Bas van Oosterhout’s Business Innovation Blog

According to thought leaders within INSEAD customers are really in the driver’s seat when it comes to making or breaking a brand. Also different consumer trends indicate the same, such as Trendwatching.com for example. In the past people could be earmarked to fit within a certain stereotype, e.g. punkers during the 80’s. During this period brands were successful because the companies behind them choose those brands to grow successful.
People now shop their own identity together where trends are now merely used as an input. They do not fit within one simple box anymore which makes it more difficult to target segments in a traditional way. Furthermore customers become increasingly demanding every day. Failing to meet their expectations results worst case in them scandalizing your firm in public (example: BusinessWeek). They will share their grieves through the internet with the rest of the world more likely than they will call you.

So it is more difficult now to clearly segment customers and they have become more demanding and less forgiving, what can companies do?

Building a strong brand does not necessarily involves bringing the best proposition, product or service, to customers, it involves bringing your propositions consistently to your customers. How? By making sure that every Business Model Building Block is aligned with a clearly defined overall goal. So it not about bringing a product to the market and enhance it along the way to the extend that people do not recognize the initial proposition anymore. This makes customers feel disconnected. They will loose interest and will start doing business elsewhere.
In order to keep the connection with the client vivid firms should really ask themselves or even better their clients what it is they will bring to the market? Which problems will be solved? What pains will be relieved? Doing so and shaping the Business Model around it provides the basis companies need to be consistent to their clients, which will contribute to building their brands and reputation.

For laughter have a look at the complaint about SEARS below.