Click to read the original text for details. Niche has always existed, and the phenomenon of niche standing at center stage has occurred before, but usually after it became mainstream. It is only now that niche can directly stand at center stage. Recently, niche and niche marketing have been frequently mentioned because niche based on subcultures can form commercial scale after the rise of the middle class, and more importantly, social platforms provide a stage for niche performance. In the rise of niche, fans and detractors alternate, and social platforms amplify the conflict between them. It can even be said that at the current stage, niche is naturally prone to criticism. Which niche has not been criticized on social platforms? Both fans and detractors are forms of communication, amplifying the spread. So on social platforms, niche may have more communication energy than mass. Some small-scale enterprises, such as Heytea and Jiangxiaobai, have gained influence far beyond their scale, standing at center stage and becoming social currency in the internet era. Some former niche, such as Xiaomi, have crossed over to become mass. Of course, some niche remain niche, such as Smartisan phones. In short, niche has emerged with the help of social platforms, stealing the spotlight that only industry giants and leaders had before. With internet communication, niche is amplified and has the opportunity to stand at center stage. Commercially, this is an opportunity. 01 Niche is the opposite of mass First, correct a viewpoint. Marketers influenced by segmentation thinking easily believe that niche is a segment of mass, or that niche wears the "vest" of segmentation. This view holds that mass is the complete set, and niche is a subset. In fact, niche is the opposite of mass; niche and mass are parallel, both being subsets of the complete set. The difference is that mass is based on mainstream culture, while niche is based on subculture. Cultural identity is the bond of niche and the reason for its strength. Niche: small numbers are the appearance, subculture is the essence. According to the encyclopedia, niche is "things and hobbies accepted only by a few people." This statement is too bland. From a commercial perspective, whether niche holds depends on two dimensions: the "degree of obsession" and the "degree of consistency" towards the hobby. The degree of obsession determines the niche's adherence to style, the price they are willing to pay, and the degree of rejection of the mass. Therefore, niche is usually maverick, going alone even if millions oppose. Commercially, they are willing to pay for their hobbies. Fans of Heytea and Jiangxiaobai are vastly different from mainstream tea and liquor consumers. There is mainstream skepticism, even "disdain," but they still adhere to their values. This is the degree of obsession. The "degree of consistency" of niche determines the similarity in language style and behavior style. These similarities determine the niche's sense of self-existence and group belonging. Because niche insists on "obsession," has cultural bonds, and group belonging, they easily gather to form huge energy. Because of obsession, niche manifests as "rebelliousness" in culture, maverick behavior, and avant-garde commercial style. 02 Niche has more "organization" In the traditional era, niche gathered through secret offline circles; in the internet era, they have their own organizations, such as A-station, B-station, and niche apps; now there is a larger platform—mobile social platforms—making it easier to form super communities. The evolution of niche "organizations" facilitates member gathering, makes crossovers easier, and reduces closure. Communities migrate social structures online and expand them. This provides a technical platform for niche gathering, making niche more organized. The more niche gathers, the more its maverick nature is reinforced, and the more its obsessive traits gain organizational recognition. In the traditional offline era, gathering at the same time and space was costly. Niche is not so much small in number as low in density. Low density means high organizational costs. Wu Sheng said in "Super IP": The internet solves the cost problem of subculture dissemination and community formation in the industrial era, making it easy for everyone to find an "organization." The new internet scenario is essentially "occupying time," because through mobile internet, people in "different spaces" can gather at "the same time." Wu Sheng said that almost all online game players are a group of "never-met" friends who meet, group, fight, and fall in love through games, and their shared two-dimensional experience makes them friends different from traditional ones. Communities provide a place for niche to communicate, collide, exchange, and self-propagate, forming subcultural "organizations" and becoming the soil for subculture survival and fermentation. Because social platforms provide gathering spaces, the degree of obsession and consistency of niche are easily reinforced. When niche forms "organizations," its subculture is easily highlighted, and communication is easily amplified. ****__03 **** Amplified niche Tencent mentioned two keywords in its 2018 new media report: circle stratification and emotionality. These two words seem tailor-made for niche. Niche is naturally strong in circle stratification and strong in emotion. Therefore, niche naturally has strong communicability. Social platforms make it easier for low-density niche to "gather" on the platform, and their mutual stickiness is inherently stronger than that of mass; the "style consistency" among niche makes shared content more likely to ferment and spread; niche subculture naturally carries emotion, and emotion is easily spread. An article analyzing the communication traffic of Huawei, OPPO, and Xiaomi said that Xiaomi fans contribute greatly to traffic, with 25 out of every 100 reads contributed by Xiaomi fans. This again proves that fans are supporters and disseminators. Consistent language style, sense of self-existence, group belonging, coupled with "tautological" communication content, makes it easy to trigger a communication explosion, as long as the critical point is reached. Niche is inherently more obsessive than mass. And social platforms are exactly: the more obsessive, the more spread. In the mass media era, niche voices were drowned out by mass media. Without insistence on "obsession," it was hard for niche to be heard. In the social platform era, the circle stratification and emotionality of niche are rapidly amplified by social platforms, making it easier for them to gather communication momentum than mass. Mass communication relies on paid mass media, and a slogan can be used for years. Niche communication: content production is key. Sharing-based communication means "no two identical pieces of content," and the "tautology" of content, the synonymous expression of emotional language, is the best way. Therefore, niche emotions become an endless source of content creation. 