Recently I was describing what I do, when someone said, 'oh, that's target marketing,' and I was dismayed without knowing why. A couple of days later, Doc Searls resurrected something he wrote before The Cluetrain Manifesto, and the reason hit me. 'Target marketing' sounds like 20th century corporate warfare.

Doc Searls Weblog: Reality 1.995.12, 2009-Aug-10, by Doc Searls

As more customers come into direct contact with suppliers,
markets for suppliers will change from target populations to
conversations.