larger return of investments, has more potential customers and more
possibilities of sales. There might be cases however that from a
strategic point of view it may be interesting to do the opposite - and
direct the message to a niche instead.

Thanks to globalization and the internet micro niches connect and become
macro-niches. So for brands, an originally uninteresting target group
because of limited numbers, suddenly offers a huge potential.

The buying power and the influence of some of these niches cannot be
ignored. Star Trek fans, geeks, cosplayers, otakus and rave-goers are
some examples. Talking directly to them can havean important impact
shaping the perception of a brand and its reputation, and ultimately,
sales. A niche might be a small percentage of the crowd your client might want
to target, but thanks to internet and growing communities at a global
scale they could represent be a very large number of potential customers
- several million people strong. It's the rise of the Macro-niche.

Internet brings people with quirky interests together where they
recognize each other and grow in numbers. They start meet-ups and
conferences, gather strength and organize themselves all over the world.
Some niches are leaders in opinion, others are early adopters, and
others might be a surprising, untapped new market. Attendees to cosplay,
Star Trek and similar conventions are often individuals with a
considerable purchasing power and could become dedicated consumers if
the relevant link to the brand is found.

A macro-niche can also shape the direction of the brand if the niche is
a leader of opinion, an early-adopter crowd to test a new product or
brand. If successful, they can herald the product or brand to a
wideraudience. Some niches can be quite vocal; fashion bloggers, gadget
adopters or green activists.

Sometimes the reality of a macro-niche is much less exotic than Burning
Man goers or Mythbuster followers, and be comprised of post office
employees or a multinational's middle-management workforce all over
theworld. From a creative perspective, this still presents some
interesting opportunities.

Let's say that a brand needs to talk to its programmers (within the
company), or to comission-based agents, or to its interns all around the
world, then we're talking about a macro-niche.

That's the theory about the macro-niche strategy. As a creative, the
most exciting thing about this is the prospect to work on creative
solutions for quirky, particular, challenging audiences. Such a focused
message can offer unique opportunities.

What sounds more interesting? An advertising campaign for anyone
mainstream between ages of 18 and 35... or an advertising campaign
directed specifically to amateur fashion bloggers, for example?

In practice, for existing global brands this approach might not work,
since marketing is mostly decentralized and different marketing
strategies are applied locally. It could be an interesting marketing/
advertising strategy though for start-ups with an online focus. And to
those brands this concept could open their eyes to the fact that they
can become really big – even when they focus on a niche. A
macro-niche. But only when geographical borders are not a problem. Which
is the case for Amazon e.g.. But not for retail chains, service-oriented
concepts where physical contact is needed, etc.
Since this is a concept-in-progress, there are still a few questions
that remain unanswered. For example:

Examples from a brand point-of-view (in stead of a community/niche
point-of-view) that show how could a macro-niche strategy would help
grow global business for different types of companies A description of the entire process for marketers: how to select
macro-niches that really matter to your brand, how to determine their
scale, how and where to reach them, how to play into their interest,
etc. Can a company employ a multi-macro-niche strategy? And run different ad
campaigns targeted at these niches, without running the risk of
fragmentation or a diluted brand image?