"The Meatball Sundae is an idea that's possibly even bigger than that one. When mass marketing dies, the future of the companies that embrace this approach dies too."
The bodies are already piling up: the recording industry, the movie industry, broadcast TV, radio, newspapers, are just the beginning.
A recent Wall Street Journal story (Wal-Mart Era Wanes Amid Big Shifts in Retail) offers evidence of how the giant retailer is losing ground in a rapidly evolving marketplace:
"[T]he Internet is transforming the retail definition of scale. The once-stunning compilation of 142,000 items found in a Wal-Mart supercenter doesn't seem so vast alongside the millions of products available on the Internet. At the same time, the cost of creating and sustaining a national brand is rising because of media fragmentation. Niche brands, created by Internet word of mouth, are winning shelf space and sapping profits required to fund big brands' advertising. Manufacturers such as Apple Inc. and Phillips-Van Heusen Corp., lacking the retail distribution or presentation they crave, are opening their own stores. One result is that retail giants hold less sway over their customers -- and over their suppliers."
Godin's insightful point is that it will take more than a change in marketing tools or strategy to adapt to the new business ecosystem. Companies have to actually evolve, not just change their stories.
