Brand power revisited

New brand approaches are necessary to succeed in today's consumer-fueled reality.

As consumers, we wield increasingly more power over business success or failure. We live in a consumer-powered reality in which the intangibles like values, beliefs, actions, or contribution to the collective weigh into decision-making more than ever before. For brands, this calls for a new approach to organize their business, manage and communicate with customers.

As consumers, we purchase based on more than product benefits or quality. We choose and are loyal to brands that align with our lifestyle, goals and beliefs (political, moral or social) and help us lead the life we envision for ourselves and our communities.

As consumers, we are increasingly wielding our power more deliberately, choosing to invest our spending power with brands that stand for what we stand for. That mindset of “investing in a brand” is becoming very conscious for many target groups, too, even if it’s not always the highest priority.

Consumption as self-actualization

As business leaders and professionals, we observe that consumption as a necessity yields to consumption as a means to self-actualization, no matter how big or small a brand’s contribution herein may be.