The disappearing middle of the market - go rich or poor but not middle

The media (and hence politicians) in Europe and the US have been obsessed with income inequality and getting everybody to pay their 'fair share' of taxes and all of that stuff. By the time these stories hit the headlines it is old new to half decent marketers.

The fact is that you can make a lot of money marketing to poor people as long as your product and service is right. The same applies to marketing to the wealthy. Where you run into problems is if you are stranded somewhere in the middle.

This article from the New York Times graphically explains the situation. I am not sure how long this will stay outside the NJT pay wall.

So mr and ms marketer here are the things that should be in your mind about the mega trends that affect your world. Do you have good answers about how you are/should react?

1. The median age of consumers is increasing

2. The old world of Europe and the US is fragmenting into rich and poor - both are profitable markets. This might be connected with the first point.

3. Urbanisation is still happening (fast)

4. Despite the hiccups, the economic centre of gravity is move eastwards.

5. There is and will remain a significant gap between high and low/no users of the Internet.

Now, once you have decided how you are going to respond to these trends you can get on with the day-to-day tasks of marketing. Dick Stroud