At the Bangalore airport on my way to Mumbai, I picked up Seth’s Meatball Sundae. And, what a delight of a little book that is! Seth speaks from the collected wisdom of studying marketing campaigns run by companies, big and small, using the so called “New Marketing” approaches that are driven primarily by the Internet. He’s realized that those big brands that manufactured their domination in the last century by building “average products for average people” no longer succeed in using the Internet to expand their businesses, as the Internet isn’t built for mass communications that ride on the one-size-fits-all approach, but on targeted, customized conversations with people who have given companies permission to speak to them.

It’s those companies that build products or offer services that resonate with certain select groups of people, that would really marshal the power of cheap and targeted channels of communication the Internet offers. Advertisements on T.V. and on billboards just do not have the same power over people anymore. If you are one of those who do not make or sell something that’s so basic a want that tends to be bought soon after people are shown some marketing material of that thing – in which case, mass marketing still makes the most sense – it’s best to first understand how the Internet has altered the consumption habits of humans as a species and tailor your organization to align to them.

This is because, if something does not sell, it’s as good as it not being made. Umm, profound stuff!