04 **** Niche products Niche culture naturally exists and emerges endlessly. Rock in the past, hip-hop now. When niche subculture combines with commerce, niche products are formed. For example, "literary youth" gave rise to "fresh" internet products, and "two-dimensional" gave rise to "brain-hole" internet products. Teacher Fang Gang said: Mass is functional satisfaction, niche is spiritual identity; mass is strong brand, niche is strong IP; mass is all-encompassing, niche is picky. Niche purchases are not simple functional products, but products filled with cultural value, satisfying users' spiritual experience. This includes both different needs for product function and the presentation form of spiritual experience. It weakens the strong needs of mass and strengthens the weak needs of mass. Your honey may be my poison. Niche products naturally form a distinctive style that separates them from mass, and they are sought after because they do not compromise with mass. Therefore, mass always thinks that Heytea's queue phenomenon has "manipulation traces," and that drinking Jiangxiaobai is because of copywriting, failing to understand niche product logic. Hence, mass has the inherent perception of "success in marketing, failure in product." ****__05 **** Niche fans and detractors Niche should be a small circle matter, but why does mass pay attention to niche? Even Wu Sheng says super IPs rise from niche. Because niche is spiritual identity, it has a natural advantage in "gathering fans." Fans, in the internet era, are supporters and disseminators, not necessarily users. In the traditional era, niche and mass could coexist peacefully, despite niche's inherent rebelliousness. In the internet era, it is very difficult for niche communication not to cross boundaries. Once it crosses and explodes, it is equally difficult not to pay attention. Xiaomi phones were born for fans and were initially niche. If it were mass, at most people would not buy. But since it exploded, how can one not pay attention? If you pay attention and don't like it, but see the fanaticism of fans, you easily go the opposite direction and become a detractor. Although Jiangxiaobai uses traditional techniques, its taste style differs from traditional liquor. If you are not a Jiangxiaobai consumer, you simply don't drink it. The key is that Jiangxiaobai became famous, and even those who originally drank Moutai bought it to taste. If they are not used to it, they go against the fans. Marketing expert Zhang Xuejun, who has advised many liquor companies and is used to traditional liquor, said to Jiangxiaobai founder Tao Shiquan: I am not a fan of Jiangxiaobai, but I am a fan of Old Tao. This sentence has two meanings. One is that I am used to traditional liquor and personally cannot adapt to Jiangxiaobai's new style; the other is that I agree with Tao Shiquan's understanding and marketing of the current consumer group. Teacher Zhang is a marketing expert and can separate the two, but ordinary people cannot. I am not Xiaomi's target user, but after Xiaomi exploded, I also bought a Xiaomi phone for experience. I cannot be as fanatical as Xiaomi fans, but I never deny Xiaomi, including its products and marketing, based on my professional judgment. After niche explodes, fans and detractors alternate, which may be unavoidable in the short term. It can even be said that current niche is prone to criticism. Fans and detractors exist simultaneously and take turns. At peaks, fans dominate; at troughs, detractors dominate. Of course, the simultaneous existence of fans and detractors also increases communication. As the saying goes, "no conflict, no communication," and the conflict between niche and mass amplifies communication. 06 Niche crosses over to become mass Some niche remain niche forever, while others cross over to become mass. Most American hippies later became yuppies. Fashion originates from niche, and after explosion, it becomes mass. In the era of social sharing, niche crossover includes both product crossover to mass and communication crossover. From a spiritual perspective, niche crossover means either subculture becomes mass culture, or mass changes to identify with subculture. In short, it means the disappearance of subcultural characteristics. Fashion trends often go from niche to mass. When niche becomes mass, the original niche group usually chooses to abandon it. In 1950, David Riesman proposed the difference between mass and subculture, interpreting subculture as having subversive spirit. Mass are those who "passively accept the styles and values given by commerce," while subculture "actively seeks a niche style (at that time, hot jazz)." Thus, "the audience... manipulated the product (and therefore the producer), just as the product manipulated the audience." Niche is "active seeking," mass is "passive acceptance." This statement not only shows that niche has stronger momentum but also that the process from niche to mass is actually a process of "conquest." On the surface, mass shows "high consistency," but its "insistence" on consistency is insufficient, easily following the trend. Niche obtains differentiated identity through niche, while mass obtains consistent identity through mass. For niche becoming mass in the mobile internet era, Wu Sheng provides a methodology: subcultural roots; connection with celebrities; communities; limited editions; crossover. If interested, see "Super IP." Source: Teacher Liu's Forum -END-