'Niche' is no longer niche

‘Niche’, as client feedback, is often the death knell in a PR and marketing pitch.

The last thing a mainstream brand wants when trying to win the attention of consumers and media is to appeal to a ‘small, hyper-specific pocket of the population.’ Right? Wrong, actually.

It’s not news to anyone that we’re competing for attention in an economy predicated on the new and novel, across multiple platforms and media moving at breakneck pace—at a time there are more brands and products available than ever before too. To cut through the crowd, it takes something different to stand out—and that’s where ‘niche’ wins. Even when you're playing to the masses, working with the world’s biggest, most recognisable brands.

‘Niche’ is no longer niche

Traditionally, we defined ‘niche’ as a specialised, typically small segment of the market, characterised by specific interests—the antithesis of ‘popular’, which appeals to as broad an audience as possible (i.e. the mainstream).

Think of it as pop vs hardcore music (Britney Spears vs Black Flag). Or Evian versus Black Death, the indie water-in-a-can brand which started out targeting metal-heads and the alternative community. Except today, the frontmen of Californian hardcore brands are fronting international Calvin Klein campaigns, earning coverage everywhere from GQ and The Daily Mail to Harper’s Bazaar. And that alt-water brand has 2.2 million followers on Instagram, trumping the long-established Evian, with a modest 155,000, by over 2 million.

The ‘niche’ of now isn’t the ‘niche’ we once knew—and social media is behind that game-changing shift.

From subculture to crowd culture

Monoculture, when we had a handful of media and TV channels to choose from, and only big brand players with budgets to match could buy our attention, is dead—as we knew it, at least.

We choose where we consume media now, on platforms using algorithms to show us content that plays to our individual tastes. While communities of people with ‘niche’ interests, which might once have been labelled ‘subcultures’, were geographically isolated in the past, they’re now brought together en masse, discovering, creating and sharing content aligned with their likes.

“Now these once-remote communities are densely networked, their cultural influence has become direct and substantial,” says Harvard Business School professor Douglas Holt. “Social media binds [them] together, greatly increasing the pace and intensity of collaboration.” And this “new crowd culture” incubates new ideas and practices. In short, they’re driving culture, making a serious impact.

This is where long-established brands need to shift gears, forgetting everything they thought about ‘niche’, recognising how engaging with ‘niche’ players and themes will get them the headlines and engagement they so covet.

The new media mentality

“The success of ‘nicheness’ is as much about establishing what you don’t know, as what you do. Introducing something we, journalists and readers, don’t know drives intrigue; it gets clicks.” Morwenna Ferrier, Lifestyle Editor at The Guardian

For Ferrier, ‘niche’ is in fact a byword for ‘newness’ and ‘cool’, adding, importantly, that “it's sort of replaced exclusivity as a brand of pitch” marking an awareness of the people, products and themes at the vanguard, setting the precedent for what’s new, exciting, and surprising in culture.

She cites luxury fashion brand Gucci as an example of a brand winning attention by engaging with ‘niche’ figures and themes. “Traditionally, you wouldn’t expect a luxury brand to make a 23-year-old trainspotter or 72-year-old ‘veg king’ the star of its campaigns,” Ferrier says, referring to its 2021 and 2022 campaigns featuring Francis Bourgeois, a mechanical engineering student from a rural suburb, and Gerald Stratford, a retiree known for posting videos of giant produce on TikTok.

“But that’s what makes those campaigns stand out—finding the person or thing you simply haven't thought of, looking at an established brand through that lens to introduce something new and novel to something that fundamentally isn’t.”

Steff Yotka, formerly Global Director of Social Media at Vogue, and now Editorial Director at SSENSE, looks to ‘niche’ communities and their interests for this reason too. "It's really valuable, whether you’re a media platform or brand, to be the lens through which an audience discovers something. You can grow an extremely engaged, loyal audience if you continue to introduce audiences to the people and themes that go on to shape mainstream culture."

‘Niche’ in the age of influence—unlocking community and culture

Here’s where huge, globally renowned brands (the Coca-Colas and Googles of the world) can leverage the idiosyncratic, hyper-specific niches that drive social media trends and generate headlines. Products, such as Coca-Cola beverages and Google Search, are well-established classics. Aligning them with ‘niche’ influencers and themes situates them in a new context, and brings something arguably more valuable: highly engaged community and culture.

“Niche communities hold real value in the digital space and have so much power because they’re already plugged into a culture,” says Rachel Porter, the Creative Strategy Director on ad agency Ogilvy’s multi-award winning Influence team.

When working with established clients operating at a huge scale, naturally cautious when they hear the word ‘niche’, Porter recommends employing a test and learn strategy on social media, tapping into ‘micro-influencers’ who appeal to particular ‘niche’ communities, tracking engagement and other key metrics. But to also have faith in the ability of ‘niche’, where the new and novel are born, to drive headlines and impact culture—as proven by the coverage that shows up when searching niche communities and trends, from Bardcore (Mediaeval covers of popular songs) and Gen Z’s favourite racquet sport Pickleball (well, allegedly), to #NicheTok itself.

“Niche operators, like the Liquid Deaths and Glossiers of the world, are willing to test and listen,” Yotka adds, “and that’s forced everyone to be more creative to keep up.” So, to free agents and those working for ad behemoths, encourage clients to rethink ‘niche.’ Be the brand every other brand is desperate to keep up with.