While traditional media advertisements are designed to appeal to a particul
ar audience, each of us is constantly amid a veritable sea of advertising t
hat has not been designed for us, whether due to the nature of the message
or the goods or services being advertised. They act as a constant reminder
of consumption of one kind or another. They represent a mass.
Micro-marketers take a dim view of this aspect of advertising, citing it as
wasteful in comparison to highly targeted communications wherein the indiv
idual or family unit becomes the focus of marketing activity. They do not s
top to consider the cumulative effect of creative advertising on primary de
mand. Nor do they realize that internet advertising is essentially sales pr
omotion elevated by the utilization of computer technology and that retail
point-of-sale promotions are merely targeted price promotion.
In light of current commercial adoption of micro-marketing philosophy, the
advertising industry requires to calculate the effect of a diminution of it
s output upon the motivation of society to consume. It is foolhardy to assu
me that without the motivating push of creative advertising such consuming
behavior will persist at current or projected levels.