The Internet is a Marketeer's dream. The connection you can make to an individual consumer allows them to customize a product to meet their needs and wants, all but eliminates the difficult analysis and prediction of trends. Of course, one must still be 'in touch' enough to provide the consumer with a finite number of choices that will meet those needs and still be economical for the business.
I have found a couple of companies that are doing this "customized marketing" very well.
I really enjoy their websites- the user inerface, selections and marketing of the idea and pricing.
Let me show you some examples. (follow the links to explore for yourselves)
NIKEID
My customized Katana running shoes from Nike. Not only can I choose from a variety of colors but you can fit your shoe size to each foot (novel idea considering your feet are usually two different sizes.) All of this for the same price as the 'made for the masses' shoe. Ingenious, a combination of customization and economies of scale.
Converse does a great job of catering to their target. The color choices are limited but you can really go wild with the ol' Chuck Taylors.
I decided to use Honda as an example but most vehicle manufacturers do the same thing. Choose the color, add a few features that you like and avoid the ones you dont want to pay for. I dig the Metropolitan scooter. Great gas mileage and brand new for just over $1000. (really though, I dont want one... just using it as an example)
