Mass Marketing is a Bug, Not a Feature
	By Jim Sterne

Originally published in the Internet Developers Association Newsletter (Volume 1, Number 1), April 1, 1996

Mass marketing was the solution to a new problem. The problem was not knowing whom one was selling to. In the days before mass transportation and mass communication, Mr. Johnson, the General Store proprietor, knew his clients very well.

Mrs. Carson always bought an extra sack of flour and an extra bag of sugar whenever her brother-in-law's family came to visit. Mr. Johnson could pretty well guess at the maladies suffered by the folks who crossed the street from Doc Sullivan's office by the tonics and elixirs Doc prescribed. He knew when Mrs. Markins was expecting again and he knew Fred Peterson was seeing somebody on the side. Mrs. Peterson's head was just a tad too large for the pretty new hat Fred selected and had wrapped up.

As a result, when any of the town's folk came into the General Store, Mr. Johnson would have reason to inquire after their family, their health, and their common sense. And when any of the tradesmen came in off the noon stage, Mr. Johnson had an excellent idea about what he would and would not be able to sell in the coming months.

When we started selling things by remote control we lost that intimate knowledge of our customers. We had to rely on demographics, surveys, samples and surmises. The focus group told us what we wanted to hear so we could make what we wanted to make. Then we could point in mystery at good, solid scientific study and claim, "The numbers said it would fly. I don't know why the market didn't buy it."

It's because we continued talking to them, and that's all. We told them why this remedy would fix that malady. But we stopped listening to them. We stopped paying attention to individuals on a one-to-one basis.

Where does it all end? Groupware.

Groupware? Hey man, that's intranet stuff. That's business process re-engineering stuff. This (newsletter) is the place to talk about makin' pages an' writin' scripts, dude.

Time to wake up and smell the coffee, friend. Time to look into your cup and see that it's filled with regular grind Folgers and not Java. Groupware is where you're headed. If you don't like the look of traveling down that road, find another niche and fill it, because the Webbed world is going groupie.

Groupware is what's used inside an organization to tie people together through automated processes in a shared electronic setting. Your customers are going to expect no less. Why was the FedEx site the talk of the town? They opened up their data center to the great unwashed masses.

Once the masses get it into their heads that something technical is possible, they assume it's a done deal. "What? You mean you don't have a virtual reality Web presence where I can hand-select the components for my next home entertainment system, get a readout of the sound quality based on the configuration I'm considering, and follow the picking, packing and shipping process so I'll be home to receive it when it's delivered? Well, why not!?

Why can't I participate in an online discussion your managers are having about whether to extend my firm more credit? Why can't I track that software bug through your development and testing process while I discuss how I'm going to implement it with 20 of your other customers? I can do that at the Intersolv site! What's the matter with you?

Did you even bother to give all your employees e-mail? No? Well, that's it for me. I'm taking my business where I'm treated as part of the business and not just a number. Stanley Marcus of Nieman Marcus said it best, "Consumers are statistics, customers are people."

The consumer is dead. Long live the customer!

Jim Sterne is featured at DCI's Internet Expo.