How Concentrated Marketing Differs

Is concentrated marketing the same as niche marketing?

Not necessarily.

There is certainly a significant overlap, and some marketing textbooks will use the term interchangeably. However, there are subtle differences between a concentrated marketing strategy and a niche marketing strategy.

The essence of “niche marketing” is where we target part of the overall market, most often with a limited product range, and try to dominate that segment to the extent of almost forming a monopoly.

Please note in the above sentence, we have underlined “part of the overall market”, rather than making reference to a market segment. This is the main subtle difference between concentrated marketing and niche marketing.

Concentrated marketing refers to pursuing a single target market only, whereas niche marketing refers to a focus upon a particular part of the market. Indeed, a successful niche market and may choose to target a single target market, or instead, they may pursue multiple target markets.

As an example, let’s consider Etsy, which is defined as an “e-commerce company focused on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies”. Essentially, they are a form of Amazon or eBay or any other e-commerce site, but they focus upon particular types of products – which makes them a niche marketer, as they are so focused.

However, they would have multiple target markets who use their site, which would include:

fashion designers
make-at-home hobbyists
occasional dress and design makers (at home)
people interested in fashion and design
consumers seeking a unique clothing or design product
plus many more

So while Etsy is very specialized and focused, making them a niche marketer because they do not compete on a broader basis, they have not adopted a concentrated marketing strategy as they are pursuing a broad range of target markets.

In summary, the decision to focus on a limited product range or service offering and be a specialist (a niche marketer), is a separate strategic decision the selection of how many target markets to pursue (whether to be adopt a concentrated or differentiated target market strategy).

Is concentrated marketing another term for mass marketing?

Concentrated marketing is NOT the same as mass marketing. Mass marketing is where a firm has a single marketing mix offering that they believe is suitable for everyone. That means that a mass market firm does NOT have a target market in mind.

While a firm pursuing concentrated marketing strategy will also have a single marketing mix offering, this has been designed with a particular target market in mind.

Therefore, the difference between concentrated market strategy and a mass marketing strategy is that a concentrated marketer is pursuing a particular target market. Please see the following diagram for a simple overview:

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