While doing some surfing last night I happened across a post on Brand Noise, “The Power of Niche in a People Economy” (Link), to which I wanted to call attention. In particular I really enjoyed this bit at the very beginning:

The new reality of micro markets. Unfortunately many marketers still feel that this does not apply to them. In a recent conversation with a fellow marketer they declared – “I don’t want to go niche – I want a lot of people – mass marketing suits them better”. The problem here is they don’t seem to realize that their mass approach is also a niche approach but in a different guise.

The obvious relation to The Long Tail makes any further discussion here unnecessary. The reason I point this entry out, however, is that as we now watch The Long Tail idea carve its way through markets dependent on mostly digitally originated media – music, movies, magazines – the lessons those industries learn apply to other seemingly exempt markets.

In short: no one is safe. Thus, I’ll say it again: Industrial Design is next. And what Brand Noise is telling the marketing community applies to Industrial Design as well.