November 05, 2004
Brand Names Take a Beating
Sure, there are more brands than ever. But their value is plummeting as consumer loyalty evaporates. Who’s to blame? A new breed of hyperinformed superconsumers. By James Surowiecki from Wired magazine. Excerpt:Marketers may consider the explosion of new brands to be evidence of branding’s importance, but in fact the opposite is true. It would be a waste of money to launch a clever logo into a world of durable brands and loyal customers. But because consumers are more promiscuous and fickle than ever, established brands are vulnerable, and new ones have a real chance of succeeding - for at least a little while. The obsession with brands, paradoxically, demonstrates their weakness.
