Rather than continually striving for technological advances, brands should shift their focus toward how their products and services can enhance the social relationships of consumers.
NEW THINKING
Rather than continually striving for technological advances, brands should shift their focus toward how their products and services can enhance the social relationships of consumers.
The outcry faced by Delta Air Lines over proposed changes in its SkyMiles and SkyClub programs last Fall is a good reminder of the risks faced by brands looking to take value out of their products and services.
The biggest challenge in marketing is indifference. Because convenience is the most powerful factor in the marketplace, bar none.
We know that social causes are good for brands — reputation, recruiting, and community relations. But are brands good for social causes?
Whether the role of brands in people’s lives is for the better or for the worse is a long-running debate. The most influential anti-brand voice of recent vintage is journalist and social provocateur Naomi Klein, who shot to fame on the cusp of the new century with her bestseller, No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, in which she denounced global brands for distorting markets, culture, work and even consumerism itself.